As an audience we mainly go to the cinema not just to see a film, but for an experience. For this preview screening I was greeted by bags of sweets, a photo booth, and people recreating Spongebob characters out of balloons.
This wasn’t a screening just for reviewers and I’m glad to say that there were a lot of families with kids there. I found this important to gauge an accurate audience reaction as this is essentially a kid’s film (although the show also appeals to glazed eyed teenagers).
For those of you who don’t know, Spongebob Squarepants lives in a pineapple under the sea. His best friends are Patrick, a dim witted starfish, and Gary, his pet snail who meows.
He works at The Krusty Krab, Bikini Bottom’s prime eatery, making Krabby Patties. Across the road is rival eatery The Chum Bucket, owned by Plankton who fiendishly tries to steal the secret formula which makes Krabby Patties.
This is the basis for most of the episodes that I have seen and the audience is told this trivial information early on in the film, so needless to say you don’t have to have seen any of the episodes or the earlier movie to get into and appreciate this film.
Plot wise we have a dastardly Pirate (Antonio Banderas) who uses a magic book to re-write the events of Bikini Bottom in order to steal the secret formula that makes Krabby Patties so tasty, and in turn open up his own burger van/ship.
Without the Krabby Patty holding together the ocean community, Bikini Bottom descends into a hilarious apocalypse complete with Mad Max 2 (1981) inspired costumes. Spongebob, along with Plankton, have to go on a time traveling quest to retrieve the formula, leading the primary cast to journey in to our world all in 3D – and magically gain super powers to retrieve it.
Plot wise that’s it, but who cares? The trailer gives it all away and you can see the super-powered main ensemble on the film’s poster, so I’m not too worried about spoilers.
If you have seen the show you know the sort of randomness to expect and this is a film that confidently knows what it is and sticks to the show’s special formula (pun intended) to create some great laughs that make the most of its fairly simplistic plot.
There is no doubt that this is a kid’s film but some of the biggest laughs from the audience came from the adults. But this doesn’t have any jokes solely aimed at adults, such as Shrek (2001), and the humour is generally harmless, silly and very random.
Some of the jokes are quite clever, most are just silly puns and one-liners, my favourite being when our characters realise that they have to leave the ocean and one background fish says “Alright, all secondary characters, come with me. It knows what it is and is playful.
One thing I do like about the show and this film are the varied animation techniques used throughout: CGI and stop motion along with various 2D animation styles. It was interesting to see the 2D animation viewed with 3D glasses, which still managed to be full of layers and depth. This is effective especially during the time travel segments and suits the random tone perfectly.
One issue with bringing any television show to the big screen is how to stretch out one episode (average Spongebob episode is 11 minutes) into a feature length film. It worked fine for the first movie, but this for me seemed like a film of two halfs, similar in narrative brakes as A Clockwork Orange (1971) or Full Metal Jacket (1987), where it shifts location halfway through. I must make it clear that I am not comparing those films to this one, although that would make an interesting article.
But this successfully works as a feature length movie and doesn’t drag, mostly due to the sheer amount of jokes and it is important for a kids’ film to hold a child’s attention.
Antonio Banderas is having a lot of fun in his role and it’s hard to applaud or criticise the rest of the voice talent as they are doing the same as they have done in the show. I don’t want to spoil it, but some well know British television stars lend their voices too. There is a song or two but this isn’t a Disney film. And be warned, there’s a strong chance that the audience will be singing along to the end credits.
I’m not sure if there will be a sequel, it’s been an 11 year gap since the last Spongebob movie, but I am confident that the show will continue. As with most non-syndicated television series, by the end of this film everything is back to normal and it plays on this generic convention.
It’s hard to judge this film. If you’re a fan of the show then this is a 4, as a family film this is a 3. You won’t really find anything new or ground-breaking, just silly fun.
Overall Verdict: A must see for Spongebob fans, and a fantastic family comedy for everyone else. Very silly but not a lot of depth (pun intended).
Reviewer: George Elcombe