Film: “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water”; Cast: Tom Kenny, Douglas Lawrencce, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Carolyn Lawrence, Matt Berry and Antonio Banderas; Director: Paul Tibbitt; Rating: **1/2
Based on the Nickelodeon television series “SpongeBob SquarePants”, created by Stephen Hillenburg, Paul Tibbitt’s “Sponge Out of Water” is a sequel to the film, “The SpongeBob SquarePants”, which was released in 2004.
Treated like a story within a story, like in the first film, this one too, seamlessly integrates live action and animation, where the story blends two worlds; the live world and the animated universe. It is an ideal action packed adventure film that will appeal to young kids, this summer.
The narration rolls on with Pirate Burger Beard traversing to a remote island to obtain a magical book. Once he lays his hands on the book and is back on his ship, he narrates the story of the loyal cook who protects the restaurant’s secret recipe, to the seagull minions.
He transports you to a place called Bikini Bottom, where, the childlike sea sponge, SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) works as a cook at Mr. Krabs’ (Clancy Brown) Krusty Krab Fast Food Restaurant. Their Krabby Patty Burger is the most addictive and sought after snack in town and their Krabby Patty recipe is a highly guarded secret.
Their arch rival Plankton (Douglas Lawrence) from Chum Bucket has an eye for the recipe. He makes fruitless attempts to steal it. Then one fine day, while he is in a tug-of-war with SpongeBob attempting to steal, the recipe mysteriously disappears.
In the meanwhile, chaos prevails in Bikini Bottom due to the scarcity of the Krabby Patty Burger.
Everyone blames Plankton, except SpongeBob. He believes that Plankton is innocent. So he proposes that Plankton team up with him to get the formula back. But then Plankton does not understand the meaning of “Team Work”. So together, they create a time machine to track the sequence of events.
Unfortunately, they travel too back in time and come across Bubbles, the magical dolphin, whose job is to oversee the cosmos. They eventually succeed in retrieving the formula, but it turns out to be the fake Plankton had left.
Not happy with this ending, the Pirates’ Seagull minions discard the last page of the book and rewrite the ending so that Burger Beard gets the formula. The discarded last page lands in the bottom of the sea on the dome of Sandy Cheeks, SpongeBob’s friend and a squirrel living underwater.
Sandy thinks this page is a sign from the “sandwich gods” and to appease the god, he suggests a sacrifice to be made. And they decide that SpongeBob would be the ideal sacrificial offering to appease the gods. But when the crowds surface, they smell Krabby Patties. They follow the scent and soon nab the thief.
The 2D animation rendered in 3D effects is fresh and exciting. The voices rendered by the star cast are sound perfect too. Antonio Banderas as the lone live action character, Pirate Burger Beard is over-the-top and unwarranted. He grows on you but in general he does not add any substantial entertainment value to the film.
The background score and music adds some elevating spirit to the narration.
Considering this to be a children’s film, the plot is a bit complex and a torture to keep track of. The humour too is not focussed; it oscillates from catering to the adults and children.
Ultimately, with the chaotic excitement of the adventure, the little life’s lessons for the kids are lost in the narration. Nevertheless, kids will enjoy the film.