Pajama Man (2017 film)

Pajama Man is an American comedy adventure superhero film and a spin-off of 2016’s Captain Underkid, being the first spin-off and second overall installment in the Captain Underkid franchise. It is produced by The Heroes Productions and distributed by Gabriel a combs Movies. It stars Colbi Shofler, Chris Pine, Dylan Bond, and Paul Bettany as the characters.

The film was released theatrically in the United States on May 7, 2017. It was also a box office success, grossing $800 million against a $40 million budget, and received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the performances, casting, plot, humor, and heart, but with some criticizing the pacing. A sequel was released on May 4, 2019.

Plot
Doctor Danger (Chris Pine) and Captain Stone (Paul Bettany), two crazed mad scientists who seek world domination, create a business campaign for a serum that transforms humans into mutants. The two then test the serum on a man, but it kills and disintegrates him. They then prepare the other people for the serum test while improving the serum.

Jimmy Walker (Colbi Shofler), a bullied high school student, continues to be tormented by a bully named Josh (Jeremy Ray Taylor). As Jimmy tries to fight back, he is called to the office by Principal Barber (Patrick Wilson). As Jimmy tries to struggle his way out of the situation, Barber sends Jimmy to detention for trying to “fight with him”. Jimmy then goes to detention until 6 at night and begins to walk home, where he is kidnapped by an unknown figure.

Jimmy finds himself in an abandoned building, where he meets Captain Stone, who just finished fixing the serum. Captain Stone injects Jimmy with the serum, but the serum knocks him out. Stone presumes Jimmy to be dead and poses as an officer to tell his parents (Chris Pratt and Megan Fox) that he died. They then put him in his bed until they can afford the funeral and they go to sleep. Jimmy, however, wakes up and tells his parents that he does not remember anything after walking home from school.

The Next Day, Josh continues to bully Jimmy. However, Jimmy discovers that he has super strength and throws Josh across the room. He is chased by his teachers and he escapes school. Jimmy then finds his way to Joe’s (Dylan Bond) school. Joe, who is actually Jimmy’s little brother, reveals that the serum gave h8m superpowers and the two decide to test them out together on a roof, as he has flight.

Doctor Danger shames Captain Stone, as he knows about the superpowers. Danger gets some of the serum and is given super stretchy and strength based superpowers, vowing to kill what Stone created. He then leaves the factory and prepares to create a new serum, made of poison, to rid Jimmy of his powers and kill him. Stone tries to fight him out of it, but Danger decides to make the potion anyways and creates it out of thin air. Doctor Danger then creates a villain suit and prepares to kill Jimmy, sending him an Email to meet him in the streets. Jimmy reluctantly skims the Email and goes to the street to meet Doctor Danger.

On the Street, Jimmy meets up with Doctor Danger, who tries to kill him. The two fight on the street for a while and Jimmy is nearly killed by Doctor Danger, until a new superhero arrives and defeats him. Doctor Danger promises to return for revenge and flees. Jimmy meets the new hero, who tells him that his name is Bug Man, and that Jimmy should get a hero name for his powers and become a superhero. Bug Man then leaves to fight more crime as Jimmy returns home and begins working on a superhero suit, nicknaming himself “Pajama Man”. Jimmy then finishes the suit and tries it on, promising to become a new superhero and preparing to fight more crime.

Pajama Man (Jimmy) then goes to the city the next day and stops a bunch of crimes, eventually becoming a show off and only caring about himself. Jimmy shows off on the news, which leads to Doctor Danger arriving and attacking the people. Joe shames Jimmy for causing the fight and leaves. Pajama Man and Doctor Danger then have another fight in the city, as Danger is revealed to have got more of the serum and is more powerful than Pajama Man now. Pajama Man flees and returns home. Doctor Danger then decides to kidnap Joe and give him some of the serum, revealing that he’s given him some of the serum in the past.

Jimmy realizes how selfish he’s been and discovers that Joe is missing, deducing that Doctor Danger kidnapped him. Captain Stone interrogates Joe, who does not speak a word about Pajama Man until he eventually tells them his real name. Pajama Man arrives and defeats the henchmen in the warehouse. He then walks in and fights Doctor Danger yet again. Joe escapes and defeats Captain Stone, revealing that he is Bug Man. Pajama Man then teams up with Bug Man and the two have a massive fight with Doctor Danger, who knocks out Bug Man. Doctor Danger then attacks Pajama Man and tries to kill him. Bug Man wakes up and frees Pajama Man, sacrificing himself in the process. Pajama Man slaps Doctor Danger with his super strength into a bowl of acid, melting him and putting an end to his evil once and for all. Captain Stone escapes, but Pajama Man promises to defeat him in the future. Pajama Man then mourns for Bug Man and uses some of his powers and return him back to life. Pajama Man and Bug Man then promise to protect the town forever.

In the End, Pajama Man and Bug Man create a secret lair and store their suits in it. Josh apologizes for bullying Jimmy, as his father was also a bully in the past. Jimmy forgives him and graduates high school. They then hear on the News that Captain Underkid and No-Shirt Boy have been defeating a lot of evil lately, calling them show offs during it. They then hear about a new crime and go to stop it together as partners.

In a mid-credit scene, Captain Stone creates a new serum, plotting to unleash the mutants on Pajama Man and Bug Man later.

Cast

 * Colbi Shofler as Jimmy Walker/Pajama Man, a high schooler who becomes a superhero after a serum is injected into his veins and the archenemy of Doctor Danger.
 * Chris Pine as Doctor Danger, the archenemy of Pajama Man who plots to rid the world of superheroes and reign supreme over the universe.
 * Dylan Bond as Joe Richardson/Bug Man, Pajama Man’s younger brother who is secretly also a superhero named Bug Man and an enemy of Doctor Danger.
 * Paul Bettany as Captain Stone, a super villain who injects a serum into Pajama Man’s veins and tries to create mutant villains to raid the world.
 * Patrick Wilson as Principal Barber, the principal of Pajama Man’s school who is very strict.
 * Jeremy Ray Taylor as Josh, a high schooler who bullies Pajama Man.
 * Chris Pratt as Tom Walker, Jimmy and Joe’s father.
 * Megan Fox as Mary Walker, Jimmy and Joe’s mother.

Additionally, Lennon Richardson and Gabriel Combs appear in uncredited cameos as Captain Underkid and No-Shirt Boy in the film, appearing during news segments and mentioned in the film.

Reception
The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the performances, casting, plot, humor, and heart, but with some criticizing the pacing. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 71% score, based on 784 reviews, with an average score of 6.78 out of 10. The website’s critical consensus reads, “Pajama Man is a major improvement over the franchise’s previous installment, but it still doesn’t quite succeed in superhero movie levels.”

Release
The film was released theatrically in the United States on May 7, 2017. It was also released digitally on July 31, 2017, and on Blu-Ray and DVD on August 12, 2017.

Sequels
The first sequel, titled Pajama Man: The Dark Dimension, was released on May 4, 2019. The second sequel, titled Pajama Man: Aftermath, is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on May 14, 2021. A fourth film is planned.