The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2021 (Paramount+)) review

 

At this point, there’s really no need to explain SpongeBob SquarePants. It is the undisputed flagship franchise of Nickelodeon, easily holding the record as the network’s longest-running series to date with 265 episodes produced since the show’s debut in 1999. Simply put, it’s easy to see how the show, inspired by creator Stephen Hillenburg’s love of the ocean, has become an indelible staple of the pop-cultural zeitgeist as its impact can be seen across many mediums including, of course, film. In 2004, Hillenburg directed the franchise’s first feature film, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and while it may not have been the official series finale that he wanted it to be, it was a solid hit with critics and audiences and is very much fondly remembered by those who grew up with it. Hillenburg would end up stepping down as SpongeBob’s showrunner shortly after the film’s release but would eventually return to work on the series in 2014 and helped develop its second feature film, 2015’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which was another critical and commercial hit. And while he tragically passed away on November 26^th, 2018 due to complications of ALS, his legacy continues to live on through the show, which is still going strong today and has now given us its third feature film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, which went through quite a bit in terms of its release.

As you might have guessed, Sponge on the Run ended up being one of the many films that was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced it to abandon its originally intended theatrical release date of May 22^nd, 2020. However, unlike other films that got impacted by COVID-19, the method in which this film’s release was reworked was, admittedly, an odd one. In other words, instead of just being released via a streaming service or by taking the chance and releasing it in theaters anyway despite the obviously smaller crowds, this film’s release was spread out over the course of this past year and varied depending on the region. While it did end up seeing a theatrical release this past August… said release only occurred in Canada. International audiences (apart from China) would then proceed to get it in November… via Netflix. But as for the U.S., we didn’t officially get it until recently when it debuted on ViacomCBS’ newly reworked streaming service, Paramount+ (formerly CBS All-Access), on March 4^th. So, yeah, this was a rather strange development to behold since no other film that was supposed to come out in 2020 but had to get pushed back to a later date has been released in a way that was as thoroughly complicated as Sponge on the Run’s release was. Nevertheless, the third cinematic outing of the sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea is now available to domestic audiences, and as someone who very much grew up with this show (but not to the point where I’m an obnoxious gatekeeper about it… I’ll elaborate on what I mean by that later…), I’d say that this is another solidly entertaining adventure with these beloved characters.

In the peaceful town of Bikini Bottom, life couldn’t be any more perfect for SpongeBob SquarePants (voiced by Tom Kenny). He’s got a great job as the fry cook of the Krusty Krab and is always surrounded by his best friends like Patrick Star (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke). However, it could be argued that the greatest relationship that SpongeBob has with anyone in Bikini Bottom is none other than the one that he has with his pet snail Gary as it’s a friendship that has stood strong ever since the two first met when SpongeBob was just a young lad at the Kamp Koral summer camp. On one fateful day, however, SpongeBob is distraught to discover that Gary has gone missing. Along with Patrick, he soon learns that Gary has been taken (unbeknownst to them by SpongeBob’s boss Mr. Krabs’ (voiced by Clancy Brown) long-time nemesis Plankton (voiced by Mr. Lawrence) as part of his latest plan to steal the Krabby Patty formula) to King Poseidon (voiced by Matt Berry), ruler of the Lost City of Atlantic City. Specifically, King Poseidon desires snail slime so that he can maintain his youthful complexion, and unfortunately for him, his snail resources have been completely dried up at this point. And so, driven by his devotion to his beloved pet, SpongeBob and Patrick head off on the perilous journey to Atlantic City, which sees them encountering both new friends and new enemies along the way as they realize that they’ll need the help of their friends to rescue Gary.     

The first thing to note about this film is how it adopts a radically different animation style when compared to what fans of the show are familiar with. Ever since its 1999 debut, SpongeBob SquarePants has been produced in the classic 2-D animation style, which naturally carried over into the first two films. But as for Sponge on the Run, it fully opts for the 3-D animated route that was utilized for the climax of Sponge Out of Water when the gang ended up in the real world. Still, for what it’s worth, this film’s visuals are well-handled as they don’t betray any of the franchise’s iconic designs and even manage to maintain something of a two-dimensional vibe a la films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This faithfulness to the source material also applies to the film’s story, which dutifully maintains the show’s knack for mixing its traditionally light-hearted atmosphere with its frequent journeys into some utterly surreal territory. I mean, where else are you going to see Keanu Reeves cameoing as an all-knowing tumbleweed named Sage or Snoop Dogg leading a bunch of zombie pirates in a full-blown musical number? That said, though, if you’re a long-time fan of this show, you might find this film’s plot to be a bit bare-bones and routine since it does rehash a few of the series’ old plotlines (e.g. anyone who’s watched the show through at least Season 4 will know that this isn’t the first time that it’s done a ‘Gary goes missing’ plot). And yet, with some solid emotional beats that are excellently performed by the franchise’s well-established voice cast, I’d argue that this is what gives the film a slight edge over its predecessor, Sponge Out of Water, which was, admittedly, hindered a bit by the off-putting mean streak that the series started to adopt after the first film.

As I’ve noted in the past, I’m very much a part of the generation that grew up with SpongeBob SquarePants. Sure, it’s been quite some time since I’ve watched the show regularly, but I can’t even begin to describe the impact that it’s had on me, and in a way, this also applies to my work on this site. Back in 2015, I did a pair of SpongeBob posts in honor of the then-impending release of Sponge Out of Water, which consisted of a personal Top 25 Favorite Episodes list and a review of the first film. To this day, those two posts still stand as some of the most popular pieces that I’ve ever published for this site, with the Favorite Episodes post topping them all with a view count that ranges somewhere between 7,000 and 9,000 views. However, these posts are also a clear-cut example of how I was in a much different mindset at the time when it comes to my views on the show. Back then, I’ll fully admit that I was simply among the many who spent way too much time lamenting about the show’s abrupt decline in quality in the wake of the first film’s release. Nowadays, though, I find myself looking at the franchise’s fandom with a wearier eye since we’re at a point now where SpongeBob is arguably known more for its memes rather than anything from the show itself, especially since, from what I’ve heard, it did manage to genuinely overcome the rough patch that it went through in the late 2000s. And on that note, it’s time to address the source of the franchise’s biggest controversies… its own fandom…

Yes, as crazy as it may seem, the SpongeBob fandom has somehow become another dominant player in our current landscape of increasingly toxic internet fandom, mostly due to their intense devotion to Stephen Hillenburg’s legacy and equally intense hatred of anything that they deem ‘offensive’ to said legacy. Their outrage has affected a whole bunch of things in recent years such as the franchise’s Broadway musical when a live recording of it was aired on Nick and the Super Bowl LIII halftime show, which made headlines thanks to a petition from fans to include the song ‘Sweet Victory’ from the classic episode ‘Band Geeks’ as a tribute to Hillenburg… which didn’t end up happening. But as I’m sure many of you are aware, the biggest victim of their hostility has been the series’ first official spin-off, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, a prequel series that debuted on Paramount+ alongside Sponge on the Run, which directly ties into the new series thanks to its various flashbacks. It’s also worth noting that the idea of following the younger versions of SpongeBob and the gang at a summer camp was originally meant to be the main premise of this film back when it was subtitled It’s a Wonderful Sponge and, as that title suggests, would’ve included an homage to the 1946 holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life. However, as you might have guessed, a lot of SpongeBob fans didn’t take too kindly to Kamp Koral to the point where they’ve claimed that Stephen Hillenburg would’ve never approved of it (even though, spoilers, he was 100% aware of it and, according to the franchise’s long-time writer/showrunner Vincent Waller, probably would’ve loved it…).  

But that’s about as much as I’ll say when it comes to this, to be perfectly frank, frustratingly overblown scandal. Instead, I’ll just conclude today’s review by stating that The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is yet another solid cinematic outing for one of the most iconic animated franchises in the history of pop-culture. While it may not exactly be the SpongeBob that most fans are familiar with from a visual perspective, it certainly captures SpongeBob’s most endearing traits such as its quirky humor and its heartfelt themes. In fact, I’d argue that the latter aspect is what ultimately helps this film gain a slight leg up over its immediate predecessor, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. While that film did, at least, have Stephen Hillenburg involved in a much greater capacity when compared to what was going on with the show itself, it still suffered quite a bit from several of the issues that had been plaguing the show at that time. And while Sponge on the Run is far from perfect, namely due to its largely predictable plot, it still manages to feel more in line with the charm of the original series’ first few seasons. I can’t say that it’s ‘better’ than the first SpongeBob film, but at the same time, I’ll admit that this is mainly just because of how many times I’ve seen that one. Sadly, this new film might end up getting somewhat overlooked due in large part to the frankly undeserved negative reputation that both it and Kamp Koral have been garnering from the fandom, but if you’re not following that mindset and are, at the very least, willing to give this new film a chance, it’s a solid little flick.

Rating: 4/5

IN MEMORY OF STEPHEN HILLENBURG (1961-2018)

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) review

As I’ve previously mentioned quite a few times this past week, the show ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ has been in a fairly steep decline in the years since the series’ first film, ‘The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie’, was released in 2004. Ultimately the biggest reason for this has been due to the increasingly stale and mediocre writing, from the overly drawn out personality traits that have begun to make most of the main characters fairly unlikable to rehashed plot-points and characters to imagery that’s far too grotesque, graphic, and disturbing for a kids’ show… and in the case of this show, that’s saying a lot. I haven’t watched any of the newer episodes of the series in quite some time, so I had my fingers crossed when it came to the series’ second major film release, ‘Sponge Out of Water’, in the hopes that, if anything, it would at least be better than what we’ve seen from the show these past few years. And thankfully, I’m pleased to say that, for the most part, this film is a step up in quality from the show’s recent run. I say ‘for the most part’ because admittedly there are some cases where this film veers toward the show’s recent habits but overall this does feel much more in line with the show’s original ‘pre-movie’ run, and considering what has come from this series in recent years, that’s a good thing.

The plot of the film is fairly simple; everything’s all hunky-dory in Bikini Bottom until Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), as usual, tries to steal the Krabby Patty formula from the Krusty Krab. And of course, SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) and Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) keep Plankton from getting the formula. But this time, the formula suddenly disappears while SpongeBob and Plankton are fighting over it. Despite the obvious fact that Plankton had nothing to do with it, Mr. Krabs accuses Plankton of stealing it. SpongeBob ends up protecting Plankton from Mr. Krabs’ wrath and as a result, he becomes a social pariah amongst the people of Bikini Bottom, which then causes everything in Bikini Bottom to fall into complete turmoil and anarchy due to the fact that Krabby Patties aren’t being made. This results in SpongeBob and Plankton having to team up to try and find the formula. Eventually, they learn that the formula was stolen by a pirate named Burger Beard (played by Antonio Banderas), with the aid of a magical book that makes anything that is written in it come true, in order to set up his fast food restaurant. This leads SpongeBob and his friends to have to travel up to the surface and, with the help of the magic book as well, become superheroes so that they can get the formula back from Burger Beard.

Like I said in my review of the first film, ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ is a weird show, plain and simple. And the same can be said for both of these films as well. But of course the writers just go with it and that’s part of the franchise’s charm. Like the first film, ‘Sponge Out of Water’ does maintain the show’s visual style as well as its humor and on a positive note, the writing feels more in line with the show’s original run. The writing is smarter and there aren’t as many annoying or aggravating moments similar to what we come to expect from the show nowadays. But even with that said, there admittedly are some instances where the current poor trends of the show tend to slip in, namely some mean-spirited character moments. A line spoken by Mr. Krabs in a scene where SpongeBob is about to be ‘sacrificed’ (if you see the film, you’ll know what I’m talking about) is particularly cringe-worthy. Thankfully, there are only a few instances in the film where stuff like this occurs. Obviously not all of the jokes hit (that and this is aimed towards kids so I have the feeling adults won’t get much out of this unless they were already fans of the show) but for the most part, the film has a solid amount of funny moments and visual gags.

However, something that’s also worth noting is that the film does have one rather noticeable flaw and that comes from the writing. While it is stronger than what it has been on the show, the overall story is rather scatterbrained. One of the biggest elements of the film’s promotional material is that the characters come to the surface and become superheroes. But guess what? That’s only in the final act of the film and not only that, but if you’ve seen most of the trailers, then you’ve already seen the majority of this part of the film. Because of this, the live-action sequences do feel a little tacked on. But on the bright side, because of this, the film actually does stick with the traditional animation the show has been known for most of the 93-minute runtime. It’s not a case where most of the film was done with computer animation, which is what I feared it would be going in. The computer animation is actually really good here but as I noted earlier, this part of the film doesn’t really play that big a part in the overall plot. The film really could’ve benefitted from having a tighter script that did a better job at balancing out these two parts of the story.

Unlike the first movie, which had some notable celebrity voices including Scarlett Johansson and Alec Baldwin, just to name a few, there aren’t any major ‘cameos’ in this film when it comes to the voice cast. It’s just the main stars of the show but they all do a solid job as usual as they’ve been doing ever since the show first debuted back in 1999 (boy writing that just made me feel so old). In fact, if this film does have one advantage over the previous film, it is that it gives some of the other main characters, like Squidward and Sandy, more to do whereas in the first film it was mostly from SpongeBob and Patrick’s perspective. The only major ‘cameo’ in this film comes in the form of Antonio Banderas as the main villain Burger Beard. As I noted earlier, the live-action sequences felt a little tacked on to a film that had a story that was, for the most part, all over the place. As a result, and without really giving anything major away, Burger Beard admittedly isn’t that much of an intimidating villain in this. Despite this, it’s clear that Banderas is having a lot of fun in this fairly campy and over-the-top role and his charisma and energy, if anything, do make up for the fact that the character is a rather weak villain.

‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’, as a whole, is a noticeable improvement over the show’s recent run, though admittedly it’s not perfect. This is mainly due to the fact that the overall story is a bit of a mess and the major selling point of SpongeBob and the gang becoming superheroes actually doesn’t play as big a part in the film as the trailers suggested. Still, despite the occasional veering into the show’s recent bad habits, the writing does at least feel more in line with the show’s original run with a lot more clever humor and visual gags. Plus, if you’re a fan of traditional animation, then you’ll be pleased to know that most of this film is done in this style of animation rather than computer animation, which is only reserved for the final act of the film. In short, while I can’t say that this film is as good as the first film, it does serve as a nice little ‘return to form’ for this long-running series that will more than likely satisfy anybody who felt that the show hasn’t been as good as it was before the first film, which for the record it was. Heck, in some cases it might even induce some nostalgic memories from the past. This film was mainly worked on by the series’ original creative team (including series’ creator Stephen Hillenburg) and the final product shows that they gave it their all, resulting in a silly but also very fun little animated film.

Rating: 3.5/5