The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run – Overtly Silly Animation With Heart

There is perhaps no animated children’s character more beloved in recent memory than the SpongeBob Squarepants. Over the years, he and his friends have taken part in a plethora of adventures across television and film and now this latest film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run, is now upon viewers in Canada (where I am from). This release strategy is an interesting one as the film is reportedly set to premiere on CBS: All Access sometime next year as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Whether or not that strategy succeeds remains to be seen but regardless, a marketable property such as this one is sure to succeed in any form (though it would hard to judge it by regular metrics). At the end of the day, fans of the characters or the series, both young and old, will definitely find enough to enjoy here though the film does skew younger which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone (but there is still plenty of references for older audiences).

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run of course sees SpongeBob (Kenny) and his trusty best friend Patrick (Fagerbakke) leave the confines of Bikini Bottom and go off on an adventure to bring SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary home after he was unceremoniously kidnapped and taken to the Lost City of Atlantic City. While the circumstances that led to that point were not the strongest, they didn’t matter all that much in the end though fans of the animated series may connect with it more. This road trip, for which the film gets its name, is the big draw and it certainly did not disappoint. Meanwhile, one of the best parts of the animated series is that chemistry between SpongeBob and Patrick and that same chemistry is what drives this film (pun intended). Being a children’s film, the story leans to the predictable side but despite this, it was still somewhat fun to watch. Now to adapt an animated program into a feature film, writers need to craft a story to justify its feature length and is this was what sets this film apart.

Without giving anything away, SpongeBob and Patrick’s road trip takes a fair share of (perhaps too many for some) silly turns along the way (some have previously been hinted at) but unfortunately, many of them don’t quite work. However, younger viewers are sure to eat it all up for the most part. It’s ultimate message isn’t all that new and is simply more of the same therefore it is easy to tune out. This did not mean that it wasn’t without its moments because it was. SpongeBob and Patrick’s adventures did have a decent amount of hilarious moments while audiences will be treated to a few surprise cameos, the biggest being a live-action Keanu Reeves as a mystical tumbleweed named Sage. They just didn’t amount to all that much. Nevertheless, the sheer level of heart, thanks to the good will it has earned over the years, tying the sentimentality together is still commendable and helps the story stick the landing despite the humor not always hitting.

The level of animation of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run won’t rival that of the heavyweights but was still impressive to look at. The brightness, sharpness, and level of detail in both the characters and environments look great up on the big screen. Being a film compared to a television program, there is more action here and thankfully, the animation is still up to the task. While a sharp script helps, the best part of the film was definitely the performances. The television cast are all back here and don’t disappoint this time around. However, the real standout and the biggest takeaway of the film was new cast member Awkwafina as a robot named Otto whose delivery was hilarious.

Overall, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run is definitely a film for SpongeBob fans and that’s okay. The fact that it doesn’t try anything new may be a point of contention but in the end, it is still a decent time to be had that will more the likely keep younger audiences engaged and entertained which these days is enough.

still courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.