The Spongebob Squarepants Movie
Directed by: Stephen Hillenburg
Written by: Stephen Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Stephen Hillenburg, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbett
Starring: Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, David Hasselhoff, Jeffrey Tambor, Scarlett Johansson, Alec Baldwin

In case you haven’t been paying attention the last couple years, Spongebob Squarepants is huge. The manic yellow bastard is every piece of merchandise you can think of, as well as a childrens favorite, college cult hero, even a gay icon.

So it would make sense that with the huge success of the television show, like other Nickelodeon cartoons before him, it would end up with a big screen adaptation. The question is, can a carry normally squeezed into 9-14 minute episodes carry an entire film? The answer is yes, but unfortunately, there’s some easy picking away at this sponge.

As with most dimwitted, innocent, naove characters of little depth, Spongebob ends up in somewhat of a road movie. Spongebob’s (voiced by Mr Show’s Tom Kenny) boss, Mr. Krabs, has been framed by a plankton named… Plankton for stealing the crown of King Neptune (Jeffrey Tambor of “Arrested Development”). Neptune wants to execute Krabs, but with the nagging of his mermaid daughter Mindy (Scarlett Johansson), Spongebob and his starfish friend Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke of “Coach”) are given a week to travel to Shell City and get the crown back.

There’s an ongoing subplot where Spongebob is denied a promotion by his boss because he’s too much of a kid. So at the same time we see Spongebob’s quest to be a real man.

Unlike Beavis and Butthead Do America and South Park, the Spongebob adaptation feels a bit slight. It feels like a long episode in widescreen. It isn’t big or as bombastic as it could have been, so in this respect the movie is a disappointment. However, it is funny and the characters are good enough for so many ages there is enough value in the film to warrant a thumbs up.

Spongebob’s popularity among so many ages is easily explainable. Its off the wall and bizarre. A talking sponge? Who bathes in water… underwater? A pet snail that meows? Secondly, its incredibly bright and cheery and a kind of cute that is hilarious in how over the top innocent Spongebob is. There are also bad sea jokes and puns that don’t really work. It doesn’t seem the writing is what brings fans in. A big part of the humor relies in the facial expressions. Because of the nature, shape, excitability and dimwittedness of the characters, we are often treated to some of the funniest, most unique and creative facial expressions on these characters that bring most of the laughs, not only in this movie but in the TV show as well. And then theres the pop cultural references and music. David Hasselhoff makes one of the best cameo appearances ever in film in this movie, and the soundtrack (though sadly not included enough in the actual film) includes Wilco, Flaming Lips, Ween and Motorhead.

Basically, if you were a fan of the show already, see the movie – though it doesn’t matter if you see it on big screen or DVD. Because of the bright and simple animation style you’re not really missing much visually if you wait for the small screen, in fact it might be better and right to see this extended Spongebob adventure on your TV – his natural environment.

– Goon

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