Everybody’s favourite sea sponge returns for a colourful computer animated adventure that also features all his Bikini Bottom pals and – best of all – Keanu Reeves playing a wise sage bush named (surprise, surprise) Sage.
It seems that Spongebob’s pet snail Gary has been kidnapped by vain king Poseidon (voiced by the terrific Matt Berry), who uses snail slime to protect his complexion and has worn out his supplies. So Spongebob and Patrick set off for The Lost City of Atlantic City to save Gary, while back at home the Krusty Krab falls into disarray thanks to Spongebob’s absence.
As you’d expect from a Spongebob movie, things get more bonkers as the story progresses, with cowboy pirate zombies (that may freak out very young viewers), the menacing El Diablo (Danny Trejo) and a Vegas-style stage show that doubles as a trial all thrown into the mix.
There are even adorable flashbacks to how Spongebob first met Sandy the squirrel, Patrick and Squidward at summer camp – that could set up a possible prequel movie or series – and all the jokes, silliness and cuteness we’ve come to expect from the previous movies and series.
It’s Reeves’s wise, baffling and rather wonderful Sage that steals the movie, however, and it is his brief performance that gives what is effectively a feature-length episode of the show some moments of awesomeness that aren’t to be missed.
Is The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
Young children (under the age of 8) may be frightened by the appearance of the cowboy pirate zombies and El Diablo, but they only appear in a couple of scenes in the film.
Very young children may not like Poseidon and may be frightened for Gary and the other snails.
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