CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE (U)

Fourth grade pals George Beard (voiced by Kevin Hart) and Harold Hutchins ( Thomas Middleditch) run amok at elementary school, driving teachers to distraction with their antics. When one of their pranks goes awry, the boys end up in the office of mean-spirited headmaster Benjamin Krupp ( Ed Helms).

He threatens to separate the lads so George uses a plastic 3D hypnoring he excavated from a box of frosted cereal to send Krupp into a trance. The tykes convince the headmaster he is a superhero called Captain Underpants, who gallivants around town wearing

just a pair of white flowing red cape.

Every superhero needs an archnemesis and the new science teacher Professor P ( Nick Kroll) turns out to be a megalomaniac with an incredible shrinking device. Let battle commence.

Adapted from Dav Pilkey’s series of colourful children’s books, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is an energetic computer-animated adventure, which maintains a brisk pace before the inevitable showdown between the forces of scantily clad good and cackling evil.

Effervescent vocal performances keep energy levels up for the entire Y-fronts and a

89 minutes, including multiple opportunities for Helms to bellow the titular superhero’s jaunty catchphrase (“Tra-la-laa”).

The script embraces puerile humour with a goofy grin and repeatedly trots out fart and poop gags to keep younger viewers sniggering with glee.

The animation ripples with bright colours and, in a pleasing nod to Pilkey’s source material, director David Soren has incorporated hand-drawn visuals as well as one sequence involving puppets.

Effort ultimately exceeds achievement – a silly yet sweet confection.