I really want to like Spongebob. My four year old likes him. The rest of the world likes him. And all things considered, wacky, nonsensical humor is right up my alley. But for some reason Spongebob just doesn't click with me and I have yet to put my finger on the reason why. His TV show is hit or miss at best and his movie, unfortunately is almost all miss.
The plot is nothing that could not have been covered in a special two part episode of the show. It involves Spongebob's boss, Mr. Krabs being framed for the theft of King Neptune's crown and Spongebob and Patrick's heroic effort to retrieve it. The fact that Spongebob has been totally depressed and hates his boss because Krabs just denied him a huge promotion doesn't seem to play into Bob's decision to undertake the quest. Why on Earth would he want to do anything for his boss, who is not nice even on days when Bob likes his job? The movie does not explain the motivation, but it doesn't have to. The thin plot is only a tool for Spongebob and Patrick to act like idiot man-children for an hour and a half. Some of it is funny. Most is not.
I'm sure if you eat up everything Spongebob does, like most children do, this movie would be brilliant no matter what it was. If you're trying to catch up on what all the fuss is about by watching this movie, you will leave the theater scratching your head. While most of Nickelodeon's programs have a moral center, every time Spongebob leans toward teaching a life lesson or even having a point, it veers off course with a fake out and/or a wild joke that makes no sense. As I said before, I like zany humor a lot, but when you make zaniness the actual way that Spongebob saves the day, my rational mind is left wanting more.
1.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment