Theatrical Reviews: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

I’m not going to lie; I’m pretty biased when it comes to the realm of Spongebob, I grew up on it.  I watched the first several seasons up to the original Spongebob Squarepants movie with a religious fervor, and I occasionally go back and watch those classic episodes to this day.  A full-fledged Spongebob initiate am I, so you Spongebob fans can trust me when I say the following.

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is not as bad as the trailers make it look.  The movie was worked on by the series creator Stephen Hillenburg and was directed by Paul Tibbit who has been directing episodes of the show sense the beginning, so the material is in good hands.  I know that the CGI characters that look like superheroes appear to be the worst thing ever, but they aren’t, and they’re only in the movie for a couple of minutes.

Talk about false advertising:  The majority of the movie takes place under-the-sea and in traditional 2D animation.  The movie only features Spongebob and friends in there CGI superhero get-ups for the very last bit of the film.  For the vast bulk of the movie Spongebob isn’t fighting an evil pirate on the surface; he’s going on a post-apocalyptic time travel adventure and trying to teach Plankton, his arch-nemesis, the power of team work.

The film begins with a whimper, with a rather un-enamoring intro scene; and ends with the surprisingly uninspired super-hero sequence.  Yet the movie shines bright between the first and third acts.  There are some supremely weird and bizarre shenanigans that go on as our characters try and find the Krabby Patty secret formula, and it very rarely stops being hilarious.  Among the bizarre is a human sacrifice to the sandwich gods, a time-traveling dolphin named bubbles and a place called the “Taco Haus” that is plentiful in both Mexican and German cuisine.

Even when the movie kills all of its surreal momentum to turn our heroes into the CGI abominations from the trailers, the movie is still plenty entertaining.  Antonio Banderas hams it up in the best possible way, and the CGI is actually kind of impressive if you can get past the fact that it’s ruining your childhood.  It's good to know that after all these years the makers of Spongebob can put out a perfectly childish product that is reminiscent of the best episodes from my youth.

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is definitely not as good as its 2004 predecessor, but it’s still pretty good.  Its fast flying humor, and its bizarre references are always charming if not always hysterical.  The movie never outstays its welcome.  If you have kids, but don’t like Spongebob, then go see the superior Paddington.  But if you live in a full-on Spongebob family, or just have fond memories of the show from yester-decade; then this new Spongebob movie is unlikely to disappoint.