Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie

Saving-Bikini-Bottom-The-Sandy-Cheeks-Movie
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie

Saving Bikini Bottom The Sandy Cheeks Movie is not the first time SpongeBob SquarePants leap onto the big screen. The popular Porifera has taken brief leaves from his television’s more than 300 episodes for theatrical adventures in the years 2004, 2015, and 2021. But this time, there are some considerable differences. For the first time, a SpongeBob film tells from the perspective of one of the franchise’s secondary characters, rather than the titular character himself. It’s the first time ever that a movie takes place in the era of Bob, specifically made for streaming platforms instead of theatres. And it’s the first SpongeBob film that has been leaked on social sites several months prior to the scheduled premiere time (probably the fault of Squidward).

In the opening song of the film, Texas’s Marine Biologist and squirrel, Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) is introduced first before the audience sees almost half of Sparky, who is Sponge Bob, (Tom Kenny) sitting next to Sandy and watching how many of their friends, skateboard town, bikini bottom, and other more parts of Sparky were taken away from the sea. Sandy accuses her boss as the culprit behind the antics. Under the authority of Sue Nahmee (Wanda Sykes), the lab transformed from a trusted institution to a water amusement park. It has become evident that Nahmee intends to make toy versions for children. So, she goes to her family, voiced by Craig Robinson, Johnny Knoxville, and Grey Delisle, and goes on to save her friends.

SpongeBob SquarePants launched its first episode in 1999. By this time, the core target viewers for the show who were aged 2-11 years, are now aged between 27 to 36 years. Some franchises evolve and ‘grow up’ along with their fans, but this one has remained supremely aimed at younger audiences. This has irked a considerable number of long-term fans because, in their opinion, only their time at SpongeBob was the best. This is hardly the first show this has happened to, but it does mean that any new attempt to watch any new Sponge Bob adventure is accompanied by a deftness that has dipped into a large pool of negativity, most of which is absolutely unnecessary. Yes, there is no argument that the most successful part of the franchise was the 2004 release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. However, it is absolutely disingenuous for anyone to claim that there is no entertainment in watching 2015’s Sponge Out of Water featuring Foodie Pirate Antonio Banderas or the political joke that is, Matt Barry’s 2021 Sponge on the Run.

The chaos between love and hate with The Sandy Cheeks Movie had been formerly calmed by the early news version of the release. Watching an incomplete version is a great way for anybody eager to showcase how abhorrently a film is, to do so. Some of the loudest critics of the film will insist that this perversion of animation is the worst thing that ever happened to the brand. That is far from the truth of it all.

This sentiment is echoed and partially explained by Tom Stern’s (Freaked) and Kaz’s (Phineas and Ferb) scripts. The screenwriters manage plenty of heart and have plenty of good laughs when bringing about Sandy Cheek’s family into the fold. Even though she has left the family’s traveling circus, Sandy’s family, The Cheeks, are very supportive of her scientific endeavors which are so lovely and human amid endless levels of cartoon malarkey. Also, one of the film highlights is the presence of Knoxville as Sandy’s twin brother Randy. The scenes that were mainly focused on hybrid animation, although way too behind the hybrid animation introduced in the first two films are still a tad bit pleasing to the eye.

By contrast, everything else is a dull task. The recurring sequences featuring Bikini Bottom inhabitants have some poorly done jokes and even worse animation. The human protagonists in the film do not perform any better. The talented Ilia Isorelýs Paulino and Matty Cardinal are nothing but lackeys. Sykes overemphasis her dramatic act, yes, the villain is that uninteresting. In the end, rather than appearing as an evil businesswoman, the famous actress seems more like George Lopez in the Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.

Things completely go overboard when the various parts of the film finally come together in the finale. The characters become a jumbled wreck, the animation and effects visibly deter, and that Sharkboy and Lavagirl reference takes on a whole new layer of norms absurdity. One cannot even blame the viewers who sat through an unfinished version of the film because the finished film still seems half-baked. One more time, since this is still a SpongeBob film regardless of the title, Sandy has to go as early as the most critical moment.

Saving Bikini Bottom is a clear indication of how Nickelodeon wants to move forward in churning out SpongeBob movies with the same frequency as Marvel movies. The SpongeBob Movie Search for SquarePants and spinoff Plankton The Movie have both been scheduled for 2025 and they are only the beginning. And, sadly, this is not a good omen for what the future holds.

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