Julien Neaves, Editor
Let’s just get this out of the way – The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run was not made for me? “Why,” I hear you asking dear reader? Well one, I am pushing 40, two, I haven’t watched the TV show in years, and three, even when I was still watching my appreciation for the antics of the Bikini Bottom residents had begun to wane. So did the new movie reignite an interest in the guy who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Sing it with me: 🎵 NO IT DID NOT 🎵
The third SpongeBob film finds the titular sponge and his dullard friend Patrick journeying to The Lost City of Atlantic City (yes, you read that correctly) to rescue his pet snail Gary from King Poseidon who has kidnapped him to use as a face moisturiser.
So what’s good? Well the new stylised CGI animation style looks polished and more cinematic. Keanu Reeves is hilarious as the sage tumbleweed Sage but it is little more than an extended cameo. There are a couple of other cool cameos but like the previous film there is not that much live action here. Who Framed Roger Rabbit this is not. And there are a couple of jokes here that actually made me chuckle, so I will give them that.
In terms of positives, that’s about it. The plot feels like a regular episode stuffed with some random misadventures and unnecessary backstory to fill out the run time. Most of the “humour” is annoying and puerile. And an extended scene of gambling makes the show less than suitable for younger viewers, though being less than suitable was the case for the show even back when I was still watching.
Most of the movie feels like the movie trying to justify it being a movie, and failing at that. With so much quality animated movies out there I really cannot recommend Sponge on the Run for anyone other than diehard fans, or people who really, really want to check out Keanu as a tumbleweed. But everyone else should avoid this nautical nonsense.
Julien’s Score: 4 out of 10
For my review of Netflix’s Pets United you can click here. And for more cautionary film reviews you can like and follow Redmangoreviews on Facebook here.
Julien “Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”.
I can also be found posting on Instagram as redmanwriter and talking about TV and movie stuff on Facebook at Movieville.