Review of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) by William C — 19 Aug 2015

SpongeBob in a movie, this is a true study of marine life from the perspective of a French narrator and a load of pirates. Well OK no it isn't but the SpongeBob SqaurePants movie is a great little creation at the bottom of the sea, are the jokes on point?, Well not all of them and is the story greatly fun?, Not always but even so I enjoyed myself here, not the kind of downright crying with laughter enjoyment but there is some stupid stuff in here to make you giggle.

We see the little yellow sponge go on an adventure to find a crown with his best mate Patrick the starfish and all well as you might expect does not go to plan. The story plays out a little rushed and with that said the movie is only 88 minutes long, but even if the story is rushed the running time seems just fine. I think the movie could have tried to stretch itself too much and ended up too bloated but by the end you feel happy enough that you have seen an OK movie (well I did anyway).

Although I will credit Tom Kenny(SpongeBob) and Bill Fagerbakke(Patrick) for creating unique voices, they are some of the most annoying voices ever after too long on the screen. The screeching and shouting that these two give off is enough to kill your eardrums, the jokes don't always play on loud screams but sometimes they actually do! Now I this movie is a nice go along on a journey kind of film, a genuine road trip from two genuine animated friends and also a load of baddies thrown in too, good fun indeed. I think the animated TV show maybe benefits slightly more from this brand of humour so it can be made more compact, but nevertheless the movie is still fitted in nicely and well timed throughout.

Stephen Hillenburg directs well and to be honest I would say 80% of what is funny in this is down to him, he not only works well within the script but also seems to work the right movements from the characters to make it fast but not so fast you miss it. The writing is a little sloppy, again it works well in the show but the film can feel like a step too far at times, but does finish up nicely. I wasn't too keen on the more childish elements that can be seen throughout, it is by no means constant but does come in bits and pieces and really made the film look too much geared toward children.

On that last point, the recommendations. Sure kids are going to maybe like this, even have a blast and if they are fans of the show, then let them watch this now. For other older fans of the show then sure this is good fun and contains laughs everywhere dotted around just as randomly as creatures are on sea floor itself. I did think that the movie doesn't show the characters that are in the TV show enough in the movie but by the end you don't really care, a fun plot with a fun end.

Overall an animation that is by no means bad, but by no means incredible, a kind of good mix of alright and pretty good. Watch it with a slight smile on your face and never ever take it seriously or you will want to destroy this, just be silly and if you can't then, try and get into silly mode because this is one strange ride.