PHOTO BY 20TH CENTURY FOX

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE

Where is it playing?: Downtown Centre, Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy

What's it rated?: PG

What's it worth?: $ Full Price (Streaming for adults)

Yes, I admit it: I am nearly 26 years old, I voluntarily watched Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, and I thought it was fantastic.

The animated movie is based on the Captain Underpants graphic novel series by Dav Pilkey, combining elements from various books in the series as well as some new elements (and characters) to create its own story. The two protagonists, George Beard (Kevin Hart) and Harold Hutchins (Thomas Middleditch), are students at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, which is run by the tyrannical Principal Krupp (Ed Helms). George is a storyteller and Harold is an artist, so together they make comic books about a variety of characters, including their superhero Captain Underpants. Krupp doesn’t approve of the boys’ antics, but thanks to a series of shenanigans—and a bit of hypnotism—he ends up becoming the real Captain Underpants.

Now, I am obviously not part of the target demographic for this movie. I was literally the only person in the theater who was not either a child or a parent accompanying a child, and pretty much all of the humor in the film was poop-related. With that in mind, there was a lot of laughter going on in that theater. The filmmakers did a great job catering to the portion of the audience that mattered because I was surrounded by adorable children laughing the whole way through.

Despite the juvenile humor, I did genuinely get enjoyment out of this movie, mainly because I was watching it with nostalgic goggles. I read the Captain Underpants books as a kid, and everything from the narration to the animation style did an absolutely brilliant job of staying true to the spirit of the source material. They even managed to incorporate “Flip-O-Rama,” a fun gimmick from the books in which certain action sequences would be portrayed flipbook style.

If you’re a parent of a young child, please go take them to see Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. You might roll your eyes at all the potty jokes, but I promise your kid will love it, and underneath all the immaturity there is a great message about not letting the world crush your creativity or your laughter.

As for my fellow 20-somethings who grew up with the series, you can probably wait until the movie comes out on a streaming service, but I would definitely still give it a chance. Get back in touch with your inner child and enjoy this silly adventure for what it is. (89 min.)

—Katrina Borges