I knew I had a winner when the movie ended and my son turned to me and said with great solemnity "More Bob movie, pwease." So there you have it, a movie that satisfies a guy in his thirties and a two year old at the same time. What more do you need to say?
Since that would make for a pretty lame review, I'll elaborate. What makes the SpongeBob movie great is that you can tell that writer/director/creator Stephen Hillenburg decided early on that no idea was too silly or off the wall to be incorporated into this movie. It's also clear that he wasn't going to let logic get in the way of a good gag either. Even better, it's clear that logic will restore itself after a particularly silly moment for no reason other than suddenly getting real becomes very silly. Do you sense a trend here?
The whole movie is great but the ending tips it over into being something special. It starts when our heroes, SpongeBob and Patrick, are trying to get home after successfully completing their mission. Who should appear but David Hasslehoff, as himself, to give them a lift as if he had been cross-bred with a dolphin and a taxi. To get them to the bottom of the sea he puts the two between his pecs and squeezes, shooting them down to the bottom. That moment is actually a bit disturbing. But the ultimate moment is when SpongeBob saves the day by suddenly transforming into a rock god and blasting away the plans of the villain with righteous licks from his guitar. The moment is so over the top ridiculous and off the wall that I laugh hard every time I see it. And considering that my son likes to watch movies 2-3 times in a row, that's really saying something.
Now, if you're the sort who doesn't dig on surreal humor or absurdist plotting, you won't get this at all. Don't even try. Your puny sense of humor will be crushed under the massive weight of this movie's lunacy. The rest of you should get right out and get a hold of a copy. I don't care how old you are either. Do it.
- John Shea is a goofy goober.
