Alright, I intended to review this film when I saw it in theaters back in August 2020, but I ended up not having the time. Fortunately, the Blu-ray just got released earlier this month and I picked it up, so the film is now fresh in my mind. This movie had a rough time getting released, it was originally supposed to be released in 2019 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the TV show, but then it got delayed in order to avoid competition with Dora and the Lost City of Gold if I'm not mistaken, then it was supposed to be released back in May 2020, but thanks to Covid-19, it got delayed again. Paramount Pictures then decided to cancel its theatrical release entirely and release it directly to VOD and their streaming service, Paramount+. Luckily enough, I live in Canada, and Paramount randomly decided to release the film in theaters in Canada, and I was thrilled, because I am a SpongeBob fan, and I was excited for it, and yes, I went and saw the film! The film actually did well at the Canadian box office. Enough of my rambling, let's get on with the review!
THE GOOD
Much like the previous two films, I loved this one! This film is incredibly charming and funny! All of the characters are very likable and fun to watch. The animation is entirely CGI this time around, and I personally didn't mind, because it was fucking gorgeous! The animation is fantastic, all the characters still looked exactly like you remember them, and they have a lot more detail to them, like Mr. Krabs actually has the detailed exoskeleton, SpongeBob actually has the details of a sponge, and you can actually see every strand of fur on Sandy. The film has a far more laid back tone compared to the first two, while the first film was an adventure story and the second one was a trippy, absurd mix of multiple different genres laced into one film and being more action packed, this film is more of a straight up comedy with a nice smooth pace. As I said earlier, this film is funny, which is what I expect from a SpongeBob movie. This film took me back a little bit to the earlier seasons as the humor is more adult sometimes. There's plenty adult jokes here, and they land! There's also a few callbacks to the first film that I really liked! I really liked Keanu Reeves in this film, I thought he would only have one scene in the movie but he's actually in quite a few scenes, and it was hilarious seeing him gradually get more and more annoyed with SpongeBob and Patrick. The final act of the film actually has quite a bit of heart to it, and there's nice part before the end credit paying respects to Stephen Hillenberg.
THE BAD
My only real issue with the film is that the title is kinda misleading, a similar problem with Sponge Out of Water. The only time SpongeBob is really on the run in the film is in the final act when SpongeBob steals Gary back from the villain.
CONCLUSION
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On the Run was in my opinion is very satisfying SpongeBob movie. I liked the comedy, the animation was absolutely fantastic, the characters are as awesome as ever, it had heart, a great cast, it was definitely something that lightened up a terrible year like 2020.
GRADE: A
FILM INFO
MPA rating: PG (for rude humor, some thematic elements and mild language)
Run time: 92 min
Release date: August 14th, 2020 (Canada), March 4th, 2021 (US)
Studio: Paramount Pictures
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