The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants and all the images you see in this review are owned by Paramount Pictures
Directed by Derek Drymon
When the first SpongeBob movie came out, my grandma had to take me to see it because I was way too young to drive myself. That is how old this franchise is, which is an impressive feat in its own right, but with a quarter-century of episodes, spin-offs, streaming originals, and now four movies under its belt, well, let’s just say that it could easily start to resemble another series with yellow characters that hit its peak some time ago. Will this latest SpongeBob adventure be a delight for fans both old and new, or are we just running out the clock until Tom Kenny gets tired of doing that iconic laugh? Let’s find out!!
SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny), Bikini Bottom’s premiere fry cook and most eligible bachelor, is ready to become a proper Sponge-Man instead of a mere SpongeBob, but after hearing tall tales from his idol and boss Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), he doesn’t feel confident that he has what it takes. Fortunately for him, The Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill) hears his laments and offers him the opportunity of a lifetime! Sail with him to the mysterious Underworld and face the challenges that await, with the promise of a Swashbuckler certificate at the end if he can prove himself. With his best buddy Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) at his side, he boards the ship, and they head to the mysterious lands below the deepest depths of the sea, but Mr. Krabs knows the Dutchman’s tricks and chases after him with Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) and Gary in tow. What truly waits for SpongeBob at the end of this adventure with The Flying Dutchman, and are the consequences as dire as Mr. Krabs fears? Can the friendship between SpongeBob and Patrick be enough to withstand whatever challenges they will face, or will the road to manhood finally be what tears these two apart? Seriously, are we just never gonna get a Squidward movie? Sandy got a movie, but not Squidward!?
Am I too old for SpongeBob? Most definitely. I know what episodes I consider to be the best ones, and I haven’t really checked in since Sponge out of Water, so there’s certainly a bit of curmudgeonly bias going into this one which seems to be courting a new generation of Gen-A Sponge fans who don’t know their Nosferatus from their Hash Slinging Slashers. With that being said, and the massive grain of salt with which you should take this, I don’t think this movie lives up to the best of the series and frankly feels like a step back. It’s not terrible by any stretch, especially for the target audience, but it never rises above being average when SpongeBob at its best was genuinely engaging and hilariously subversive. The edges have been smoothed down considerably, both in terms of its storytelling and its flat, cookie-cutter art style.
I never saw Sponge on the Run, which also used a CG look, but the change in animation from the first two films leaves much to be desired, with the main cast all having an uncanniness to their designs and movements. Characters like Krabs and Squidward are flat and lifeless with no texture and some bad lighting that leaves them looking like mid-range PVC figures, and while SpongeBob and Patrick have much more energy in their animation, they can’t help but feel ill-suited to the new look; especially SpongeBob who has this very noticeable crevice texturing around his mouth that moves around when he speaks. Perhaps I’m the only one who will notice it or find it strange, but it’s a problem that only exists because of the jump to this new style, and it feels like we’re sacrificing a lot of the charm for something that doesn’t look any better. Thankfully, the rest of the animation is solid, with some amazing backgrounds in the Underworld some very creative monster designs that add a sense of wonder and discovery to this world. The supporting cast is fine as well with The Flying Dutchman looking accurate to his 2D design while adding some fun flourishes in the jump to 3D, and his first mate Barb ends up stealing the show with her simple but distinct design and dead-pan cynicism being a welcome contrast to how overdone and yet under-baked everything else feels.
The movie’s also retreading quite a bit of ground as far as the story goes. I suppose it’s another indication that this is for the new generation of SpongeBob fans who may not have seen the first movie or even episodes like No Weenies Allowed or Grandma’s Kisses, but this dude of ambiguous age has been trying to become a man for over two decades now and this latest attempt to scrape that particular barrel is the least coherent and overly simplified of the bunch. It also feels decidedly low-key in terms of its characters, as some of the best supporting cast members are completely absent from the narrative. Sandy Cheeks gets a brief cameo to check her off the list, there’s no mention of Pearl despite this being a Mr. Krabs centric storyline, and any SpongeBob movie where Plankton isn’t a main character, either as an antagonist or a protagonist, is a gigantic misstep. We do get plenty of Krabs and Squidward, but there’s no sizzle to that steak and the plot doesn’t seem willing to truly pit them against each other in any interesting ways, which is a shame because I’ve always liked their dynamic in the show and this was a great opportunity to explore that. Thankfully, SpongeBob and Patrick retain their chemistry and have a lot of fun back and forth moments that may not be the best material they’ve ever had, but is certainly appreciated in this otherwise straightforward and uneventful journey.
Where the movie excels is everything at the margins. As I said, the locations look great, and the Underworld is a fun setting for an adventure like this and while the chemistry between Squidward and Krabs doesn’t work as well as it should, their B-plot adventures have enough zaniness to justify its place in this movie. There are enough rapid-fire gags and creative ideas for the animation to drag this tedious plot across the finish line, and it has just enough of the SpongeBob charm to keep from feeling like an entirely cynical product. My time with the series has long past and I won’t begrudge the younger generation their fancy new SpongeBob movies, but I get the feeling that this won’t stand the test of time like the original. We may all be Goofy Goobers, but this movie is the least Goofiest Goober of them all.
The Reviewers Unite 