I am undoubtedly the biggest SpongeBob fan. From the characters (even the background characters) to the songs, I love all of it. So, when I heard that a new SpongeBob movie was being played in theaters, you know I had to go watch it. This being said, I went in with pretty high expectations – but not too high because I know no other SpongeBob movie will top Sponge Out of Water. Unfortunately, these expectations did not quite meet or reach my standards for what I would consider to be a “good movie.”
The new SpongeBob movie, Search for SquarePants, follows SpongeBob and his best friend, Patrick Star. They embark on a journey where SpongeBob is deceived by the Flying Dutchman, the most evil pirate on the seven seas, while pursuing his dream of becoming a true “squash buckler.”
Starting off, I’m not really a big fan of the 3-D animation. It just didn’t hit the same way as the 2-D animations do. The visuals felt too over-processed, like they were molded by rubber (similar to a Disney movie) and missed the actual hand-drawn cartoon visuals that made me love the show in the first place.
Now onto characters and songs. You’ve heard it, I’ve heard it, it’s all over social media: Ice Spice’s song “Big Guy” starts us off on the movie. The most unlikely collaboration imaginable, and honestly, it kind of feels like it was chosen for more of a shock factor to the audience rather than actually fitting the vibe of SpongeBob. I don’t think the song is bad — it’s pretty catchy if you ask me; it’s just… not Bikini Bottom, if you know what I mean.
There was one more thing that I thought was lacking: the storyline. Come on, really? A ghost pirate tricks our main character and sets him on a journey to break his curse? For a franchise that’s given us genuinely creative plots before, this one feels painfully uninspired. Comparing this to previous SpongeBob movies, like Sponge Out of Water, makes this storyline look more than mediocre. It feels like they made the movie just to make it.
Coming out of theaters, I felt a little disappointed, but I still liked the movie, just not enough to watch it again. And if I needed to be fully honest to rate this movie, I would probably give it 3 stars on Letterbox if I were feeling generous. To lift my spirits after the movie, I decided to get the SpongeBob meal from Burger King. And honestly, that might have been the highlight of my night. Unwrapping a SpongeBob-themed meal, along with my surprise toy that almost felt more SpongeBob than the movie itself.
