Well shoot, is it time to review the second SpongeBob movie already? You know, I still play the mobile game based on this movie from time to time (and isn’t so weird that they ended up naming the third movie the same thing as this game????). Now that I’m thinking about that app, I’m thinking about how promotional games for movies have changed over the years. It used to be entire console video games, like the Movie Game. Now it’s apps. Or honestly, now no promotional games are made anymore. I miss those times. ANYWAY, let me get back on track.
So…I actually did not rewatch this movie like I rewatch the episodes I review. And the reason for this is that I simply don’t have time for that lol. But I’m confident that my review is still funky and fresh, because I’ve got a pretty good memory for this little movie here. I used to rewatch this bad boy all the time back in the day.
Sponge Out Of Water was easily the biggest production
SpongeBob SquarePants had to offer up until this point (and I mean…it’s probably the biggest production this show has ever had, given that it has the biggest budget out of all 3 movies…and the biggest box office results too). This movie’s got celebrities, two kinds of animation…just lots going for it. And you know what else it’s got? It’s got quality. Yeah, I’ll say it right here, with my whole chest. I like this movie. I like it a whole bunch. I know it’s popular to hate on it, or at least it
was popular, once upon a time, but I was never with that. So let’s discuss.
Okay, so…reason number one I like this movie…the plot is great. The fact that this plot is built on SpongeBob and Plankton teaming up is great to me. Y’all know I already like this duo a lot, so this shouldn’t be surprising. It’s like “F.U.N.”, but with even more time spent with these two trying to work together. SpongeBob’s endless optimism with Plankton’s cynicism is a great mix, and it works every time! I loved Plankton in this movie, he was so funny, and I like seeing him not be the big bad for once, considering he was in the last movie. He even shows a bit of good in that 1% evil heart of his. And yeah, of course the movie has to end with things going back to the status quo, but I think it does this in a tasteful way, a way that doesn’t feel like a slap in the face after everything we’d seen up to that point.
The visuals of this movie are also fantastic, which isn’t a surprise. If anything, I wish this movie had more color, but I’m happy with the art direction as it is. Character designs? This movie’s got ‘em and it’s got ‘em good. Everything about Bubbles is super cool, including his little hideout. The time travel scenes here are super cool looking as well. And I love the look of apocalyptic Bikini Bottom. Have y’all seen some of the
concept art for this movie? Super cool stuff in there, I have it as background pictures on my computer. Also, the backgrounds in this movie are excellent (
1,
2,
3). Speaking of art direction, I love the music in this movie. Specifically Squeeze Me. That’s some good ish right there. Also, the
credits are so cute! I remember being mesmerized watching these when I used to rewatch this movie regularly. Still mesmerized now, honestly.
The first half of this movie was almost perfect, if we’re being real. The opening scene with the attack on the Krusty Krab was hilarious and expressive, and super fun to watch. And then I loved the bit with Mr. Krabs using SpongeBob as a torture device, too funny. Makes me think of “Whale Watching”. Everything with the apocalypse thing is super funny to me, especially when it just suddenly
is the apocalypse. And SpongeBob trying to convince Plankton to work as a team is also entertaining.
Now, just because I like the first half of this movie more doesn’t mean that the second part of the movie is bad. I like the part where they leave the ocean and go to the surface, the 3D-animated SpongeBob and co. look really good! And I love the idea of them becoming superheroes, it’s fun, and a movie cliche. Also, Antonio Banderas is just too funny as Burger Beard. This part of the movie really feels like the part for kids, more so than any other part of the movie, and I’m fine with that. This is a show for children, after all, and I think a lot of critiques of this show in general would do well to remember that.
There are some things that I don’t like in this movie. My main complaint has to do with the first half of this movie, hence why I said it was “almost perfect”. See, the first half of this movie benches a lot of the main characters really hard. Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Patrick, Squidward…they’re all given very little to do, which also means that only characters with substance in this movie are SpongeBob and Plankton. This is fine for an episode…not a movie. I would’ve enjoyed a B-plot very much. And I mean come on, this is a movie, it could’ve afforded having a sideplot, that’s what these extended runtimes are for!
In general, “Sponge On The Run” is a pretty good movie. It channels a lot of the feel of the first movie, but with bigger stakes and bigger name-recognition, and I’m cool with that. Yeah, maybe it doesn’t have the kind of “heart of the show” type of plot that the first movie did, but it doesn’t need to. The first movie had that, this movie has fun times basking in its popularity. A long-running show like
SpongeBob SquarePants deserves to do that every once in a while.
Movie Tier: Amazing
