The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

I'm a huge fan of 'SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-)'; I absolutely love the first three seasons of the show and the first movie. That's why it's so hard for me to say that 'The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run (2020)', well, sucks. The movie has maybe one proper laugh in it, with only a few half-chuckles along the way, and its plot feels like a rehash of past narratives that's padded with unnecessary scenes - such as an absolutely pointless, painfully extended stint in live-action land that seems to only have been included so that the director could smoke weed with Snoop Dogg - and often stops dead in its tracks to cram in some continuity-crunching advertisements for the upcoming 'Kamp Koral' spin-off show. It's a huge disappointment, to say the least. Even an extended Keanu Reeves cameo can't elevate the affair - though his appearances are certainly some of the flick's highlights. There are some visually distinct sequences (its 3D animation is generally well-achieved) and, as I mentioned, a few half-chuckles here and there, but the feature just isn't all that enjoyable overall. It also lacks any real messaging or narrative satisfaction. Ultimately, it's a shadow of its former self. The difference in quality between this and the first flick is almost inconceivable. 4/10

The movie was pretty good, really liked. The visual style was lovely and really made up for some of the movie's shortcomings. They really made patrick a good character. He wasn't completely stupid and didn't need to be monitored by Spongebob 24/7.

Spongebob was a great character as well. They let him be angry and not a complete ball of sunshine all the time.

TONS of the jokes landed very well. Their was very few bathroom jokes, zero grossout humor that I can recall, and everybody seemed true to their original personalities (Besides Krabs and Plankton but I'll get to that later)

The lack of quality original songs was kind of disappointing. The songs they created were forgettable and cheesy. There was cameos that I didn't realize were cameos until I was thinking "This feels out of place, should I know this person?"

The Keanu Reeves bush, Sage, was a gag that I thought was funny at first until he became an important part of the story. It was just weird.

(SPOILERS START) The part where Mr. Krabs surrendered the formula to plankton because spongebob was gone for a day or to felt REALLY out of character for both of them. First of all, Krabs said that he gave it to him because "It just isn't the same without Spongebob" isnt canonically correct, as he was running his business years before he hired spongebob. He would never give up the reason behind his success to his mortal enemy just because his employee missed a couple of work days. Then when he gives it to Plankton, rather than being over the moon that his life's work is complete, he feels sad that it was an underwhelming victory. What? 25 years worth of work down the drain just because Krabs was sad? And at the end it feels like they just wanted us to forget that plankton had the formula and they never explained what became of it.

Then near the end when everyone is sharing why Spongebob shouldn't be executed, the flashbacks were only promotion for Kamp Koral. They were canonically incorrect as Spongebob did not conveniently meet all of his adulthood friends at a summer camp.

He met Patrick when he was a baby and met Sandy in Tea at the Treedome. They really threw off what would otherwise be an emotional scene to a boring ad campaign. (SPOILERS END)

Anyways, the movie is certainly worth a watch. The animation looks stunning, the jokes are good, the plot is simply but unwinds well despite the annoying promotions near the end.

Occasionally funny, trying at times to be heartwarming, this is an okay diversion that is well suited to kids. It's not trying to be hip, just silly and works at that.

This just doesn't have the same humour and wit it used to. The characters are there but they seem to be 2d versions and don't heat the same beats they used too. My kids liked it but it just felt slightly off the whole way through for me. The flashbacks were weird too

Sponge on the Run feels more like I was watching an episode than watching a movie. I can't say it's a bad movie since there are some redeemable things about it. The animation is great and has given the upgrade for the movie. In fact, much better quality than Kamp Koral. And it does have some decent charm from the show. The problem with this is the story often recycles elements from Spongebob episodes. Gary goes missing is already done. Spongebob and Patrick going on a road trip and have to face some challenges is already done. Plankton's worked plan to steal the formula is already done. And Spongebob's other friends on their way to get him is already done. Plus the fact instead of making this as a follow up to the original series, it often wants to be the introduction to Camp Koral. I see it wants to change a little bit from the series for Camp Koral. But when we gotten to the final act, it talks down to the audience with each backstory Spongebob's friends say when they were on Camp Koral with some morals and get on the nose about them. That and the characters don't really offer new for the movie. Now, you must keep in mind this is the kind of movie that's just an introduction to Camp Koral. If this is something that you would be interested in, this can be for you. If not (even as a Spongebob fan), then you won't really miss much. The movie isn't really that bad, but I feel this is the weakest of the Spongebob movies.