TL;DR – An interesting concept for a SpongeBob Movie, that unfortunately, does not have the legs, or fins, or tentacle suckers to stretch to a feature-length movie.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

The SpongeBob Movie Review Introduction –

Today, I think I need to preface everything that I am about to say with one clear addendum: I am not the target audience for this film. I feel I need to make that clear from the front because not every film will be written for you, and you should have the wherewithal to understand that before dumping on something. But then I did also sit through it all, so, as we are here …


So, to set the scene, after measuring himself every day, SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) is finally a “Big Guy”. Someone tall enough to go on the adult rides at the local amusement park. But when SpongeBob is not able to find the courage to hop on the rides with his dear friend Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke), he is crushed. But that is when Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) tells him about his time as a swashbuckler with the crew of The Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill). SpongeBob becomes enamoured with the idea of being a swashbuckler as the way to become a genuine big guy; however, Mr. Krabs might not have been telling the whole truth.

Strengths  

I did like the animation style that they used in the film, feeling more clay-animation adjacent than the usual 2D version of the show that I know. It flows in a way that works with the story that they are telling here, and also with the design of The Flying Dutchman and his crew. On that front, casting Mark Hamill as the big bad and Regina Hall as his long-suffering second-in-command was an inspired choice. While I will talk about the narrative, I did feel that the setup was a good foundation for the movie. It felt both appropriate for the show and also a good setup for a series of shenanigans. On that front, the visual humour in the show translates very well to the big screen, and there are quite a few humorous moments, for example, what happened in an overhead vent.     

Weaknesses

While the art, comedy, and foundation for the film are there, that is where things start falling apart. Part of this comes from the tone, which is too childish for most of the audience, but then it is engaging in elements that are likely too scary for the age bracket they have picked. This creates a tonal dissonance that permeates throughout the film. While it was nice to get some more time focusing on Mr. Krabs, the structure of the film means that many of the characters that people love are either relegated to supporting work or, in some cases, are little better than cameos. Then we have the pacing, which is where I had the most significant issue. The idea they had for this episode was sound, but it probably only had enough story for 45 minutes at best, so it felt like half the film was padding. This made long sections drag, making the film feel stretched beyond its natural length. It takes a much-needed zany segue at the end, which shows the potential the film could have had, but reaching that point is a struggle. I am not sure it was worth it, even though Mark Hamill is a delight here.

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend The SpongeBob Movie? Look, if you have really young kids and you need something for them to do for ninety minutes this Christmas season, it may serve as light entertainment for very young audiences, though it doesn’t fully honour the franchise’s strengths. Nor does it show that this is a series that works in a feature-length format.

Have you watched The SpongeBob Movie? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked The SpongeBob Movie, we would recommend The Wild Robot to you because it also explores a character growing into who they want to be, with the fate of the world in the balance.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The SpongeBob Movie
Directed by – Derek Drymon
Story by – Marc Ceccarelli, Kaz & Pam Brady
Screenplay by – Pam Brady & Matt Lieberman
Based on – SpongeBob SquarePants by Stephen Hillenburg
Music by – John Debney
Cinematography by – Peter Lyons Collister
Edited by – Wyatt Jones
Production/Distribution Companies – Paramount Animation, Nickelodeon Movies & Paramount Pictures
Starring – Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, George Lopez, Ice Spice, Arturo Castro, Sherry Cola, Regina Hall & Mark Hamill
Rating  – Australia: PG; Canada: PG; Germany: na; New Zealand: PG; United Kingdom: PG; United States: PG