The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Review

Now, I was nervous going into this movie. I grew up watching Spongebob, and I still enjoy the show, but the previews for this movie just didn't look good. I wasn't sure if I was okay with a live action version of the show. But was it really that bad? Let's find out as we start my review of The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

Now, first thing out of the way is that this movie is not marketed the way it should be. All the advertising for this movie makes it look like most of it is in live action. It makes it look like half of the movie is the small characters wandering around a small beach town filled with humans getting into mischeif, (Smurfs movie much?) and the other half is them human-sized with superpowers fighting pirates on land in that same beach town. (Am I on acid?) But in reality this only make up the climax of the movie, and most of it is in the traditional animation of the show. This material works better as an ending scene then it does the entire movie.

So why would it be marketed in a way that makes it look like such a piece of crap. My theory (and I could be wrong about this) is that they probably wanted to sell more 3D tickets. They probably knew that people would doubt that the original 2D format would translate well into 3D, and decided to market it as something that would have depth. I don't know how well the 3D worked, because I saw it in 2D, but I know they probably needed to convince people it wouldn't hurt their eyes. But why even put it in 3D other than to make money?

The real conflict of the movie, without giving away too much, is this: The Krabby Patty formula disappears mysteriously, and the Plankton and Spongebob are both blamed, and need to team up to find it. The rest of the movie is... when you think of it, no less of an acid trip than the commercials, much like the show. It involves a post-apocalyptic landscape, a time machine, a magical space dolphin from the future named Bubbles, and, of course, the characters fighting pirates on land in a beach town using superpowers.

This movie was actually pretty funny. It contains the charm of an episode of Spongebob, and it doesn't feel like a dumb sell out move like the commercials portray.

This is something that is good for a fun family-friendly time at the movies, but nothing more than that. This movie focuses more on fun than other material, like emotional material or heart. So if you're looking for a Pixar-style family film that will make you cry, you will probably hate this movie. But if you like Spongebob, and you just want to laugh, you will probably enjoy it.

So in conclusion, this movie was surprisingly not terrible. It was fun, although not a classic animated film. I would say it is about as good as the first one, although the message of the first one is better than the almost non-existent message of this one.

3.5 out of 5 stars.