After three feature films starring SpongeBob, the Bikini Bottom cinematic universe is expanding to feature other characters. Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is a made-for-Netflix movie starring the intrepid marine biologist squirrel who uses a scuba suit to live underwater with his friends. When all of Bikini Bottom is removed from the ocean and moved to a lab in Texas, Sandy returns to his home state to rescue his friends. The movie doesn’t stray too far from SpongeBob, though; he accompanies Sandy on her journey, which plays more like a fun TV movie than a full-length feature-length event (though kids probably won’t notice).
SAVING THE BIKINI BOTTOM: THE SANDY CHEEKS MOVIESTREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: Species-wise, Sandy Cheeks is an outsider to the oceanic community of Bikini Bottom; she’s a squirrel, dressed in a ping suit, living under the sea (though not in a pineapple) as a researcher for a Texas-based marine biology company. However, she’s shocked when her company extracts the city from its ocean-floor home and brings it to their offices in Galveston, and is equally shocked to learn that the research lab is now a subsidiary of a water park owned by a shadowy figure. Thus, Sandy and SpongeBob, the only citizens of Bikini Bottom to evade capture, set out to investigate the situation and rescue their friends. This leads them into a more hybrid live-action/animation world seen in previous films. sponge Bob Features: Much of the film is computer-animated, but there are some live-action environments on land, as well as some live-action characters played by live-action actors. It’s not the flashiest combination of mixed media you’ve ever seen, but it helps set the film apart from the various SpongeBob television shows.
What movies will it remind you of?: I mean, there are three other SpongeBob movies, so you can probably figure it out. As much as Sandy’s friend-driven quest to get to Galveston made me think of the raucous comedy I will never go backthere isn’t much real resemblance between the two.
Performance worth watching: Though celebrities dip their toes in SpongeBob waters on occasion (Antonio Banderas once played a pirate!), the franchise is notable for its heavy, admirable reliance on real voice actors, rather than celebrity guests. So all hello to Carolyn Lawrence, who’s been giving Sandy Cheeks her perky Texas drawl for a quarter-century at this point. Johnny Knoxville and Craig Robinson contribute voices, and Wanda Sykes shows up in person, but they can’t quite steal the show from Lawrence.
Memorable dialogue: In a satirically gleeful ad about a sinister plan to turn the film’s main characters into some sort of toy-pet hybrids, an announcer boasts that “Sea Pals are genetically engineered to remain adorable and obedient—even during aggressive cuddling! Sorry, Fido; looks like you’re out of a job!”
Sex and skin: Don’t worry, parents: the terms “Bikini Bottom” and “Sandy Cheeks” are as spicy as it gets.
Our opinion: The Spongebob Movie and its pre-pandemic peers were big movie events for kids, though not exactly big-budget mega-movies. In the streaming era, SpongeBob is a busier franchise than ever, which also means its various features and spinoffs feel more like this year’s regularly scheduled installment rather than an enhancement (in that sense, it follows the same vein as Marvel and Star Wars). Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks MovieFor example, it doesn’t seem like it could pass muster in theaters, especially considering that the computer animation that’s supposed to set it apart from a larger film is often less expressive than its 2-D television counterpart. Computer animation is used to better integrate characters into some live-action set pieces, a technique that sets the films apart from the sloppier style of the TV show, but which often looks garish even (or perhaps especially) on a small screen. (It’s downright odd that this movie was directed by Liza Johnson, who made the sensitive indie drama The Last of Us.) Return(Starring Linda Cardellini.) The story, which involves Sandy Cheeks feeling torn between her found family in Bikini Bottom and the real-life brood of Texas circus performers she hasn’t seen in years, doesn’t offer much inspiration beyond a serviceable engine for episodic adventures that barely make it past the 75-minute mark by the time the end credits roll. All told, the kid-friendly jokes and grotesqueries are fun and energetic, but not appreciably stronger or more special than what the faithful SpongeBob viewer sees on a regular basis.
That said, the movie’s satirical angle is a lot of fun: the villain’s evil plan is to genetically modify and clone SpongeBob characters so they can be sold as horrifying toy-pet hybrids, meaning the bad guys basically want in on the merchandising that’s been a part of the SpongeBob world for decades at this point. Here, that flashy combination of live-action and animation at least has some utility, as we see computer-generated versions of the cast tested out as toys for marauding children. It’s a great example of how even a merely standard SpongeBob movie can still be made with energy and some inventive kid-friendly ideas.
Our calling: If this were a theatrical release, it might be a matter of luck whether it’s worth paying to take the whole family. But if your kids like SpongeBob and you have Netflix, you can definitely stream it (even if you use those 75 minutes to do some chores).
Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer based in Brooklyn. He is a regular contributor to The AV Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts on www.sportsalcohol.comalso.
