Although one of the foundations on which much children’s cinema was built, lavatory humour was always perceived as an inglorious last resort. Can’t think of a funny line? Have a character break wind instead. By this logic, Captain Underpants, a film almost entirely crafted out of lavatory humour, should be a soul-crushing, puerile slog. However, David Soren’s animation, which was adapted from the children’s books by Dav Pilkey, is a delightful surprise. It’s a celebration of friendship, of the boundless creativity of children’s minds. It’s a dizzily silly collection of sly cultural references. It’s visually inventive, narratively agile. And yes, it has fart gags.
Despite leaning heavily on crude humour, Captain Underpants doesn’t talk down to its audience, nor does it make assumptions about their attention span: one joke, which is set up in the first half-hour of the film, doesn’t fully pay off until the closing credits.
The title character is the creation of best friends and nascent comic-book writers George (Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch). But due to an incident with a hypno-ring – a confiscated gift from a cereal packet – the boys transform their formidable school principal into the hapless, clueless Captain, a superhero whose main power is extreme stupidity. Peril comes in the form of insane genius Professor Poopypants (Nick Kroll) and the giant robotic lavatory monster that does his bidding. The film may not have the sophistication of a Pixar movie, but you have to admire a picture that wears its silliness – and its underpants – with such obvious pride.
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