Captain Underpants. The First Epic Movie. Revie

One of my silly claims to fame as a consumer of media (particularly animation) is that I’ve seen every DreamWorks and Pixar feature length production in the cinemas since Shrek 2 in Summer 2004. On the DreamWorks side of the equation I’ve seen the birth and death of several potential franchises as well they have a few stone cold classics within the field of contemporary animation (the How to Train Your Dragon films and the first two Shrek movies spring to mind.) That being said,truly great Dreemworks productions are very rare. They are far more interested in making nakedly commercial animation that definitely will appeal to an audience but will also have limited artistic credibility. Occasionally you will get a film l which goes in the other direction (Trolls is far more interesting for its truly stunning animation and artistic style then any of the content of the actual film) but these are rare. That being said going into a screaming of the Captain Underpants movie I was aware that this was perhaps the best reviewed DreamWorks film in a very long time. As someone who did grow up to a certain extent with the source material the art and animation style looked to evoke the success of Dav Pilkey’s children’s novels pretty effectively. The film looked as if it had a handle on the sort of silly and nonsensical toilet humour that makes the books so appealing to many young boys around the world. With these assumptions correct.
The short answer to the question at the end of the previous paragraph is a definite yes. I will probably go as far as to say that Captain Underpants is the best thing that DreamWorks have done outside of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise in a very long time (probably since that very underrated Puss in Boots film.) Don’t get me wrong the humour in a film titled Captain Underpants is just about as juvenile as you would expect. However, stupid humour can be very effective if done well. The best example this reviewer can think of to illustrate this (outside of the animated field) is the 2004 comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Captain Underpants might not have the same instantly memorable slapstick set pieces of Dodgeball but they work for similar reasons. They know exactly what they are and are willing to embrace it. Even though I don’t think Captain Underpants will go down as an animated classic there’s no denying I laughed and smiled for the entirety of the 86 minute ruining time at all the silly potty humour. Also worth noting is that the film has moments of comedic serialism you would only typically see in a Dan Harmon production. This is somewhat surprising and very much appreciated from my perspective.
The impression from the trailers that the animation style mimics the style of the book very effectively carried over into the finished film. Every frame of the film was very clearly put together by people who understand the appeal of the source material and who care about preserving its appeal in another medium. This is honestly pretty rare for DreamWorks production but is massively appreciated by someone like me who has seen all of their various successes and failures down the years
Captain Underpants is not an animated classic. However it is consistently amusing from start to finish and has a clear understanding and respect for the source material but you don’t typically see in many Hollywood productions. As someone who loves animation and has seen every kids film released so far this summer this is not only goes down as the most surprising but also by far the best. Not to mention the end credits theme is performed by Weird Al Yankovic. On top of being a good film overall anything that introduces a new generation to the genius of Weird Al will always gain points in my book. Hearing his theme close out a surprisingly very good film just reminded me that I really should try and get a copy of the “Squeeze Box: Collected Works” box set when it comes out this November.

8/10

The Circle. Movie Review

Have you ever looked at a film and wondered why it has received practically no promotion on a worldwide stage. That was this reviewer around the time of the US release of  The Circle a futuristic technology-based thriller that features among its cast Emma Watson, Tom Hanks and John Boyega I remember looking at the poster for this film after first being made aware of its existence and wondering why I had never heard of it before. Then it was released in the US and although it did not appear to flop as badly as some expected it clearly did not do well for a film that honestly boasts a huge cast of recognisable names outside of the three previously mentioned. Then, suddenly one day Netflix UK announced they had picked up the rights to the film for the UK market and it would be available to stream within two weeks of the announcement. As mediocre as the film apparently was this reviewer thought that the very bankable main stars must have seen something in this film and made a note to watch the film at some point in future. Now that this reviewer has seen The Circle what did he find.
The first thing to note from this reviewer’s perspective is that the the main stars may possess the most marketability for this film but as mentioned the cast is rounded out by other hugely recognisable names. These include Karen Gillan (complete with natural Scottish accent), Patton Oswalt and the final film appearance of one of this reviewer’s favourite character actors, the great Bill Paxton (rather unfortunately, as a father suffering multiple sclerosis.) The plot revolves around Emma Watson’s central character who takes a job working for this futuristic technology company/social media platform with a huge number of users worldwide. Turns out this company specialises in stealth camera equipment that enables these cameras to be watching you on a 24/7 basis (because surely that’s an original plot in 2017.) Karen Gillan is Emma Watson’s best friend (with natural Scottish accent) and John Boyega is a technology designer who is worried his technology is being used for nefarious reasons. Tom Hanks also shows up as the leader of the company to give a speech every so often. Well this film is probably not brilliant in concept surely this cast could do something with this material even if it is less than great overall.
It’s worth saying that The Circle is not the worst thing this reviewer had ever seen. It will not be troubleig his worst of the year list but at the same time there’s no denying with a cast this stacked with talent that should be able to bring in an audience this film should be a lot better. What we end up getting as an audience is a strange cross between The Internship (you can thank this reviewer for reminding you that garbage exists) a dumbed down version of Mr Robot and last year’s surprisingly underrated teen film Nerve (which you can conveniently now find on Netflix.) Well none of the performances are outright terrible there is a distinct sense among this huge cast of big names that everyone is phoning it in to pick up their paychecks. You can tell whilst watching it that the writers thought this script was a lot smarter than it actually is. Despite all of these criticisms the film with the Sword of what should be mediocre background noise that probably gets a pass for that reason.
There’s no denying that given the level of talent attached to this film it should be so much better. However if you are attracted the Netflix listing for this film by its impressive cost you probably won’t hate yourself for watching it. However, there are probably better ways to spend your time.
4/10