Product: Spongebob Squarepants: Movie
Rating: 4.0
SpongeBob OdysseyPants - A Nice Guy's Rite of Passage
***This review may contain spoilers.***Gosh darn it, what is it about this nutty, off-the-wall, maritime cartoon phenomenon that makes it so enduringly popular? I mean, it's full of nasty, selfish, greedy, dull-witted and hostile characters. It has gruesome close-ups and numerous continuity errors. It's hyperactive and unfocused. I think I have the answer - it's SpongeBob SquarePants himself. Duh, you say? Well, think about it! Even though he's a hypersensitive, annoying, meddling, gullible. nave guy, he's also a kid - nice, friendly, good-hearted, hard-working, resourceful kid who faces his often callous, uncaring environment with never-say-die optimism - an inspiration to all us rat racers and 9-to-5ers."The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" (hereafter SSM) recognizes this childish goodness, and puts it to a "mythological" test. SpongeBob is unfairly passed over for a restaurant management position by his crapulous boss Mr. Krabs in favor of the antisocial, apathetic, but "mature" Squidward. Along with his nearly mindless starfish companion Patrick, he messily buries his depression in endless Goofy Goober sundaes. Worse, King Neptune freezes Mr. Krabs because the microscopic but devious Plankton (the true thief) frames him for the theft of his baldness-hiding crown. With the king distracted, Plankton along with his computerized "wife" Karen enslaves all of Bikini Bottom with mind-control helmets. Despite his despair, SpongeBob's loyalty to Mr. Krabs and the community triumph and he, along with Patrick, agree to retrieve the crown, which is ensconced in the unknown land of "Shell City". Can these Goofy Goober kids do it?With sly cleverness, SSM incorporates all the elements of its production into a sort of Greek mythological tale along the lines of "Jason and the Golden Fleece" and more saliently, "The Odyssey". SpongeBob and Patrick, like Odysseus, must encounter many dangers, obstacles, and monsters before getting the crown back. The only difference is, besides "conventional sea monsters", they must resist an angler fish with a "grandma" lure, hillbilly roadstop diners, and the persistent, vicious Dennis, Plankton's henchman sent to thwart the duo. Our duo does despair and cry, and are on the verge of giving up. King Neptune's sympathetic mermaid daughter Mindy gives them fake seaweed mustaches to boost their manhood. The duo perseveres, but is captured by a "Cyclops" (a person in a seadiving, weighted suit), and imprisoned in Shell City (a beach souvenir shop) for dissection. The crown is there, but can the dessicated SpongeBob and Patrick free themselves, get the crown, avoid Dennis, get back home, and save Bikini Bottom from the ruthless Plankton? Tears, souvenirs brought to life, and Mr. Hunky Baywatch himself David Hasselhoff may play a part.As I said in the title, SSM is a nice guy's rite of passage. However, even though he ultimately proves his, er, manliness (spongeworthiness), the most reassuring thing about the movie is that SpongeBob will never lose his most vital asset, his Pollyanna child's heart (or whatever a sponge has for a heart). Still, he'll have that managerial position, thank you!