First Take: Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie- the surprise family film of the summer

SYPNOSIS: Two overly imaginative pranksters named George and Harold hypnotize their principal into thinking he’s a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dimwitted superhero named Captain Underpants.

DreamWorks are a studio who have done very little wrong when it comes to their output. Now back with their second release of this year, Captain Underpants brought with it the burden of launching a new franchise. And they did it excellently.

David Soren has directed a very tight 1 hour 29 minute film, the pacing isn’t perfect, but considering the target audience, that’s a good thing, and working to a script from Nicholas Stoller (which is very much true to the original books that inspired the film), there is plenty of comedy for both audiences young and old. It’s animated really well by the team at DreamWorks as per usual, and with Theodore Shapiro providing the score, the technical talents are brilliant.

The voice cast are no different, and with the creme de la creme of comedic talent including Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Jordan Peele (better known as the director of this year’s brilliant Get Out) providing their talents to the film, and considering that people like Hart are more well known for their explicit material, all of the cast play to their strengths to create a film that can be enjoyed by pretty much anyone, passing the 6 laugh test with ease.

THE VERDICT

Considering how formulaic animated films have become, Captain Underpants is a breath of fresh air. Funny, self referential, and most importantly, a lot of fun for every sort of audience member. This is quite simply the biggest surprise I’ve seen this summer.

RATING: 4/5