When a diabolical pirate above the sea steals the secret Krabby Patty formula, SpongeBob and his nemesis Plankton must team up in order to get it back.
Next to message-laden, CG-soaked kids’ animations, SpongeBob stands alone. His return is a skittish but winning splash of nonsense: dip in.
Over-familiar and the first half's pace is sea-sluggish but with inspired touches.
For the most part, Sponge Out of Water provides decent-sized doses of wacky animated fun; it's packed full of hilarious one-liners, pop culture references and colourful characters that should keep both adults and kids entertained.
Almost every line is a zinger, which can be appreciated in a state of total sobriety: it’s a non-stoner stoner film – and very funny.
Intermittently, SpongeBob's latest feature is very funny indeed, even for non-devotees of the original series.
Verdict: Splashing laughs.
The speed, frivolous nature and sheer preponderance of the slapstick gags during the early, fully animated sequences are joyously anarchic.
It lacks the charm as Spongebob’s last cinematic outing, but it is rather funny considering the odds stacked against it.
Should please young fans and offers up some droll humour for adults despite a rather innocuous story.
The live-action sequences, in which Antonio Banderas chews the pirate scenery, may not live up to the Looney Tunes madness of the cartoons, but for sheer head-scrambling craziness this is hard to beat.
General release. Check local listings for show times.