I probably only watched one or two full episodes of the popular Nickelodeon show, which was number 28 on The 100 Greatest Cartoons, but I was still up for watching a movie featuring the sponge named Bob with square pants. Basically SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) is an over-optimistic sea sponge who lives in Bikini Bottom, he works in the Krusty Krab restaurant and has won Employee of the Month numbers of times. His dream is to become the become the manager of the new spinoff Krusty Krab, located right next door, Krusty Krab 2, but he is devastated when owner Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) chooses Squidward Tentacles (Rodger Bumpass). Meanwhile, the fiendish Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) has tried all plans, A-Y, to steal the Krabby Patty Secret Formula and put Krabs out of business, but he thinks Plan Z is the one that can finally do it. While SpongeBob goes to his favourite restaurant, Goofy Goober's Ice Cream Party Boat, to drown his sorrows, with his brainless (Literally, starfish have no brains) best friend Patrick Star, Plankton steals the crown of King Neptune (Jeffrey Tambor), which he prides to hide his baldness, sends it to Shell City, and frames Mr. Krabs for the crime. The next day, King Neptune barges into the Krusty Krab 2 and threatens Mr. Krabs for his alleged thievery, but SpongeBob arrives and promises to get the crown back from Shell City. The king's sympathetic daughter Mindy (Scarlett Johansson) convinces her father to give them six days to so, in the meantime Mr. Krabs is frozen in ice. SpongeBob and Patrick leave for Shell City in the Patty Wagon, a car shaped like a Krabby Patty, while Plankton uses the stolen recipe to produce and sell Krabby Patties at his restaurant, the Chum Bucket. He also gives the customers and all residents of Bikini Bottom free 'Chum Bucket Helmets', but these helmets are in fact mind control devices, Plankton activates them, putting everyone under his control, and takes over the city. As their journey continues, SpongeBob and Patrick reach a dangerous, monster-filled trench, they conclude that they cannot complete their journey due to be just being "kids", but Mindy arrives and gives them a boost of confidence. They successfully cross the trench, but are confronted by Dennis (Alec Baldwin), a hitman hired by Plankton to eliminate them, who prepares to kill them, but he is stepped on by a hardhat diver, the "Cyclops" they warned of, who then grabs SpongeBob and Patrick and takes them to his beachside store, revealed to be Shell City. SpongeBob and Patrick find the crown, but are dried out by the heat lamp, luckily, their tears short circuit the light, activating a sprinkler, reviving their bodies and all other dead creatures intended to be souvenirs. As the creature attack the Cyclops, SpongeBob and Patrick head to beach, they have no way to get back to Krusty Krab 2 in time, fortunately David Hasselhoff appears and offers them a ride. They encounter Dennis again, but eventually he defeated by a catamaran that knocks him into the sea, Hasselhoff launches SpongeBob and Patrick launches down to Bikini Bottom with his rocket launcher pecks. SpongeBob and Patrick confront Plankton, who drops a mind-control bucket on Neptune, SpongeBob defeats him playing a rock version of the Goofy Goober theme song, using a magical electric guitar to zap and free all the enslaved characters. Plankton is trodden on before he can make escape, he is arrested, Neptune is happy to have his crown returned, he thaws Mr. Krabs from the ice and apologises to him, and in gratitude, Mr. Krabs decides to make SpongeBob the manager of Krusty Krab 2. Also starring Jill Talley as Karen, the Computer Wife, Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks and Dee Bradley Baker as Perch Perkins. This is obviously self-aware silliness and absurdity, the plucky leading character is loveably eccentric, fans of the show will enjoy the bigger scale adventure for the aquatic hero, and the mix of live action, and newcomers to the whole thing will also have fun, lots of laughs and entertainment for all the family, a great live action/animated comedy adventure. Very good!
Review of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
