The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

Following on the success of 2004's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, the colorful characters in Stephen Hillenburg's popular TV ‘toon series embark on a new animated/live-action adventure. Under the sea in Bikini Bottom, squeezable SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny) and his purple starfish pal Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) once again foil an attempt by their scheming, one-eyed nemesis, Plankton (Doug Lawrence), to steal stingy Mr. Krabs's (Clancy Brown) secret formula for succulent Krabby Patties to save his own Chum Bucket eatery from bankruptcy. Suddenly, the precious recipe for the delicious delicacy disappears from the Krusty Krab's vault! Pandemonium reigns until the rival restaurateurs join forces on a perilous mission. SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, and Plankton, along with the curmudgeonly cashier Squidward Tentacles (Rodger Bumpass) and savvy squirrel Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence), travel to the surface to track down the villainous pirate Burger Beard (a live-action Antonio Banderas), who has transformed his ship into a food truck. Visual gags abound: Bubbles the hyper-intelligent dolphin (Matt Berry) shoots lasers out of his blowhole, while SpongeBob and Patrick take a spin in a cotton-candy machine, emerging on a crazed sugar high. And there are plenty of puns: Mr. Krabs commands, “Release the condiments!” and SpongeBob replies, “With relish!” Directors Paul Tibbitt and Mike Mitchell's sequel is an uneven mix of silly and surreal, but will likely be appreciated by fans. Optional. [Note: Blu-ray extras include deleted and alternate scenes (26 min.), the production featurettes “When I Grow Up, I Want to Make Funny Sounds” (10 min.), “Bikini Bottom Confidential: Rock Stars of the Sea” (10 min.), “Out of this World” (8 min.), “Becoming Burger Beard” with voice actor Antonio Banderas (6 min.), “Making the Burger Mobile Chase Sequence” (6 min.), “Plankton Rules the World” (6 min.), “It's Hip to Be SquarePants” (4 min.), “International Sponge of Mystery” with different language tracks (4 min.), and “A Day in the Life of a Sponge” (3 min.), the “Thank Gosh its Monday” song (3 min.), three sing-along songs, the “Squeeze Me” music video by N.E.R.D., and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a whopping extras package for a reasonably entertaining family film.] (S. Granger)