The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water – The ‘Krabby Patty’ formula, essential to making the ravenously loved Krabby Patty which is munched by all residents of Bikini Bottom, mysteriously disappears. With SpongeBob and the evil Plankton blamed for the theft, life quickly descends into apocalyptic chaos for the underwater fast food deprived citizens and mob mentality takes over. SpongeBob and Plankton must team up to scour the sea for the formula and restore order. Soon joined by some familiar friends, the journey takes them beyond their wildest imagination and onto a bizarre world of dry land and giant beings….

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) – Directors: Paul Tibbitt, Mike Mitchell

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44256412

Rating: U

Running Length: 92 mins

Starring: Tom Keeny, Antonio Banderas, Mr. Lawrence

Genre: Comedy, Animated

‘THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER’ REVIEW

A mere 11 years after the first big screen outing of the wacky, long lasting, and much loved quirky cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants, we are treated to another feature-length narrative of bizarre goings on and nonsensical craziness. Truth be told, referring to ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’ as a feature length story makes about as much sense as a standard SpongeBob episode. Unlike the 2004 effort which merged the SpongeBob comedy stylings with a traditional ‘quest’ format to give some narrative path, ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water’ takes the concept of the missing Krabby Patty formula as a broader opportunity to throw anything and everything at the screen – leading to an ‘overlong episode’ feel.

But, that said, what an episode! Having a longer outing for Plankton this time around makes for a welcome change and as the main cast gets gradually added there is enough fun with each to go around. It is certainly a movie of two halves as once the action reaches dry land (and CGI / live action blends) the charm is lessened somewhat, but with such a long running show there has to be an effort to keep things fresh and the third Act of ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’ does that in spades.

With tons of laughs for all ages, this is a movie that SpongeBob fans will love and children who enjoy full-out silliness will be glued to as the gags come thick as fast. Effectively reminding us all that SpongeBob is still around and as funny as ever, ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’ made a huge splash on release and the huge profit made all but guarantees that we’ll all be adrift in the jokes for years to come.

IS ‘THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A pirate lands on an island and sees a sign with a human skull on top that has the words ‘booby traps’ written in red. Later, he grabs a big book from a sitting skeleton which collapses on to the floor, but then reanimates. There is a punch up between the two and at no point is the pirate afraid.

The pirate threatens some talking seagulls and insists that they stop singing. The screen shows a birdcage with a bird skeleton inside and one of the other seagulls says ‘he really does hate singing birds’.

A character is accused of something and is stuck to a table in order to be ‘tortured’. The character says ‘what are you going to do? Pour hot oil over me! Put bamboo shoots under my nails?!’ The actual ‘torture’ is much more humorous.

Once the Krabby Patty formula goes missing all the characters instantly revert to a stereotypical apocalyptic society and all become dressed in leather and ‘bondage’ gear. Seeing as they are all fish, this is not at all sexual!

Once character’s home gets covered in a page of a book which implies that things are going to end. When we come back to the house the place is overgrown and the character appears rabid and mad, ranting that they have angered the ‘sandwich gods’. This is a mildly scary moment that lasts for less than a minute.

Plankton burrows into SpongeBob’s brain and sees life through his eyes. Everything is sickeningly sweet and innocent. At one point a talking double ice lolly / popsicle says in a flat monotone voice ‘Come play with us. Come play, before we melt.’ Plankton is scared and flees.

Plankton is repeatedly threatened with being stamped on. One point he is and is shown squashed under a shoe, although in typical cartoon fashion he is fine immediately after.

Plankton refers to a computer as his ‘wife’. He uses her to build a time machine and there is a sweet moment where he explains how much he appreciates ‘her’. She is about to reciprocate when he throws a switch which causes her screen to ‘reset’ back to a blinking digital clock. There is a mild implication that she was ‘killed’ but no-one dwells on this and it isn’t mentioned again.

The pirate again threatens talking seagulls. He unveils a plate of hot wings and they shout ‘wait, where’s Kyle!’ and flee. Kyle is then shown to come out of a portable toilet and also flees.

When the characters come out of the sea they land on a beach full of real people. There are many women in bikinis and Squidward lands on the back of a sunbathing woman. He’s attempt to run ends up ‘massaging’ her and she sighs that ‘it feels so nice’.

The characters get temporarily teleported to a ‘Pelican Island’. A large pelican ‘roars’ at Patrick in a scary moment before the scene switches elsewhere.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER’ FOR KIDS?

If you’ve watched any SpongeBob previously then you will know exactly what to expect here. Whilst it’s a little disappointing that ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’ has chosen an ‘overlong episode’ format rather than a more cinematic narrative, with a show that relies so much on wacky non-sequiturs it’s arguable that the movie is simply playing to its own inherent strengths. With minimal potentially unsuitable content (we had to scrape the barrel a little for what we wrote, above!) we would say this movie is suitable for children of all ages.

• Violence: 1/5 (repeated threats to stamp on Plankton – although he is never actually harmed)
• Emotional Distress: 0/5
• Fear Factor: 1/5 (one or two moments that are ominous or have a mild jump scare)
• Sexual Content: 0/5
• Bad Language: 1/5 (SpongeBob threatens another character and says that they should prepare for an ‘aft kicking’)
• Dialogue: 1/5 (over the top cartoon threats)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of friendship, team work, mob mentality, theft, and magical space dolphins.

Words by Mike Record

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