Latest Spongebob feature shocks – and disappoints
Review
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (G, 86 mins) Directed by Liza Johnson Reviewed by James Croot **½
After the heights of 2020’s Keanu Reeves-infused, hilarious and heartwarming tribute to creator Stephen Hillenburg, Sponge on the Run, this feels like something of a disappointment.
While director Tim Hill there managed to keep the anarchic spirit of the now 25-year-old television show alive in its third feature-length outing (one only denied a cinema release by the global pandemic) and transition the beloved characters to a world brought to life with more cutting-edge animation, this reminds one of a 1990s or noughties Nickelodeon TV special.
Billed as the first in a series of character spin-off films, it aims to illuminate the backstory of Bikini Bottom’s resident marine biologist Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence), as well as giving her a rollicking adventure to be the hero in.
Director Liza Johnson (What We Do in the Shadows, Physical) and regular Spongebob writers Kaz and Tom Stern partly succeed in doing both, but saddle themselves with some awkward live-action sequences, an over-reliance on slap-schtick for laughs and reducing some of the crowd favourites to what are essentially cameos.
On the plus side, there’s a toe-tapping, countrified soundtrack featuring our own Tami Neilson and The Phoenix Foundation, a terrific Blazing Saddles homage, a nod to Twister and, rather disturbingly, what can be politely described as a Human Centipede gag.
However, while I’ve always found the more surreal and bizarre moments of the series and films to be a hoot, the repeated graphic depictions of what happens when a sponge dries out are likely to give littlies (and big littlies) nightmares, and I still can’t work out how the villain’s pug ended up with a hang-glider.
Still, it is nice to see Sandy take the spotlight, as she and Spongebob have to ride to the rescue after their aquatic home is lifted lock, rock and pineapple by the Bureau of Official Texas Science (Boots), the Galveston science lab Sandy works for.
Bemused and confused, the pair hitch a ride on an underwater geyser and jet-liner, before they’re blown off course and find themselves cornered by some low-down and dirty (rattle)snakes.
That’s when Sandy is forced to resort to whistling for help from the rest of the members of Texas’ first flying squirrel family. Delighted to be reunited with their water-skiing star, they’re more than happy to lend a hand, but even they aren’t prepared for what they discover at the Gushing Falls Water Park, where Boots’ headquarters resides.
Aided by assistants turned by the promise of a vending machine, Sandy’s boss Sue Nahmee (Wanda Sykes) plans to alter the genetics of Patrick, Mr. Krabs and the others so that they breathe air, can be cloned and then become the highly marketable sea creatures able to be “aggressively cuddled” that her younger self always wanted.
Yes, the conceit that Sandy’s continued presence in Bikini Bottom had been all part of a nefarious masterplan is certainly a shocker, but unfortunately the resulting story just feels a little too one-dimensional and predictable to really make for compelling viewing.
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is available to stream on Netflix.