The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

This article may reveal major plot points, especially considering the film had either been released recently or not in specific countries yet.‎

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

Burger Beard: Are you ready, kids?
Kids: Nay, nay, captain!

Genre:	Comedy Adventure
Directed By:	Tim Hill
Produced By:	Paramount Animation Nickelodeon Movies United Plankton Pictures Mikros Image
Based On:	SpongeBob SquarePants
Starring:	Tom Kenny Awkwafina Clancy Brown Rodger Bumpass Bill Fagerbakke Mr. Lawrence Jill Talley Carolyn Lawrence Matt Berry Reggie Watts
Photography:	Color
Distributed By:	Paramount Pictures
Release Date:	August 14, 2020 (Canada) November 5, 2020 (worldwide) March 4, 2021 (United States)
Runtime:	91 minutes
Language:	English
Franchise:	SpongeBob SquarePants

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is a 2020 American live-action/computer-animated adventure comedy film and the third theatrically-released film based on the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It was theatrically released in Canada on August 14, 2020, and was released worldwide on Netflix on November 5, 2020.

The film was released in the United States on March 4, 2021 for premium video-on-demand and Paramount+.

Plot

When SpongeBob SquarePants' beloved pet snail Gary goes missing, a path of clues leads SpongeBob and his best friend Patrick to the powerful King Poseidon, who has Gary held captive in the Lost City of Atlantic City. On their mission to save Gary, SpongeBob and the Bikini Bottom gang team up for a heroic and hilarious journey, where they discover nothing is stronger than the power of friendship.

Bad Qualities

The big problem with this film is that much of it lacks any originality, as elements are rehashed from not only "Have You Seen This Snail?", an episode from the series' fourth season, and "Whatever Happened to SpongeBob?", an episode from the series' fifth season, but also the first and second films, mainly The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie:
- Gary is missing, and SpongeBob and Patrick embark on an adventure to find him; this shares core ideas with the premise of "Have You Seen This Snail?". Director Tim Hill stated that the story was indeed, inspired by this episode as "Stephen wanted to springboard off of that idea for the movie".
- SpongeBob and Patrick head on a road trip-like adventure in the same vein as in the first film.
- Both Sponge Out of Water and Sponge on the Run use the exact same plot point of the citizens of Bikini Bottom rioting when Krabby Patties are no longer being made; while one could argue that this has been used in several episodes of the series, this is its own film series where this plot point had been used been once prior to Sponge on the Run.
- SpongeBob and Patrick are captured by a humanoid antagonist physically larger than them who intends to assassinate the former two, only for him to be subdued and defeated, leading to SpongeBob and Patrick escaping safely.
- King Poseidon is very similar to King Neptune, as both characters are narcissistic and poor-tempered god-like sea kings.
- The lives of SpongeBob and Patrick are threatened by an executioner-like antagonist who works for the main antagonist; Dennis, who works for Plankton in the first film, and an executioner who works for King Poseidon.
- As a matter of fact, Sponge on the Run is yet another generic rescue story, which has been done better repeatedly in films such as Finding Nemo.
- It doesn't help that the original version of this film, titled It's A Wonderful Sponge, was originally going to be about cats from outer space appearing in Bikini Bottom, but the idea was sadly scrapped due to various reasons including Kamp Koral being greenlit during the production of the film, Paul Tibbitt (co-writer of the previous films) leaving production, and giving his position to the much less experienced Tim Hill, and the premise of the original script sounding rather absurd despite being an interesting concept.
Many of the flashbacks feel random and pointless, especially considering how they feel like they are only there to at least promote the spin-off Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, as well as to pad out the runtime of the film.
The references to popular culture, including direct mentions of Skype and FaceTime, respectively, feel like they originated from another film instead of a feature-length SpongeBob SquarePants film, especially due to how abundant the references themselves are; the film also feels like it panders more to children than people of all ages.
- Cameos from celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Keanu Reeves, Awkwafina and Reggie Watts are rampant and feel like they are only there for the sake of it, with several minutes of the film being about celebrity cameos.
  - The cameo from Snoop Dogg also felt like a music video shoehorned into a scene, and the cameo from Danny Trejo also felt very out-of-place.
    - On top of feeling out-of-place, Trejo's character, El Diablo, seems to be insanely inappropriate for a film targeted towards children, since he is a serious allegory of the actual Satan; on top of that, his name actually translates to "The Devil" upon translating it from Spanish to English.
  - While it is true that The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie featured David Hasselhoff, who had a small appearance and assisted SpongeBob and Patrick in returning to Bikini Bottom, at least he didn't overshadow the film's story nor feel like a gimmicky ploy there for more viewership or attention; meanwhile, the cameo from Keanu Reeves feels like he is only there because of his high popularity at the time of the film's production and release, even appearing in one of the trailers for this film.
The plot is very predictable, to the point where there is a scene that outright states what would happen between SpongeBob and Patrick later on in the film; in said scene, Patrick states, "This is gonna be like one of those buddy movies. We're the buddies," as well as, "We're two dudes setting out with a common goal. We'll argue about something dumb, fight and break up, only to come back together when we realize, 'Neither could do it without the other.'"
Very sluggish pacing, with many scenes feeling like they have been extended for a long period of time.
Misleading title: The film is titled Sponge on the Run, which is nonsensical; while SpongeBob is searching for Gary in this film, he isn't actually running from someone or something; the title would have made more sense for Sponge Out of Water, in which SpongeBob does have to be on the run.
- In other countries, specifically Latin America and Israel, the film is titled SpongeBob to the Rescue and The Incredible Rescue, respectively, which make more sense than Sponge on the Run and actually fit in with its plot. (MODERATOR'S NOTE: Reliable source will be found and cited here.)
King Poseidon is lame as the main antagonist of the film and his part of the plot was rather boring and uninteresting, and his redemption was quite generic and forced; his intentions to use snail slime to ensure he appears healthy are also not a very good motivation for an antagonist.
- Even Plankton's redemption feels rather forced and comes out of nowhere, since the film forgets that he is the most responsible for every major plot point in the film.
Lackluster jokes (especially compared to in the previous two films), such as Patrick and SpongeBob saying "good morning" to each other in a loud, obnoxious and over-the-top way for some time before Squidward's chagrin.
It doesn't feel like a feature-length movie based on SpongeBob SquarePants; instead, it feels more like either a television special or an episode of the series that has been stretched into a feature-length movie with plenty of filler moments, such as the dream sequence as well as the musical numbers.
Several continuity errors that makes this movie feel more like a non-canon spin-off occurring in an alternate universe that canonically started with Kamp Koral or an approved trollfic.
- The film also implies snails are a rare species, even though snails are constantly shown in the series, as if they are common house pets.
Scenes and plot points are heavily affected by poor writing:
- Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Patrick, and Sandy telling stories of how they each met SpongeBob to prove how he isn't a bad person is somehow the very thing that convinces King Poseidon to free him, despite how it clearly does not directly debunk his viewpoint of SpongeBob specifically trying to steal Gary.
- Kelpy G, one character from the series, is somehow the thing that motivates Squidward to help Sandy and Mr. Krabs find SpongeBob, even though Kelpy G clearly had no involvement with SpongeBob nor Patrick; for the sake of comparison, in "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?", the reason Squidward goes with Patrick and Sandy to find SpongeBob is because Mr. Krabs forced him to do so, otherwise he would lose his job.
- Once the characters head out on their road trip, Plankton's role and significance as the antagonist is quickly thrown out, leaving questions about the process of his plan unanswered; they also just have him be part of the gang with Sandy, Squidward and Mr. Krabs to find SpongeBob.
While the animation is great, it tends to look rather uncanny at times, with Sandy having so much fur on her body it looks off, and one scene of SpongeBob screaming for Gary upon realizing that he is missing looks a bit over-the-top and creepy.
- Character models are also constantly recycled; this is especially clear in several scenes featuring crowds. Perch Perkins' model, for example, is reused no less than three times in the Atlantic City scene.
Gary himself feels more like a plot device than an actual character in this film.
The narrator in the opening of the film feels out-of-place in a form of media related to SpongeBob SquarePants and fails to do an impression of David Attenborough.
Despite being excellent, the musical score by Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro feels out-of-place in a form of media related to SpongeBob SquarePants, which has always used Hawaiian-style music.
The behaviors of SpongeBob and Patrick in some parts were not very funny, especially when SpongeBob goes sad and emotional in the prison scene.

Good Qualities

Impressive visuals, with the film featuring some top-notch computer-animation that replicate stop-motion animation in many parts; the world of the series also translates spectacularly from the traditionally 2D animation to computer-animation.
Decent cameo appearances from Awkwafina and Keanu Reeves, despite their appearances doing very little for the story; their respective characters, Otto and Sage, are enjoyable and their respective scenes stand out in comparison to others.
Easter eggs throughout the movie which reference specific episodes of the series, notably in one shot where one can see a robot version of SpongeBob, referencing "Welcome to the Chum Bucket"; there is also one shot in which concept art of an early design for SpongeBob himself is shown on a sticky note.
- The Patty Wagon from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie also returns in this film.
- The Electronics Outhouse from "Hello Bikini Bottom!" also makes a small cameo in the scene where SpongeBob is spreading flyers about Gary across Bikini Bottom.
Some heartwarming moments here and there, including Patrick's backstory as well as the memorial to series creator Stephen Hillenburg.
Excellent musical score by Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro, despite feeling rather out-of-place.
The film has plenty of funny moments, and it at least retains the series' goofy and absurd tone.
The musical numbers thrown in, despite being entirely random and pointless, are pretty catchy and fun, especially with "Secret to the Formula" feeling like it came straight out of The SpongeBob Musical.
- The number with Snoop Dogg, while not spectacular, is very well-choreographed.
Nice direction from Tim Hill (who was instrumental in the series' development), arguably making this the best movie in his filmography in recent years.
The voice acting of the characters is still good.

Reception

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, casual viewers and fans, with most of them considering the film to be weaker than the previous two SpongeBob SquarePants films. Richard Crouse of CTV News gave the 3.5 stars and wrote: "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on The Run brings with it the usual anarchy, inside jokes and unexpected celebrity cameos, but at its little osmotic heart is SpongeBob, a character who belongs to the same genus of entertainers as Soupy Sales, Stan Laurel and Pee Wee Herman."

On Rotten Tomatoes, it received a 67% of 24 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.8/10. Aparita Bhandari of The Globe and Mail gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, writing: "I totally understand if the latest SpongeBob SquarePants movie spin-off will draw in longtime fans and new audiences brave enough to venture into a movie theatre this Friday... However, for me and my two kids (aged 10 and 8), this dive into the deep sea wasn't as thrilling an adventure as we'd hoped for."