This is just a reaction after watching it for a second time, and I won't be doing a
full, in-depth review quite yet. (That's in the works with my countdowns)
This movie was pretty good. Really far from one of my favorite animated movies, but still good. I mean, the big thing I noticed were how many ties and references to the show there was. Sure, there's the obvious extension of FUN, Pressure, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V, Back to the Past and Sponge-Cano, but there's even a lot of little things, with quotes like the mispronunctiation of words or "Hold the Mayo" or even "Do you Have any sevens?", and settings like sitting on a cliff by the fire (Life of Crime) or riding a big bubble (Atlantis SquarePantis). There's a lot of them and I can't pinpoint them all, but it's really pushing the boundary of "referencing the show" and "ripping it off," which leads to some on-the-edge comedy. What's also great is the animation. The traditional techniques, which we haven't seen in like, forever, combined the crisp brightness of the ninth season with the shading and depth of the first movie, and it's a very appealing combination. The CG really retains that feeling. I MEAN LOOK AT CUTE WITTLE PATRICK DON'T YOU WANNA SQEEEZE 'IM 'TIL HE POPS!?!?
But in all seriousness, they did a really exceptional job incorporating the CG with the live-action and created some fun jokes and awesome action. Antonio Banderas did very well with his very believable role. Even the background feel right, it really felt like it was underwater and bright. The soundtrack was also really original and upbeat. "Thank Gosh it's Monday" (which, despite my theory, I still wish was there) gave it a taste of the character's personalities and the good attitudes of the people before the apocalypse. "Teamwork" really brought SpongeBob and Plankton together and developed thier relationships. As for the characters, it gave a much more wide perspective on thier world and gave more attention to the other characters. It really built up to a great lesson of what selfishness could lead to. It also retained SpongeBob's style of humor and put jokes all the way through. Even the CG parts, which were heavily advertised, were still just as funny, as for one, I love slapstick a lot, and two, most of the jokes in the trailers were taken out of context. By the way, nice job at parodying the Avengers.
Although, according to the behind the scenes video, they said that it was going to bring us to a whole new SpongeBob, going to places they never went before and bettering them ten-fold.
I disagree with that
very thoroughly. While I'm not a fan of a show "pulling an Adventure Time" and changing styles immediately, it didn't really do much that we haven't seen before. Aside the references taking up most of it, we already saw a hero's journey between two characters (The Original Movie), we already saw time travel (Back to the Past), we already saw an apocalypse undersea (Sponge-Cano), we already saw the gang going to land (Pressure), we already saw them becoming superheroes (MM and BB VI), and we already saw SpongeBob and Plankton's bond (FUN). It's not neededly a bad thing, though, it's a good taste of SpongeBob, only longer. Isn't that all we really need?
But what don't I like about this movie?
- Thank Gosh it's Monday's removal. I already talked about this in another topic so I don't have much to say, but it was fully animated, fully recorded, fully composed, written and sung, and fully ready to go for the release, and they just got rid of it. I mean, why is that? Given that I just saw the full music video, I feel it would've been a great way in.
- There was no transition between normal life and apocalypse. I know it was a joke, and I know it was funny, but it somehow feels jarring to see it be so--like that.
- It honestly felt that it could have been shorter. Not even counting the excessive time before and after the SpongeBob segments, I don't even know why, but it felt like somehow, it could've fit into a TV Movie.
- Sandy's Superhero design sucks. Not only does the realism look unfitting next to the colorful cheeriness of the rest of them, it's unsettling to hear Sandy's voice come out of it and to have her power pretty much be galloping and spitting nuts.
Yet those are all remedial compared to how it ended. No, I'm not talking about the climax, that was pure awesomness. And I'm not talking about the rap battle, as I feel like I'm the only one who actually loved it. It was so out of nowhere and silly that I just had to laugh. I mean, they literally censored stuff! I'm talking about that they ultimately decided that after all the devolpent the two went through, all of the problems with society, all of the point of going to land to actually stop this problem, or literally every last thing in the movie... they decided to just completely forget it, because, you know what, "the status quo is God." Normally, with an episode like Nautical Novice I don't really mind it because it's really just an eleven minute comedy that the decided to use 30 seconds of just so it can fit with the show's lack of continuity. This ending is of a movie, where it
needs a strong story to keep you interested. When you decided to
not end every little thing you built up, all of the rest goes with it and it feels
insulting. Even if it isn't at the end of the timeline, there still, needs, to be,
SOMETHING!!!
Anyways, as a whole, this movie was a fun and enjoyable extension to the show. By movie standards, this would get something of a 7.5/10 for me.