Der SpongeBob Schwammkopf Film

I can not recommend this movie enough. I may be exaggerating, but I love this movie too much. It's so aware of what it is and very enjoyable even having a good message. I recommend this to anyone even if your not a fan of the show.

I didn't quite know what to expect when I walked into the theater to watch the movie of one of my favorite cartoons. Nickelodeon has a really nasty habit of "big-budgtizing" movies of their shows (changing the look, etc.). However this is not the case with SpongeBob. Whew, one less thing to worry about.

Next was the story. Could Steve Hillenburg live up to what had been laid down by the series? Yes. Basically it's like watching a 1 1/2 hour episode of SpongeBob (and who couldn't like that). Lot's of visual gags and typical Sponge brainless-ness. I was quite impressed.

If you're a SpongeBob fan, you'll love this movie. If you're not, eh, watch it anyways, it'll do you good ;-).

I went to see Spongebob because my kid has pretty sophisticated taste, and I couldn't imagine how a cartoon sponge could be interesting. But it was interesting. I wasn't bored for a second, and actually laughed out loud numerous times. Parts of it were definitely off color, but that made it more adult....not just a cartoon kid movie. I loved the David Hasselhof bit. I also liked the other real people and locations that weren't cartoon. This movie would be scary for real little kids, which may help explain why middle school kids like it. I'm not going to watch the TV show every week, but I do think a parent could do worse than going to see Spongebob with his kid...a pleasant afternoon, and insight into what they are watching...

Take the funniest things about Spongebob Squarepants (wacky-anarchist environment and extremely funny animated drawings) and make it an hour-and-a-half long. It's non-stop laughs and plenty of color and all-out craziness. Spongebob and Patrick go off-model so much that it's an eyegasmic delight for the cartoon maniacs out there.

Sooo many entertaining moments. It's literally a laugh-a-minute film... lots of stuff that flies right over the kiddies' heads.

The one thing I didn't like about the movie - the character Mindy (King Neptunes princess daughter). She didn't fit in well with the rest of the character designs - she looks more like a character you would've seen on the Daria animated series.

Also keep an eye out for the big sea creatures' wrestlin' scene with the evil diver... such smooth and precise animation of so many characters at once that I just sat there in pure awe.

I have to put my hand up right now and say that the whole Spongebob thing had passed me by up until I saw this movie. I have no kids, no Satellite TV and therefore no legitimate reason to have caught any episodes of SBSP. However, I did see some of the trailers, and being a submarine nut I loved them. I also got the low down from a friend with a youngster who watched the DVD constantly, day after day, and he confessed to loving the show too. What the hell, I thought I'd see the movie.

What do you know, it's actually quite good! It looks almost exactly like an episode on TV, there doesn't appear to have been any attempt to update, enhance or otherwise movie-fy the series. Fair enough. As for the story and characters, while it's obviously geared to a younger audience I'd have to say that at least half of it would only be understood by the more adult viewer, and there are more than a few nods to other movies that no toddler will have seen. For instance, the silent, motorcycle-riding, super-tough assassin is a dead ringer for the silent, motorcycle-riding, super-tough assassin in Raising Arizona, and just as funny. There's a certain amount of slapstick and visual gags, but the dialogue and situations are fine too.

Overall I enjoyed the movie, it's funny and engaging and although it does start to lag a bit in the third act it's still rewarding. I'm not sure if the live-action was a good idea, but it's always fun to see The Hasselhoff do his stuff on screen, even if it's poking fun at his persona. There's laugh out loud moments, annoying songs, cameos, Hasselhoff and all the other things that a one-off special episode should have, and that's fine by me.