Product: Spongebob Squarepants: Movie
Rating: 4.0
Fun but....
Okay, maybe my hopes were a bit high, but I thought Spongebob was going to be one of those rare feature-length NickToons that I'd actually love. While it beats "Jimmy Neutron" or something like "RugRats" or "Wild Thornberrys", it's still hard to banich the idea that plagues all of those movies - that they didn't exactly develop a movie-length plot to go with the script. I liked "SpongeBob", but the movie gets more mileage out of his charm than the fact that it's a movie, and even my kids were visibly disappointed (my 7 year old insisting she saw the funniest parts on internet trailers).The story - Spongebob gets a nasty surprise when he's NOT picked to manage the new Krusty Krab opened up by his boss, the money-hungry Mr. Krab. In the hopping sea-scape of "Bikini Bottom", where life is care-free, Spongebob wants nothing more than to prove he's man enough to run Krab's new restaurant (located conveniently next door to the old one). Unfortunately, Plankton - Krab's nemesis - has a plan to steal the formula to the "Krabby Patty", Krab's secret recipe, as part of his larger plan of world domination. Though embittered at Krab for not getting the top job, will Spongebob put it aside and save Krab's restaurant? Worse, as part of his evil plan, Plankton frames Krab for stealing the crown of King Neptune. The King is sensitive about his crown, both because it is a symbol of his power and because it covers a nasty bald spot. Persuaded by his spunky daughter Mindy (Scarlet Johanson), the enraged Kind gives Spongebob and his trusty if dim friend Patrick 10 days to find the crown (Patrick bargains it down to 6). Along the way, Patrick and Spongebob share many adventures, and learn to find their inner strength as they battle biker-fish, hatchet fish (bearing ice-cream sundaes), an assasin fish sent by Plankton and the compulsion to dance like a baby whenever somebody plays the "Goofy Goober" song.Like I said, it was fun, but no laugh riot - not even for my 7 and 5 year old. Neither knew who David Hasselhoff was (though I appreciated the joke); My normally brave 5 year old had to be taken out at one scene (the ice-cream bearing hatchet fish scared him to tears). he was okay for the rest of the flick, but everybody came out feeling as if they missed something.