Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Review

Some of you are probably surprised that I am reviewing this movie, considering I put it on my Least Anticipated Films of 2017 list. Well, I was a fan of the books as a child and my curiosity and nostalgia got the better of me, and I went to see it with my two brothers. And now here I am writing the review.

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is the big screen adaptation of the popular children's book franchise. However, it does not directly adapt one book, but makes its own plot with elements from many of the books. And it captures the immature spirit of these books very well.

The plot revolves around two fun-loving kids (Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch) who, after being caught pulling a major prank at their school's science fair, might face being separated by their mean-spirited principal, Mr. Krupp (Ed Helms). As a last resort, they try hypnotizing him. By doing this, they accidentally put him in a state where he believes he is the the superhero, Captain Underpants. The two kids often use this alter ego to make him act less strict, resulting in Captain Underpants resembling a nicer, happier side of the cynical principal.

Meanwhile, a new teacher named Professor Poopypants (Nick Kroll) armed with a giant robot toilet, plans on destroying the world's sense of humor, so that nobody would ever laugh at his name again. It is up to Captain Underpants to stop him. That last paragraph should tell you exactly what type of movie to expect.

The director of this movie is David Soren (Turbo), who directs with a fast paced, at times unusual style. The tone is always upbeat, and almost constantly breaking the fourth wall. It retains a cartoonish feel throughout, with plenty of sight gags to go around.

A lot of credit should also be given to the animation. It is done in the same way as the Peanuts reboot, which maintains the standard CGI animation while staying true to its original 2D art style. There are also moments where it veers into other styles including 2D animation, and even sock puppets and a flip book (in homage to the source material's Flip O' Rama sequences). This variety keeps the movie fresh throughout.

However, one technical aspect that doesn't work as well is the voice acting for the children characters. This is not the voice actors' fault per say; it's just that their adult voices don't  match with their child appearances.

As you may have guessed, there is a lot of immature jokes, which will probably turn a lot of people off. But if you can sit through a little toilet humor, it is a fun, lively animated feature, that speaks to the immature child in us all.

3 out of 5 stars

Wonder Woman Review

A lot of people are viewing Wonder Woman as a symbol for female empowerment. With a strong female lead (Gal Gadot), a female director (Patty Jenkins (Monster)), and, of course, the failing state of the DCEU, there is pressure on it to be a good movie. And for the most part it pulls it off.

The movie takes place during World War I. When a fighter pilot (Chris Pine) crash lands on her home island, she decides to go to his world to defeat the Greek god of war, Ares, thus ending the war.

This movie follows a traditional superhero movie formula. There are very few surprises in the story, but there is enough charm to make up for that.

Gal Gadot gave a show-stealing performance in Batman v Superman, and her version of Wonder Woman holds up as the front and center of her own movie. She pulls off the warrior attitude very well, but also has moments of wonder and naivete, as she is introduced to the human world. She also has great chemistry with Chris Pine, who acts as a love interest for her.

The tone is also much more lighthearted than previous DC movies. It isn't nearly as upbeat and funny as The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy, but it is definitely a move away from the darkness of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman.

However, this movie is still held back by it's unoriginal story, and by it's overlong run-time of two and a half hours. But if you don't mind hearing the same old superhero origin story, Wonder Woman is a perfectly decent superhero movie.

3.5 out of 5 stars