When “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” arrived in 2004, it represented both a kind of pinnacle and, in retrospect, the point of no return for the fervid yellow block. Its creator and showrunner, Stephen Hillenburg, had paused “SpongeBob SquarePants,” the television show, to focus on making that beloved and delightful film, then promptly left the series. Nickelodeon wanted to keep milking the cash cow; he didn’t. The series was never really the same.
Over 25 years since its premiere, SpongeBob is now a juggernaut that is cherished mostly for its iconography than for any contemporary programming. The problems with the latest film, “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,” are not so much about its deviation from the original spirit of the show — several movies and a quarter century in, you’re bound to be disappointed if you expect the same thing — but about the continuation of its cheapened identity.
No, this is a movie that is bad on its own terms, mainly for its cynical philosophy of children’s entertainment. We have core elements familiar to any fan: SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) embarking on a quest to prove his moxie and ending up on the Flying Dutchman’s ship with his best friend Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) in tow. Soon, Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) and Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) head out to rescue them.
That reads as classic material from the series, and yet it’s difficult to focus on anything that is happening, as the movie, directed by Derek Drymon, inundates us with a cornucopia of colors, monsters and hollow action pizazz. In between are gags guided solely by the logic that the more mindlessly outré or “random” things are, the funnier it all is.
It is ultimately the worst kind of movie for kids — one that is devoid of any respect for their intelligence or sensibilities. The adventure perpetually cycles through a cheap, rote format: innuendos (the punchline to seemingly every other joke comes down to the existence of butts); jittery slapstick; and the belief that constant eye candy is needed to keep a child’s brain tickled.
That of course isn’t the case — just look at the first three seasons of the show that made SpongeBob memorable. Back then, there was joke structure and a care for characters and story. This latest movie is guided mostly by Flanderization and visual fireworks that often appear sterile and flat. (Look to the visual arc of this movie franchise to see an interesting case study in the challenges of adapting to the industrywide shift from 2-D animation to 3-D.)
All of its head-spinning action has a stultifying effect. At all times, the film seems afraid that it’ll lose its audience’s attention, barraging us with the mindlessly zany to hold our engagement. Yet, watching this in a theater full of kids, I found that most of them had zoned out to this hyperactive screen saver and were more interested instead in fiddling with the handout pirate hats.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes. In theaters.
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