The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Hidden depths? Maybe not, but 'SpongeBob' is good fun
Release Date: 2004
Ebert Rating: ***
BY ROGER EBERT / Nov 19, 2004
Q. Why does a lobster make the ideal pet?
A. It doesn't bark, and it
knows the secrets of the deep.
I've been telling that joke for years, to people who regard me in silence and
mystification. If it made you smile even a little, you are a candidate for "The
SpongeBob SquarePants Movie." This is the "Good Burger" of animation,
plopping us down inside a fast-food war being fought by sponges, starfish,
crabs, tiny plankton and mighty King Neptune.
SpongeBob (voice by Tom Kenny) has a ready-made legion of fans who
follow his adventures every Saturday morning on Nickelodeon. I even
know parents who like the show, which is fast-paced and goofy and
involves SpongeBob's determination to amount to something in this world.
In the movie, he dreams of becoming manager of Krusty Krab II, the new
outlet being opened by Eugene H. Krabs (Clancy Brown), the most
successful businesscrab in the ocean-floor community of Bikini Bottom.
SpongeBob may only be a kid, but he's smart and learns fast, and
reminded me of Ed, the hero of the live-action Nickelodeon series "Good
Burger" ("Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger! Can I take
your order PLEASE?").
SpongeBob, like all sponges I suppose, has a thing about cleanliness, and
to watch him take a shower is inspiring. First he eats a cake of soap. Then
he plunges a hose into the top of his head and fills up with water, exuding
soap bubbles from every pore, or would that be orifice, or crevice? Then
he pulls on his SquarePants and hurries off for what he expects to be a
richly deserved promotion.
Alas, the job goes to Squidward Tentacles (Rodger Bumpass), who has no
rapport with the customers but does have seniority. A kid can't handle the
responsibility, Eugene Krabs tells SpongeBob. This is a bitter verdict, but
meanwhile intrigue is brewing in Bikini Bottom. Plankton, who runs the
spectacularly unsuccessful rival food stand named the Chum Bucket, plans
to steal Eugene's famous recipe for Krabby Patties. As part of this plot,
Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) has King Neptune's crown stolen, and frames
Eugene Krabs with the crime, so it's up to SpongeBob and his starfish
friend Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) to venture to the forbidden no-go zone of
Shell City (which is no doubt near Shell Beach, and you remember Shell
Beach). There they hope to recapture the crown, restore it to King Neptune
(Jeffrey Tambor), save Mr. Krabs from execution, and get SpongeBob the
promotion.
All of this happens in jolly animation with bright colors and is ever so much
more entertaining than you are probably imagining. No doubt right now
you're asking yourself why you have read this far in the review, given the
near-certainty that you will not be going anywhere near a SpongeBob
SquarePants movie, unless you are the parent or adult guardian of a
SpongeBob SquarePants fan, in which case your fate is sealed. Assuming
that few members of SpongeBob's primary audience are reading this (or
can read), all I can tell you is, the movie is likely to be more fun than you
expect.
The opening, for example, is inexplicable, unexpected and very funny, as a
boatload of pirates crowd into the front of a movie theater to see
SpongeBob. These are real flesh-and-blood pirates, not animated ones,
and part of the scene's charm comes because it is completely gratuitous.
So, for that matter, is the appearance of another flesh-and-blood actor in
the movie, David Hasselhoff, who gives SpongeBob and Patrick a highspeed lift back to Bikini Bottom and then propels them to the deeps by
placing them between his pectoral muscles and flexing and popping. This
is not quite as disgusting as it sounds, but it comes close.
I confess I'm not exactly sure if the residents of Bikini Bottom are
cannibals; what, exactly, is in Eugene H. Krabs' Krabby Patties if not ...
krabs? Does the Chum Bucket sell chum? No doubt faithful viewers of the
show will know. I am reminded of the scene in "Shark Tale" when Lenny,
the vegetarian shark, becomes an activist and frees a shrimp cocktail.
One of the stranger scenes in "SBSP" comes when SpongeBob and
Patrick get wasted at Goofy Goober's nightclub, where ice cream performs
the same function as booze. This leads to the ice cream version of a pie
fight, and terrible hangovers the next morning; no wonder, as anyone who
has ever used a sponge on ice cream can testify.
Cast & Credits
With the voices of:
SpongeBob: Tom Kenny Dennis: Alec Baldwin
Squidward: Rodger Bumpass Plankton: Mr. Lawrence King
Neptune: Jeffrey Tambor Patrick: Bill Fagerbakke Sandy Cheeks:
Carolyn Lawrence Mindy the Mermaid: Scarlett
Johansson
Paramount Pictures presents a film directed by Stephen
Hillenburg. Written by Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Kent Osborne,
Aaron Springer and Paul Tibbett. Running time: 90 minutes. Rated PG (for
some mild crude humor).
copyright 2005, rogerebert.com