“The Spongebob Squarepants Movie” (Paramount Pictures)
Spongebob Squarepants has been a staple of the Nickelodeon Channel’s lineup for many years. It is a favorite with kids because of its sweetly simple characters and with adults for some of its subtler humor. It has proven so popular that it has now been made into a feature length movie. To my mind this just proves if there is a drop of money to be squeezed from this sponge, Hollywood will go after it.
In the movie, Spongebob and his best friend Patrick live at the bottom of the ocean in a place called “Bikini Bottom.” Spongebob works for a living and thinks he has a chance to be made manager at his place of employment, but he doesn’t get the job. Mr. Krebs, the owner, says this is because basically he is just a kid.
The rest of the movie concerns Spongebob’s efforts to let everyone know he is not a kid. This means he takes it upon himself to travel to a dangerous area in hopes of recovering King Neptune’s crown that has been stolen. Neptune’s daughter Mindy encourages him on the adventure.
The movie doesn’t have great animation, and it doesn’t have distinct characters. The voices used are run of the mill and there is no marvelous music. In short everything about this film appears to be second rate. And that is being kind.
And where was the subtle humor for adults to enjoy It must have been too subtle for me as I didn’t laugh at a single joke. Not one. Nada. Zip! A walking, talking sponge and his starfish companion are my idea of cartoon hell.
The film is rated PG for adult humor.
“The Spongebob Squarepants Movie” is basically aimed for kids, but my innermost child kept screaming “Take me home!!!!” I missed out on the secrets of enjoying this movie and was bored from start to finish. And when David Hasselhoff showed up on screen I knew this movie was jumping the shark big time.
I enjoy animated movies such as “The Incredibles” and to some degree “The Polar Express.” But this “kiddie” flick drove me up a wall. The best part of the entire experience was learning it was OVER!
I scored “The Spongebob Squarepants Movie” a soaked 3 out of 10.
