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The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)
Director: Sherm Cohen, Stephen Hillenburg
Movie review
From Time Out London
You know it’s half-term when talking animals (or, in this case, domestic cleaning tools and sea creatures) define a significant chunk of the week’s releases. This feature-length spin-off from the very successful Nickelodeon cartoon series is a welcome, uncynical affair. For starters, it’s a good sign when an animated movie is not rammed desperately to the rafters with well-known voice talent. Here, Scarlett Johansson and Alec Baldwin offer cameos, but the anonymous voices and simple, day-glo aesthetic of the TV series remain intact as SpongeBob and his dopey starfish sidekick Patrick are forced to quit their jobs at a submarine fast-food joint in order to rescue the stolen crown of their King Neptune. It’s simple road-trip stuff, with just enough nudge-wink humour to prevent most parents from reaching for the tranquillizers.Is there a subversive gay subtext to all this, as some representatives of the American Christian right have argued? It’s certainly got camp value – Patrick ends up in fish-nets and there’s a live-action cameo from David Hasselhoff himself – but anyone expecting anything more risky will be sadly disappointed. This one’s ultimately for the kids.
Author: DC
Time Out London Issue 1799: February 9-16 2005
Cast & crew
Director: Sherm Cohen, Stephen Hillenburg
Genre(s): Children's, Comedy
Duration: 87 mins
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