The title of “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Adventure” is either a hopeful promise of sequels or a threat of more early Nickeldeon-esque inanity depending on how much you liked this first installment. Like the titular hero (the brainwashed alter ego of a joyless, so-miserable-he’s-angry principal), I was somewhat divided watching it: I enjoyed long stretches, but felt exhausted by the end. And like last year’s surprise hit “The Secret Life of Pets” (which actually wasn’t all that deserving of being a hit), the movie isn’t anywhere near long enough to leave you feeling that way.
What Works: It’s a movie squarely aimed at younger kids, and although I don’t think adults will have as good a time with this as they do Pixar movies or even other Dreamworks properties like “Kung Fu Panda,” they may smile just as much as their kids bellylaugh. Nick Kroll continues his streak of bizarrely self-aware German flamboyants (after playing Sing’s Gunter the dancing pig), here voicing the villainous Professor Poopypants, and once again proves what a talented chameleon he is. Too much of the movie feels disposable or like there’s no real stakes, but he adds just enough malice to the proceedings that you understand what the prankster heroes are fighting for in wanting kids to joke around at school. And Ed Helms’s Principal makes the rare animated arc from boo-worthy killjoy to pitiable loner, and that transition from villain to hero is the most adult thing about “Underpants.” Also, I did like the movie’s message to “lighten up,” and the main villain’s core problem isn’t really that people make fun of him, but that he can’t laugh at himself. In an era that feels like even kids are being policed for things adults may be projecting onto them, it’s not the worst message to have kids (or their parents) sit through.
What Doesn’t: Also like the brainwashed hero, you may forget you even saw this movie the next day. And even my young son—a sure barometer for kid films—was barely talking about it after we left the theater, whereas “Cars 3” seemed to make much more of an impression.
What I Would Have Done Differently: A lot of the best sequences are breakneck, working like a screwball comedy for poop jokes, but some of the throwaway jokes about public schools getting rid of music classes or Art help drive home “Captain”‘s message about how necessary it is for kids to play or create their own worlds. As much as a movie like this can be said to have a message.