Skivvied superhero

One measure of kid films goes like this: The more bathroom humor, the less appealing the movie. By that gauge, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, based on and animated in the style of the Captain Underpants books by Dav Pilkey, should be a real stinker: The film ventures into all the things that cause fourth-grade boys to snicker. But clever sight gags and one-liners and a celebration of interracial brotherhood make it nigh impossible to throw the film out with the toilet water.

Mr. Krupp (voiced by Ed Helms), the humorless principal who tyrannizes Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, threatens to reassign George (Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch) to separate classrooms after they pull one too many pranks. In desperation, the two best friends (of different racial backgrounds) point a plastic red hypnosis ring at Krupp. When the ploy works, for laughs George and Harold command Krupp to take on the persona of Captain Underpants, a comic book character they invented. (Krupp previously confiscated and read the Captain Underpants comic books George and Harold authored together.)

With oversized white underwear swaddling his Homer Simpson physique and a panel of red drapes tied on as a cape, Captain Underpants brings mirth to the school district. He even converts the schoolyard into carnival grounds. Contact with water transforms the fun-loving Captain Underpants back into his cranky alter ego, George and Harold discover, but a snap of their fingers reanimates the principal as the skivvied superhero.

The film injects a second layer of mania when the school hires Professor Poopypants (Nick Kroll) as its new science teacher. The “mad genius inventor” with a thick Bavarian accent builds a machine to destroy children’s ability to laugh.

“Isn’t laughter the best medicine?” Harold appeals.

“No,” Poopypants retorts. “Medicine is ze best medicine!”

So, George and Harold order Captain Underpants to do battle with Poopypants. The plot is not hard to follow, but the two conflicts—the boys versus Krupp, Captain Underpants versus Poopypants—at times feel like one too many stories. The commode comedy and repeating of “Poopypants” get to be a drag, too.

Still, the film (rated PG for its rude humor) is flush with crafty bits. Newbie superhero Captain Underpants solves the problem of a cat stuck in a tree by throwing the old lady who owns it up into the tree. Edith the lunch lady (Kristen Schaal) wears her yellow serving gloves not only in the kitchen but also on a restaurant date with Krupp.

Hollywood’s progressive agenda makers were apparently serving detention during the film’s production. George proclaims he wants to “save first-graders, kindergartners, and the unborn from a life of eternal boredom.”

A sly nod to Airplane! rewards those who stay through the end credits, as does the inspiring theme song celebrating the boys’ genuine friendship:

“Dude, I love you. You are my brother from another mother. What would I do without a friend like you?”