SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie [2004]

[So, I was going through my hard drive – and I found this review written March of 2010 – I don’t recall ever posting it – but I do remember the spirit in which I wrote this – so I recovered in and decided to post it]

Trying to consider myself a movie blogger who’ll review anything isn’t as easy as it appears – so let me try this out.

Spongebob’s sent on a mission to save the Chum Bucket by recovering Poseidon’s crown – and along the way he discovers what it means to be a “man”.

Believe it or not this is sitting on my DVD shelf – it’s one of those films that give me a little laugh. I’m not going to pretend it appeals to anything other than my immature side that still finds the sound of fake farts hilarious.

The character of Spongebob – if you are not familiar with the show – has two neighbors – his best friend Patrick who’s even more childlike than Spongebob – and the overly serious Squidward who’s constantly annoyed with the childish antics of Spongebob and Patrick – who are always looking for fun. Spongebob kind of falls inbetween – but is certainly more like his friend Patrick – a happy-go-lucky sea sponge.

Spongebob is just another in a long line of characters in movie history that holds his childlike innocence – he’s still got the wide eyed view of how grand the world is – and is good for teaching kids moral lessons in fun ways. He goes through what could be called a redefinition of his priorities – when he’s overlooked for the promotion at the Chum Bucket – and decides that being immature isn’t exactly always the best way to go through life. The journey he takes with Patrick – is his opportunity for him to show how he can be responsible – yet it’s the journey that teaches him that sometimes being immature is just as important to keep things fun. It’s a fine message – not to take one’s self so seriously all the time.

I really enjoyed the message – some of the goofy music (though some of it is too goofy) – and the characters. I thought the pacing was pretty well done – except towards the end where I felt it started to drag – but that’s probably more out of exhaustion from the wackiness of the movie. I liked the creative blending of the live action and traditional animation – though I love Pixar – traditional animation is still a fantastic underutilized medium. The voice acting by all the usual cast members is fun as always – and the guest voices are fun – though I felt Scarlett Johansson’s raspy voice didn’t work well for the princess.

I would’ve liked to see more with Squidward – he’s the classic curmudgeon character – who’s always got a fun snide comment. Since Spongebob is on his quest – of course their interaction is left at a minimum. There’s not much of Mr. Crabs – and that’s fine by me – he’s kind of a one note character – but he’s also the gateway character to Plankton the main antagonist who’s always after Mr. Crabs Crabby Patty recipe for his own burger joint. Since the whole story is brought about by Plankton’s mischief – you get a pretty good dose of his boisterous delusions of grandeur.

Well, all this being said – you know I’ve got this on my DVD shelf – so you must know I think pretty well of the film – and you’re right – it’s a solid 4 out of 5 – I don’t see it getting a better score in my book. There’s not much here to review – Spongebob is a pretty prominent character in today’s pop culture – everyone’s probably heard of him if not seen him or watched him. He’s one of those love ‘em or hate ‘em characters – so obviously if you hate ‘em – you won’t be able to stand a minute of this film.