Review of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) by Ryyx — 17 Feb 2015

I was quite disappointed by this. As an adult the tv show is loaded with intelligent satire, unique and quirky humor. The combination of high and low brow humor, slapstick and innuendo is enough to keep many adults happy and entertained.

This movie however is basically devoid of most of these things. Aside from 2 or 3 scenes and jokes, this movie feels like it wasn't written by the same people who write for the show, or perhaps when confronted by a longer running time they choked? Still other made for TV feature length Sponge Bob movies were funnier and more in tune with the show.

The premise of the movie allows for some "What if" scenarios to unfold... but the writers seem asleep at the wheel.

Numerous chances for the typical quirky humor of sponge bob are missed, and sponge bob is essentially little more than an exaggerated Pollyanna, which is only a small part of what makes him funny on the TV show.

Probably the only part I truly laughed about and felt was true to the spirit of spongebob, was a sequence inside his mind... As well as one or two gags that happened along the way.

It felt almost like this was a bit of false advertising as the commercials showed a life action style predominantly, and most of the movie is basically the same as the cartoon.

Overall I think this will appeal more to the younger Spongebob fanbase, and less to the parents of the show, or the kids who grew up watching it and are now adults themselves who appreciated it for it's adult friendly satire, innuendo and quirky/awkward punchlines.

Several characters in particular feel written differently as if they have been written not by people who know and love the characters, but by people who watched a few episodes and copied down jokes and gags they saw.

Bottom line, this isn't the first full feature length show spongebob has made, but it feels as if it is. It is terribly derivative, bland and as if it's been cleansed of any adult humor... Maybe Nickelodeon didn't want to risk offending the parents who don't normally watch the show?

Anyway this movie would be fine for the ten and under crowd, my 12 year old hated it (and he loves spongebob), and adults taking their kids to see this, should refrain from eating any rich meals that cause the ITIS before hand or they will end up falling asleep in their seats like I did.

I kind of feel sorry for Antonio Banderas, because he had a fine performance, but I felt like I was watching a man who was once at the top of the game, now resorting to doing kids cartoons to pay the bills... But he certainly didn't cop out or put out a bad performance. But this won't be another Puss N Boots for him...

Final Verdict - Kids ten and under? Sure, go see it with them. Age 10+ wait till it's on Netflix or something.