Review of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) by Max H — 31 May 2016

There is no logical reason for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water to be as good as it is. The SpongeBob SquarePants series has been in a steady decline since the third season or so (definitely after the release of the first movie some 11 years ago), ditching its once relatable characters, clever scenarios, and humor that both kids and adults could enjoy for lazy unfocused comedy aimed at a demographic with lessened attention spans. Sponge Out of Water, however, is as close to the series' prime as it has been in years. The humor is much more refined, and definitely has plenty of references that adults can get a chuckle at alongside the more kid oriented humor: among them are two Stanley Kubrick references, and scenes very clearly paying homage to The Road Warrior. The film focuses on the dynamic between SpongeBob and the series' antagonist Plankton, and ends up being strangely compelling in showing sides of these characters that we've never really seen before, especially in terms of the latter. The ultimate message feels a little grating at times, but it almost feels presented in a way that realizes that it's being overdone: whether it's intentional or not, it's quite amusing. It's worth mentioning that the voice cast of the show returns as well: general audiences won't be affected by this, but fans familiar with the series will appreciate it.

The film isn't perfect by any means though. The aforementioned unfocused narrative tropes of the recent episodes often come to play during the movie, and really bring the movie down in some ways. For every clever joke, there's a juvenile and random one that just feels random for the sake of being random rather than actually trying to be funny. For example, a nice wrapped-up ending is temporarily interrupted by a rap battle that adds literally nothing to the movie. This kind of humor is most prevalent during the live-action segments of the film. The film's charm takes a hit during these scenes by focusing on a dull antagonist played by Antonio Banderas (he's delightfully campy, at least): the film has to force these scenes because without them, this movie is just three television episodes held together as loosely as possible. Thankfully, the live-action scenes only take up the third act and intermittent scenes during the rest of the film.

It's no return to form for SpongeBob, but it's a step in the right direction. If you're a fan of the series, and one yearning for the days of the first three seasons, this is as close as you're going to get. Everyone else may find it hard to become invested in the sporadic storytelling, but kids will certainly enjoy it and adults may even find some amusement too.