Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie

5.5/10

In this new Netflix film based on the SpongeBob SquarePants show, all of the ocean town of Bikini Bottom is stolen by mysterious forces from above. It is up to Sandy Cheeks (voiced by Carolyn Lawrence), the squirrel scientist who lives underwater in diving equipment, and SpongeBob (Tom Kenny), the constantly optimistic fry cook, to save the town and their friends.

I give this movie points for having a more original plot than the last film, which had too many similarities to the first one, and I give the creators credit for creative randomness and just trying to have fun. But the jokes are really hit and miss. The plot ideas in here are all just okay; nothing that is particularly strong. 

I do admire for them giving the focus to Sandy, who to be honest doesn't get as much spotlight as some of the other characters (at least back when I saw the show, it's been a while). Heck, she's had so little to do in the last three films. I fear that the show's writers didn't have as much fun writing for her as the other main characters, but here they do manage to pull off the character being the center of your attention. There are many weak points, but Sandy is not one. She's always been the most adventurous of the characters and works well as someone facing a lot of physical obstacles. Also, her camaraderie with SpongeBob is so natural. The sponge himself also remains on point in his writing and his lovable personality. 

The animation like the jokes and story is hit-and-miss. Main characters and main props look good, but ancillary characters and parts of background don't feel as smooth. I do give the animators credit for doing such a good job translating the colorful 2D world of SpongeBob to 3D. Also, the slapstick and general motion animation are really smooth; the animators and storyboard artists really put their all into this..

Not strongly recommended or not. This is one of the weaker SB films, which is too bad, because it is clear that the directors and writers cared and were trying. If you're an adult SP fan, this like a lot of the later material just isn't the franchise at its finest, however kids probably won't have a problem with this, and it's an easy film to sit through.