10 Unexpectedly Awesome 2017 Movies Everyone Thought Would Suck

9. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

Captain Underpants
Fox

Why It Should've Sucked: For many, the title alone invited low expectations, that no movie called Captain Underpants could be anything more than a daft, forgettable, low-effort animated romp.

Plus, director David Soren's previous animated film was the mediocre Turbo, and it was easy to be incredibly skeptical about writer Nicholas Stoller scripting a kids' film, considering most of his output is R-rated comedy, and his few divergences into family-friendly fare have been pretty underwhelming.

Why It Was Awesome: Get over the absurd title and Captain Underpants is an unexpectedly clever and visually stunning animation that's overflowing with emotion while doing solid justice to Dav Pilkey's novel.

From the inspired use of several different animation techniques through to its sheer imagination, slew of sly gags for the adults and unabashed silliness, this is one of the year's best animated films for sure.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.