.jpg)
It’s hard to believe that a little less than a decade ago, a yellow spongy guy premiered his first underwater adventure on televisions nationwide. What followed wasn’t just a beloved TV show, but a merchandising juggernaut that's expanded to theme parks, video games, plush toys, books, clothing, candy, etc. Not only has it been over two decades since the first film, but this latest adventure is now the fourth one for everyone’s favorite porous buddy and his other sea-dwelling miscreants.
“The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” follows the titular sea sponge, voiced by Tom Kenny (“Adventure Time,” “Rocko’s Modern Life”), as he learns that he has finally become tall enough to ride a terrifying roller coaster and therefore becoming a “big guy.” After being dissuaded by his boss Mr. Krabs, voiced by Clancy Brown (“Carnivàle,” “Superman: The Animated Series”), SpongeBob becomes even more determined to prove his manliness. This leads him to summon the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by Mark Hamill (“Star Wars,” “Batman: The Animated Series”), who tells him that if he completes a series of challenges, he can make him a true swashbuckling big guy. Unbeknownst to SpongeBob and his friend Patrick, voiced by Bill Fagerbakke (“Gargoyles,” “Coach”), the Dutchman actually wants them to help break his ghostly curse, leading to Krabs, Squidward, voiced by Rodger Bumpass (“Invader Zim,” “Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?”), and Gary the Snail to venture to the ghastly underworld to save SpongeBob and Patrick.
As if it even needs to be said, the voice cast here is more than up to the task. There’s a specific kind of reassurance that comes from watching a group of actors who’ve inhabited the same roles for over two decades. Kenny might be aging a bit, leading to him losing a bit of the squeak in his voice, but the buoyancy and energy is as present as ever. The same can be said for Bumpass, Brown, and Fagerbakke. None of them sound a moment out of step, keeping the feelings of their undersea characters alive and well at each passing moment. Hamill is good, but there’s nothing particularly exceptional about his role that makes it clear why longtime performer of the role Brian Doyle-Murray was recast. An unexpected bright spot is Regina Hall (“Scary Movie,” “The Best Man”) voicing the Dutchman’s assistant Barb. There’s nothing flashy about her performance, just simply turning in some really good cartoonish delivery, and she’s a highlight as a result.
Director Derek Drymon (“Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” “Hey Arnold!”) has a long and storied history with the television series, even directing one of the most beloved episodes, the series premiere “Help Wanted.” What’s apparent from the first moments is that he simply gets this world, these characters, and this sense of humor basically flawlessly. There’s an ease in everything done that feels like just another day in the life of this Bob and his pals. There’s no overblown tale to set the stage or anything. It just happens to be a larger scale tale than what’s been on the small screen.
The script, written by Matt Lieberman (“The Christmas Chronicles,” “Free Guy”), Marc Ceccarelli (“SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Uncle Grandpa”), Kaz (“SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Camp Lazlo”), and Pam Brady (“South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,” “Team America: World Police”) is quite the mixed bag comparatively. Given the writing team's composition of longtime series writers and newcomers, the humor and general plot are an equally mixed bag. While things are certainly better than the last two films, it lacks the sincerity or self-seriousness that's made the first film such a beloved cult hit even twenty years later. Luckily, the most annoying aspects of the last two films (the forced superhero action of the second and the blatant shoehorning of spinoff material in the third) are absent from this one, letting it breathe and become its own fully formed work.
Humor and plot notwithstanding, this is an exceptionally gorgeous looking animated film. While not as experimental as the likes of “Spider-Verse” or even the previous “SpongeBob” film, it strikes a nice balance between the clean, plastic look of the CGI in “Sponge Out of Water” and the most psychedelic, malleable style of “Sponge on the Run.” The general look of the film plays with forms just like the series does, with hyper-realistic stills, cartoony squishiness, and purposefully exaggerated live-action footage. It’s the best of both of the previous films’ CGI worlds, and just a sumptuous little visual treat.
In general, there’s nothing about this latest silver screen adventure for this subaquatic sea sponge that’s particularly terrible, nor is there anything particularly noteworthy. The animation looks great, the humor is amusing enough, and the voice cast is as good as ever, but it lacks anything novel about it. There’s little here to separate it from the direct-to-streaming Netflix spinoff films that have arrived in the past few years, and it’ll be plenty amusing and satisfying for fans of the series. For others, it's just more "SpongeBob" and likely the franchise's best film since the first, for whatever that’s worth. 3.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment