Courtney Howard // Film Critic
THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: THE SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS
Rated PG, 1 hour and 35 minutes
Directed by: Derek Drymon
Starring: Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Mark Hamill, Regina Hall, Ice Spice
Though he lives in the depths of the ocean, in a pineapple under the sea, SpongeBob SquarePants’ films don’t have much depth to them – nor should they, really. They’re supposed to tip the scales in favor of absurdist comedic irreverence over poignant thematic enrichment. Yet, in that sense, director Derek Drymon’s THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: THE SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS comes up slightly short. The feature isn’t stuffed full of the usual zany outrageousness, though that is there, only to a much lesser degree. Instead, the animated film gives more weight to the yellow, porous protagonist’s foolhardy quest to become a swashbuckling Big Guy. Though it delivers an admirably healthy, emphatic rejection of toxic masculinity, it frequently forgets to conjure genuinely looney, delightfully moronic hilarity, leading to dips in energy as well as audience exhaustion.
All SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny) has ever wanted to be is a Big Guy. To him that means finally being 36 clams tall – tall enough to ride the rollercoaster at Captain Booty Beard’s Fun Park. His supportive, dimwitted bestie Patrick (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke) is excited by his change in stature. But after chickening out during a hilarious sequence set to “O Fortuna,” SpongeBob is inspired by his tough-as-nails restauranteur boss Mr. Krabs’ (Clancy Brown) tales of adventure on the high seas as a Big Guy swashbuckler aboard the cursed pirate ship of the Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill).
SpongeBob thinks he can prove to everyone he can also be a Big Guy by earning the same certificate Mr. Krabs has displayed, which lists a litany of qualities he must have like bravery, courage, moxie and intestinal fortitude. He blows a pipe horn which summons the green-glowing ghost of the scary Flying Dutchman and his right hand pal Barb (Regina Hall). However, our squishy, bubble-blowing hero doesn’t know a few details, the biggest being that his new captain is in desperate need of a pure, innocent soul to release him from a curse and will stop at nothing to exploit SpongeBob’s trust and kindness. As SpongeBob and Patrick are forced to travel through the Underworld, battling against weird monsters and performing ghoulish challenges, Mr. Krabs, a toupee-sporting Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) and snail-cat Gary (Kenny) set out to rescue the pair from this pack of pirates.
Drymon, along with writers Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman (working from a story by Brady, Kaz and Marc Ceccarelli), incorporates all the elements typically included in SpongeBob films: a strong story semi-centered on the power of friendship, a silly live-action jaunt into the real world in the 3rd act, and all the characters doing on-brand things right down to the background characters (now high schoolers) ruthlessly dragging our heroes. There’s also a perfect utilization of the title card time jump. It follows the comedy rule of threes with its long-running gag involving a brick. Ice Spice’s song “Big Guy” is an earworm that will have audiences mumbling “SpongeBob. Big Guy. Pants OK,” while exiting the theater and perhaps later randomly in conversation. And it is genuinely hilarious when the filmmakers go for off-kilter or obvious jokes, like the Underworld portal being Davy Jones’ actual high-school locker, SpongeBob and Patrick’s wacky whimsy with the Underworld’s anemones, and the animators’ romance novel depiction of a scruff-faced Mr. Krabs with pecs and muscles bursting out of his too small shirt.
That said, the film comes up a tad short in the abject madness department, seemingly holding back from going deliriously berserk as much as the show and other films have gone before. Using mixed media to forward the story, combining CG animation and hand-drawn (in the flashbacks) adds a modicum of visual interest, but is powered through at breakneck speed. The world-building is fun, yet doesn’t pull many unexpected punches with the Underworld beasty kaijus and skeletal adversaries, nor with its action-forward finale. The montage of SpongeBob and the Flying Dutchman being goofy guys is cute, but lacks the oomph to land. Squidward answering the Siren’s smooth jazz song with his own musicality is dealt short shrift. Plus, it feels like every 10 minutes or so there’s a Loud Action Set Piece, many of which exhaust us before those segments are even over when we should want to luxuriate in their lunacy.
The message that you don’t have to change who you are inside, staying a loveable goofball who never abandons their friends, to complete a hero’s journey is a great thing for kids in the audience to see on screen. It’s also good for them to learn about folks in the world, or, in this case, Underworld, who’ll selfishly try to exploit their naiveté and good will. Those sentiments indeed make the biggest lasting impressions. Overall, it’s decent escapism – just not on par with the other theatrically released films.
Grade: C
THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: THE SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS opens on December 19.
