| | | |

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water review

Check out our review of The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water - an enjoyable, wacky adventure

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water poster

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water

Certificate: U

Voices of: Antonio Banderas, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke

Release date: 2015

3 out of 5

3

A decade after the first Spongebob movie, cinemagoers get to return to Bikini Bottom for this wacky animated adventure that climaxes with a live action dry land sequence that has to be seen to be believed.

As fans of the TV series this is based on know, Plankton’s life mission is to steal the Krabby Patty formula that makes Mr Krabs’ burgers so popular. Spongebob and Krabs usually manage to thwart his plans, but this time Plankton succeeds, only for the formula to magically vanish from his hands. As Bikini Bottom descends into apocalyptic chaos (yes, really) due to the lack of krabby patties, it’s up to Spongebob and Plankton to find out what’s happened to the secret formula and return it so things can go back to normal.

With time travel, a magical dolphin king named Bubbles, and conniving human pirate Burger-Beard (Banderas) thrown into the mix, this movie truly defines the word ‘bonkers’. Surprisingly with such a quirky plot, it’s quite slow to get going, but once Spongebob and Plankton are on their travels, the movie perks up considerably.

Banderas’s over-the-top pirate performance makes Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow look positively land-locked, and the aforementioned live action finale – in which Spongebob, Squidward, Krabs, Sandy the squirrel and Patrick not only breathe air but get superpowers – is like an aquatic spoof of Avengers Assemble (it’s just a shame the live action sequence isn’t a bigger part of the movie’s running time).

If you’ve never seen an episode of Spongebob Squarepants, all this manic fun will make you wonder what on earth is going on, but for fans of the show and the first movie, this is just the sort of enjoyable, wacky adventure we’ve come to expect from the loveable sea sponge and his waterlogged pals.

Is The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...

None.

If you like this, why not try: The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, Home, The Simpsons Movie, Despicable Me, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure,