Review: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

When Poseidon, Ruler of the Sea (Matt Berry) kidnaps Gary the Snail, SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) sets out on a rescue mission to the Lost City of Atlantic City. He is joined by his best friend Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), a sage made of sage, called Sage, (Keanu Reeves) and the rest of the SpongeBob cast.

Release Date: 5 Nov 2020

After 21 years of dominating the small screen, it’s surprising that SpongeBob had only ventured onto the big screen twice. The original film expertly transformed the spirit of the series into a cinematic adventure. The second fully embraced the absurdity of the characters and situations, becoming one of the most out-there children’s films ever made. Now we have Sponge on the Run, a film whose marketing seemed to promise an exciting mix of both, with a new CGI art style.

It definitely delivered on the visuals. The film is gorgeous. It embraces 3D with such enthusiastic creativity, using dynamic camerawork that hadn’t been possible before, and the character designs are perfect. Any concern that the visual jokes wouldn’t work outside of a cartoon are quickly put aside. In fact, the animated gags are the highlight.

Unfortunately, the film has nothing else going for it. The cast sound exhausted and strained. The script, written by the film’s director Tim Hill, is very weak, with very few funny moments or lines. Hill co-wrote the 2004 film, which is hard to believe because so many of that film’s concepts are stolen, but with the point completely missed.

It feels soulless. The story is a generic low-stakes road trip, but with unforgivably awful pacing. It takes 18 minutes for the plot to start, features a ten-minute unrelated dream sequence, and a finale that’s just 15 minutes of origin-story flashbacks. It’s boring at times, then moves obnoxiously quickly.

With the inclusion of Livin’ La Vida Loca, the joke about Blue Man Group, and the Snoop Dogg breakdancing sequence, it’s hard to believe this film came out in 2020. It could easily be a reused script from the 90s. The beautiful animation can’t redeem this stale, out of touch product. Watching it on mute would probably give you a better experience.