Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

I was really skeptical about this one. How could a movie based on a book series whose sole premise is based entirely on potty humor be good? How could I endure 90 minutes of bodily function and bathroom jokes? The only reason I even considered seeing this is because I read the books in elementary school (Nostalgia factor) and the fact that Kevin Hart and Jordan Peele are in this. And yeah, this actually worked. It never went overboard with the potty humor (which cannot be said from the books) and when there was potty humor, it was done tastefully. (As tastefully as it could be done anyway.) There were also a lot of great blink-and-you'll-miss-it visual gags. The movie also wasn't afraid to acknowledge that potty humor is the lowest form of humor, as that point is made by several characters, several times, so in a way, it was kind of meta. The animation is also fantastic! If you didn't already know that this was a Dreamworks production, you would not be able to tell. It looks like 2015's "The Peanuts Movie," and is animated extremely beautifully. And yes, even the adults will like this, despite the over-the-top juvinile humor. Several adults at my showing were laughing. Not chuckling. Laughing. There's something for everyone to enjoy here. As someone who read the books in 1st and 2nd grade, it took me back to my childhood, and reminded me of those innocent days where even stupid gross-out humor was funny. 

Grade: B   8/10   3.5/5 stars