A typical episode of “SpongeBob SquarePants” runs 11 minutes. Now, for those who can’t get enough of that Laffy Taffy-yellow fellow with the googly eyes and giggly laugh, a feature-length outing must already sound like 10 times the fun. Toss in the hook that a mad scientist wants to clone all the sea creatures from his corner of the ocean, and you’ve potentially got more SpongeBob than even the most insatiable sponge-head can handle.
Dropping exclusively on Netflix, “Saving Bikini Bottom: A Sandy Cheeks Movie” shifts the focus ever so slightly away from our porous … er, eponymous hero. You know, that absurdist slab of absorbent optimism (voiced by Tom Kenny) who lent his name to the show for the past quarter century: SpongeBob SquarePants (who just crossed the 300-episode mark). For the uninitiated, Sandy Cheeks is the name of SpongeBob’s STEM-luvin’ squirrel friend, not a reference to the level of grit currently chafing the cheeks of her square-panted pal.
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“Saving Bikini Bottom” gives fans overdue insights into Sandy’s backstory, including a few details from her past that even she didn’t know. Sandy, who dons an airtight diving suit underwater and speaks with an exaggerated Southern twang, has frequently referenced her Texas roots, but the show rarely goes above sea level with her, much less as far as Galveston. That Gulf of Mexico-abutting town is where she’s from, and also the destination for a cross-country trip that takes place almost entirely on dry land (cue the sight gags of a desicated SpongeBob desperate for moisture), or else high up in the air, after Sandy lassos a passing jet. What better way to hitch a ride for her and SpongeBob all the way from the Pacific Ocean to the Lone Star State?
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Amusingly voiced by Carolyn Lawrence, math-savvy Sandy quickly puts two and two together after a giant excavator from B.O.O.T.S. Marine Biology Lab scoops up most of her neighborhood. “That’s the lab that I work for!” she exclaims in shock. Pulling out her portable computer, Sandy immediately uncovers the culprit: Someone named Sue Nahmee (sounds like “tsunami”) has stolen her friends — starfish Patrick, cephalopod Squidward and crustacean Mr. Krabs, all played by the original cast — for a mysterious “Sea Pals” project.
Sporting blue-tinted hair styled in an elaborate wave, Sue is embodied by an incredibly game (but not especially good) Wanda Sykes, who gives one of those showboat-y family-movie performances that make your skin crawl. Parker Posey nailed it in “Josie and the Pussycats,” and Carol Burnett’s campy turn in “Annie” is classic, but over-the-top is tough to pull off, and Sykes has the doubly tricky task of acting opposite all manner of computer-generated marine life. The resulting awkwardness could be as much director Liza Johnson’s fault as Sykes’, as the comedian can’t seem to find where to position her body or her eyelines in order to convincingly interact with her animated co-stars.
Johnson, who also helmed the outrageously entertaining “Elvis & Nixon,” excels more at comedy than kids’ stuff. When it comes to laughs, “Saving Bikini Bottom” delivers just the right amount of surrealism for those who know the show. Combining squishy-looking CG animation with live-action footage in inventive ways, this hybrid project joins 2015’s “Sponge out of Water” and 2021’s “Sponge on the Run” in rendering creator Steven Hillenburg’s characters in visually appealing 3D — not the kind that requires special glasses, but designed to look like they exist in the real world, complete with textures and shadows.
That’s a technique that hasn’t always worked well with hand-drawn characters (“Pokémon: Detective Pikachu,” anyone?). By contrast, these recent SpongeBob movies strike a nice balance, using live-action much as the series has: to augment the animation or, in some cases, to make a loopy situation seem all the more surreal (like the Zen tumbleweed with Keanu Reeves’ face on it we saw in “Sponge on the Run,” or David Hasselhoff’s speedboating cameo in the 2004 feature). Here, a funny thing happens when SpongeBob visits a waterpark, plunging beneath the surface and proceeding to tickle everyone’s feet.
The rowdy outing also boasts a run-in with rattlesnakes, a couple of musical numbers and a Cheeks family reunion, featuring Johnny Knoxville as twin brother Randy, Craig Robinson as her proud Pa and versatile voice actor Grey DeLisle as four other characters. It’s not as inspired as grown-ups might want, but innocuous enough for the kids. Once Sandy and SpongeBob finally get to the lab, Sue Nahmee’s cloning plan can commence. And just like that, this relatively dry adventure finds itself drowning in SpongeBobs.
