REVIEW: 'The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run'

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here . . ."

. . . reads the sign above the bar visited by our heroes, SpongeBob and Patrick, as they travel through the Ghost Town of the Damned, populated by the devil himself and his crew of flesh-eating Pirate-Cowboy-Zombies, on their way to rescue SpongeBob's pet snail, Gary, from the clutches of the villainous Posiedon of the lost city of Atlantic City with help from their magical guide, a talking tumbleweed portrayed by Keanu Reeves. 

If that overly run-on sentence feels overwhelming, then prepare yourself - The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run only proves to be far more absurd than any written description.

I haven't reviewed an animated film before. I can't even remember the last time I saw an animated film in theatres. I saw this one, however, and I was compelled enough to write about it.

Growing up, my parents never allowed me to watch the SpongeBob series. I'm not too sure why. My mom, looking back on it, isn't sure why either. From my memory, my mom once said I couldn't watch it because SpongeBob was "mean to his friends." Is that a real memory? I have no idea.

Recently, I moved away to college. For the first time, I find myself truly alone. I guess I'm my own person now. Without my family close by, I enter a new world of responsibility and freedom. Over the past week, I have committed my first act of early adulthood rebellion: I've been watching SpongeBob.

Sorry, not sorry, Mom!

I watched the first two films, The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie (2004) and Sponge Out of Water (2015), with my dormmates in an attempt to make myself more cultured. On Tuesday we discovered that the third film was out in theatres. We booked the tickets. We got excited. I've got to be honest, it was an unusual experience being with a group of seven other young guys in a theatre full of kids and their parents. Regardless of feeling totally out of place, I really enjoyed Sponge on the Run.

Sponge on the Run is the third feature film based upon the popular children's television series created by the late Stephen Hillenburg. Escaping the bounds of traditional animation and presented in 3D CGI for the first time, Sponge on the Run makes the most of its new style. The film is perhaps the most chaotic and energetic yet in a series known for its chaos and energy. The new 3D animation is certainly a "learning curve" of sorts. Although I was fine with the creative choice by the end, the early parts of the runtime were mildly disorienting. Often art styles developed in 2D don't translate particularity well to 3D, but SpongeBob does. The absurdism frequent in the SpongeBob universe can certainly feel more jarring with more realistic and detailed animation.

However, the switch to 3D has its reasons. Director Tim Hill and his team are able to create an even more colourful narrative than the ones before. With more detail in each frame and more depth to the image, Sponge on the Run has a lot of visual character going for it. It feels more alive than ever before. The absurdist comedy and surrealism that the SpongeBob label finds itself in are present and more aggressive than ever. Adhering to no internal logic whatsoever, the film makes cameos by Danny Trejo and Snoop Dogg feel perfectly natural.

My deepest praise of the SpongeBob series comes from its relentless dedication to the genres and art styles that inspire it. The SpongeBob movies take the popular brand the veneer of a children's film to produce a truly remarkable work of absurd comedy in the vein of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) or Airplane! (1980).

Is Sponge on the Run great cinema? No. Is it even the best of the SpongeBob movies? No. However, it is a film that fully delivers on its premise and the potential of the medium. There are few films as daring creatively as the SpongeBob movies. Few films use their genre of style as maximalist as SpongeBob does. The film is childish at times, it is to be expected from a children's movie, but it is nothing short of entertaining.

Score: 3.5

Sponge on the Run is now playing in select theatres in Canada and is coming soon to VOD in other territories.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run Quick Facts

Written and directed by Tim Hill

Starring Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Mr. Lawrence, and Keanu Reeves

Released August 14, 2020