Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

Two mischievous kids named Harold (Thomas Middleditch) and George (Kevin Hart) hypnotise their mean school principal (Ed Helms) and turn him into their comic book creation, the kind-hearted and elastic-banded Captain Underpants.

If you're over the age of 30, there's a good chance that Captain Underpants will mean relatively nothing to you - but it's become a hugely popular children's book series that's been running for the past twenty years. As with any successful children's book series, a film adaptation is inevitable - and that's where Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie comes in. Right from the get-go, it's clear that this film isn't aimed at the adults who are bringing the little ones to see it and that's fine - not everything has to appeal to every possible base of interest. In fact, the film revels in the fact that it's using kid-friendly toilet humour and getting away with it.

The jokes, for the most part, are tame and obvious. The villain of the story is a Professor P.P. Diarrheastein Poopypants, who has a comically large head with glasses and sounds like what you think a cartoon version of Albert Einstein sounds like. The finale of the film sees a gigantic talking toilet, being manned by Professor Poopypants, attempting to suck the laughter out of the children of a nearby school. Then, of course, there's the titular hero - a grouchy school principal who's been hypnotised by two kids to become their creation, Captain Underpants. There's no denying that it's the kind of film with a fertile imagination that children will just eat up, and leave everyone slightly baffled.

The voice-actors are, for the most part, relatively straightforward and there isn't much in the way of using their comedic talents for the betterment of the film. Kevin Hart and Silicon Valley's Thomas Middleditch are oddly cast as the two kids, but neither are given a chance to demonstrate their comedic skills. Ed Helms, meanwhile, is able to jump from loveable goof Captain Underpants to grouchy and misanthropic Principal Krupp with ease - but again, he's not funny, it's merely the situation around him is funny. Granted, there's a lot to laugh at in the various situations, but eventually there's a sense that it's all running out of steam and becoming a little rote and predictable. The animation is interesting, as it moves between the 3D CGI to paper cut-outs and flipagrams for a few scenes to illustrate a point or punch up a scene, but doesn't commit to any in a meaningful way. For the most part, it's bright and colourful and exactly what can hold a child's attention for ninety minutes.

The underlying message of Captain Underpants - that imagination, humour and creativity is something to be fostered and protected in children - is admirable, and the film smartly doesn't lean too hard on it for the sake of sentimentality. Instead, it's added at points where there's a lull or a drop in humour, but those are few and far between. For the most part, Captain Underpants is a reasonably entertaining, amiably funny film with an underutilised voice cast. While it might not be intelligent or uproariously funny for adults, it's more than enough to keep the little ones entertained for an hour and a half.