Saturday, March 14, 2015

MOVIE REVIEW: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)

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From IMDB:

Storyline

During a fight between the Krusty Krab and Plankton, the secret formula disappears and all of Bikini Bottom goes into a terrible apocalypse. The Bikini Bottomites go crazy and they all believe that Spongebob and Plankton stole the secret formula. The two new teammates create a time machine to get the secret formula before it disappears and also go to some weird places along the way including a time paralex where they meet a time wizard named Bubbles who is a dolphin. The two later get to the time when the formula disappeared and take it back to the present day time. They then realized that it's a fake formula Plankton made when he was taking the real one and the Bikini Bottomites try to destroy Spongebob (Plankton runs away) Spongebob smells Krabby patties and so does everyone else so the Bikini Bottomites follow it (instead of destroying Spongebob) and they arrive at the bank of the surface. Everyone except Spongebob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Sandy, and a stowaway Plankton go ...



TOMATOMETER 75%
Average Rating: 6.3/10 | Reviews Counted: 69
Fresh: 52 | Rotten: 17

Critics Consensus: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water won't win over many viewers who aren't fans of the show, but for the converted, it's another colorful burst of manic fun.

AUDIENCE SCORE 60% liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5 | User Ratings: 34,052

OUT IN CINEMAS NOW!!

So this story starts with a smelly Pirate reading a book to seagulls. ©Paramount Pictures

Another adventure with the gang from Bikini Bottom...

So it's 2015 and we have another Spongebob movie. The first feature length movie, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie came out in 2004 which means that it's been 11 years in between. Which also means that there are 11 year old kids out there who were never born when the first came out but probably have seen it a hundred times the moment they realize there was a Spongebob movie.

That gun there would be really cool to have at a McDonald's. ©Paramount Pictures

I remember when the first movie came out there was quite a lot of interest in it and by that I mean that people were looking forward to seeing it. And it wasn't just from kids either. This time around I think it's mostly kids and a handful of adult kids. I'm one of those adult kids that wanted to go watch it. So I did.

Spongebob's laugh is tantamount to torture. I think it works. ©Paramount Pictures

Anyway, on to what this feature length Spongebob film is about. Well, it's pretty much the same. In the series just about every other episode was about Plankton trying to steal the Krabby Patty formula if it wasn't about Spongebob going jelly-fishing or learning how to drive/get his driving lesson or going on some sort of ridiculous adventure with Patrick. The first movie was about Spongebob and Patrick going on a search for King Neptunes' crown which turned out was stolen by Plankton in order to wield power over the Bikini Bottom populace so that he could then easily take the Krabby Patty formula. I think. Well, this new one, which took 11 years to happen is also about the Krabby Patty formula but this time Plankton isn't the culprit. He wishes he was though.

This is Mad Max in Bikini Bottom. Looks pretty cool. ©Paramount Pictures

(IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS MOVIE SKIP ON TO THE END. I BE GIVIN' YER THE SPOILERS 'ERE!! ARR!!)

In this second feature length movie (which according to everyone involved in the first one was unlikely to happen which I guess explains the 11 years it ended up taking) the Krabby Patty formula was 'stolen' by a pirate named Burger Beard. How did he do this? Well, in the beginning you see Burger Beard go to an island which looks like the island that you see in the opening montage of the series. He's looking for something on the island. A treasure it would seem but at the end of his search is a skeleton holding on to a book. The book was what he was looking for and after a short fight with the skeleton he takes it.

This episode of Home Improvement is brought to you by Patrick Starfish. ©Paramount Pictures

Back on board his one-man pirate ship he reveals to us what is in the book, he also reveals it to a bunch of annoying talking seagulls. It turns out that it's a storybook. And so, after being bugged by the seagulls, he reads it to them. It's the story of Bikini Bottom and the gang at the Krusty Krab and of another attack by Plankton. And of course as usual it would seem Plankton is unsuccessful, he tells Mr Krabs and Spongebob that he's now pretty much broke trying to steal the formula and all he has left is a penny. Which of course Mr Krabs is more that happy to take from him. He walks out defeated and ends up outside crying.

Yeah, I'd sulk like Patrick too if I was told to go up there. ©Paramount Pictures

If you know Plankton you know that this isn't the end and it isn't. It turns out that the one crying is a robot and Plankton himself has managed to squeeze himself into the penny which he of course knows Mr Krabs will put in his safe. Once in the safe he springs his plan and tries to steal the formula. It doesn't go well though when just as he's trying to swap out the bottle with the formula with a fake one Spongebob walks in to Mr Krabs office and in his surprise he triggers the alarm which puts the Krusty Krab in lockdown. Now nothing can stop Krabs from getting at either money or his secret formula so he muscles his way past the lockdown and rushes to the safe in his office. Meanwhile, Spongebob and Plankton are in a tug-of-war with the secret formula in the middle when suddenly the bottle just ups and disappears. Krabs barges in just then and of course he thinks Plankton has it but Plankton denies it and Spongebob supports him. Krabs is flabbergasted at what Spongebob has just said.

Patrick is off to a pretty good start if he's trying to be a shoe salesman. ©Paramount Pictures

Now that the secret formula is gone and apparently so has all the krabby patties in the Krusty Krab, all hell breaks loose in Bikini Bottom. Instantaneously, Bikini Bottom and its residents become the undersea equivalent of those Mad Max movies (there's a new one coming up too). Meanwhile, Spongebob is now a pariah because he supports Plankton. Up above, Burger Beard grows tired of telling this story and abruptly writes a big The End and rips that page and throws it overboard. So yeah, Burger Beard is reading a story about what happens in Bikini Bottom while it's actually happening. Sort of like The Neverending Story (1984).

That kid doesn't look all that surprised. Disgusted more like it. ©Paramount Pictures

Down below Spongebob takes it upon himself to find out what happened to the secret formula and help Plankton clear his name. He sings a song about team work in order to get Plankton to go along with him. And the page that Burger Beard rips? Well, that drifts down towards Bikini Bottom and lands on Sandy Cheeks bio dome.

Most women would scream bloody murder if something slimy and cold fell on their back. ©Paramount Pictures

After failing to get anyone else to join them including Patrick who tries to betray them to Krabs since he's really hungry they retreat to a german themed restaurant called Taco Haus. There with the help of Plankton's computer wife they build a time machine. Their travels takes them to a few odd places including one where they meet a talking dolphin in space who is apparently a guardian of sorts. They also travel back to the moment just before the bottle disappears. 

Meanwhile, Burger Beard it turns out is actually a food truck operator selling well, burgers.

Somehow Burger Beard can read the secret recipe from that teeny little piece of paper. ©Paramount Pictures

Down below, the future Spongebob and Plankton retrieve the bottle which they believe to be the one with the secret formula and take it back with them to the future but upon arriving and giving it to Krabs it turns out they took the dummy bottle which past Plankton used in order to swap with the original. This ends up with everyone trying to blame each other. But just before this, actually a couple of scenes before this, Spongebob while trying to recruit more people into his team visits a now deranged Sandy. She's gone nuts when she realizes Bikini Bottom has gone crazy after the Krabby Patty formula's disappearance and when that big piece of paper with the words The End fell on her home. She now has this theory that the 'Sandwich Gods' are mad and that's why the formula has disappeared and they want a sacrifice to make it all better. Back to current situation, Spongebob has offered himself as the sacrifice to the 'Sandwich Gods'.

I think this was what all those founding father's look like when they were writing out those important decrees. ©Paramount Pictures

While on the altar waiting to be sacrificed Spongebob smells the familiar scent of a grilling Krabby Patty. Krabs smells it too. So off go the Mad Max outfits and off goes everyone in search of the origin of the smell. It leads them right to the coast. Now since this isn't a movie about everyone in Bikini Bottom it's up to Spongebob, Patrick, Mr Krabs, Squidward, Sandy and Plankton, who's hiding in Spongebob's sock, to see where that delectable smell is coming from. But wait, they're sea creatures they can just go waltzing up on to the surface, right? Even though Spongebob did just that with Patrick in the first movie and several times in the series. Just then the space dolphin shows up. He tells Spongebob that since their visit with him ended up with him being fired he's never been happier, so as a gift he'll do something about their problem. 

Of course I doubt any of those founding fathers volunteered ink they way Squidward did. ©Paramount Pictures

So they do end up on the surface and a few silly things happen. You've seen the trailer, right? Well, they track down the smell to Burger Beard's food truck/ship and confront him. He reveals to them how he got his hands on the secret formula. It's the book. The book is sort of magical. It lets whomever that has it to dictate what happens in the story and ultimately in real life as well. In other words he can make whatever he wants happen with the book. This of course means that the Bikini Bottom gang needs to get their hands on the book but before they can do that Burger Beard writes in that the gang are now stranded on Pelican Island which of course instantaneously transport them to Pelican Island.

Big kids and little kids, I present your obligatory Superhero group pose. ©Paramount Pictures

Thinking that they've got no way to escape from Pelican Island, Sandy pulls out the ripped page. Knowing what the page can now do since it was from the book, Spongebob re-writes the story and bang they're back at the beach with superpowers. You should also know about this bit.

I'm sure somewhere out there near a food truck this has happened. ©Paramount Pictures

So what happens next is a battle to retrieve the book which unfortunately ends up landing on the broiler in the food truck/ship and gets vaporized. Also you should know that after they returned from Pelican Island they accidentally left the ripped page there where Plankton hid after sneaking out of Spongebob's sock. He too decides to write something in and turns himself into a great big green hulk. In fact, back on the beach it was Plankton that finally dispatches Burger Beard.

Did the Avengers ever have a scene that made them look this cool? ©Paramount Pictures

With Burger Beard now gone, well not gone but kicked by Plankton back onto that island that the book came from. The gang gather on the beach wondering what to do next. Of course, sanity prevails and everyone agrees to have things back to the way it was. Except for Squidward who likes the way he looks as a superhero. But back to the way it was they go and live happily ever after. 

The end. Or at least that's how I remember it.

You know Spongebob means business when he hikes up his square pants. ©Paramount Pictures

So a Spongebob movie, does it feel like an overly long TV episode?

In a word, yes. The first movie felt like an overly long TV episode as does this. It was the same with The Simpsons Movie (2007) too. I guess when something's been a TV show too long you can't really make a movie out of it without it feeling like a TV special even if it's playing on a huge screen in a special place.

Guess what this blowhards super powers is? ©Paramount Pictures

Was it bad? Well, not really. The first movie wasn't bad either. It was familiar yet still entertaining. That's sort of the thing about watching your favorite characters from the small screen when they get on the big screen I guess, especially when you know them for being completely ridiculous and silly from the TV series. And especially when they've been around and done pretty much every silly thing you can think of, as is the case with Spongebob Squarepants and The Simpsons. The difference of course between The Simpsons Movie and the Spongebob movies being that the fans of The Simpsons take themselves too seriously and the fans of Spongebob are just 6 year old's at heart.

None of those cannonballs actually hit him. Look at him, he's not even bruised. He's just tired. ©Paramount Pictures

This movie has it's moments. It may be familiar moments but they're still entertaining. Antonio Banderas who plays Burger Beard clearly seems to be having fun with his role and it shows. The visuals are familiar until you get to the scenes above water which then seems a little odd sometimes but not jarringly so. It's not exactly CGI but it's not exactly stop motion either. It looks to be somewhere in between. You get used to it and ultimately of course it works. Of course it looks a heck of a lot better when they did those scenes with David Hasselhoff in the first movie.

Also there's only one song in the movie. One.
Tell me Plankton doesn't look like the Hulk. His head's the size of Hulks brain. ©Paramount Pictures

This time around there's also a lot fewer cameos, in fact the only anyone would recognize I guess would be Banderas but there are some familiar names playing smaller roles but I doubt that many of you will recognize them if you saw it. 

All in all, it's not a bad movie to waste a few hours on. The superhero parts of the movie is clearly a poke at the Avengers . If you don't believe me just look at Mr Krabs and Plankton. It's harmless and silly entertainment with a lot of puns both visual and otherwise. Kids may not pick up on them but some adults will. Fans of Spongebob will probably have fun. Those that aren't fans, well if you've got a few hours to waste and are looking to watch something silly go ahead and watch this, it'll do the kid in you some good. If it doesn't then you're too old.

It's a decent movie and for that I'd rate this movie a decent 3 out of 5.





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