The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: February 6, 2015

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

62	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critics

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJan 31, 2015

The jokes are consistently hilarious, with enough variety to tickle the funny bones of old salts and young fishies alike. Read full review

The A.V. ClubGwen IhnatFeb 4, 2015

The visual effects and fast and furious quips combine for that rarest of releases: one that both parents and kids can enjoy (just like the show), leaving viewers of any age hoping that the next SpongeBob movie isn’t an entire decade off. Read full review

New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanFeb 5, 2015

The spirit of the series remains true: cheerfully random jokes, blink-and-you’ll-miss-them references and, above all, a silly, stubbornly sentimental streak that only the crabbiest cynic could dismiss. Read full review

VarietyAndrew BarkerJan 31, 2015

At times there’s a genuine sense of daring to the film’s freewheeling anarchy, its refusal to stick to a central theme or impart any sort of lesson. Read full review

Austin ChronicleWilliam GossFeb 11, 2015

It’s high-brow, low-brow, and just about every brow in between, replete with meta winkiness and manic energy. Read full review

The New York TimesNicolas RapoldFeb 5, 2015

The new film displays enough nutty writing and sheer brio to confirm the stamina of its enduring and skillfully voiced characters. Read full review

Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghFeb 5, 2015

As tiresome as those live-action sequences are, they are more than outweighed by laughs — some riotous, some groaning and some very, very befuddled, but none predictable. Read full review

The PlaylistDrew TaylorFeb 5, 2015

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is a mild lark. It's odd, off-the-wall, and has enough jokes and gags that if you're forced to take your little one to the theater, you won't spend the entire time looking at your watch or planning your escape. Read full review

HitfixDrew McWeenyFeb 5, 2015

The film is frantic from start to finish, and I suspect it will wear some people down completely. I thought there was a point where it stopped being funny and started being exhausting, but my kids went positively ballistic for it. Read full review

Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandFeb 6, 2015

By the time the end finally arrives, you realize you haven't laughed in quite a while and, instead, have been thinking about the chores you have to do after you leave the theater. As diversions go, that's pretty diluted. Read full review

RogerEbert.comChristy LemireFeb 6, 2015

Zany and zippy as you’d expect, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water remains true to the surrealism of its animated television roots. Read full review

The Globe and Mail (Toronto)John SemleyFeb 5, 2015

Save for some halfway inventive touches, such as a meta-turn that evokes Chuck Jones’s surrealist Merrie Melodies short Duck Amuck, Sponge Out of Water coasts on its 3-D CGI shtick, sacrificing the giddy whimsy that recommends the SpongeBob series for more boringly Hollywood whiz-bang action. Read full review

New York PostSara StewartFeb 4, 2015

Ultimately, for the show’s fans, it may not matter if “Sponge Out of Water” shows a hint of mildew. After all, my co-critic’s most enthusiastic note — “Hilarious!” — was written before the lights even dimmed. Read full review

Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 4, 2015

The gags, puns mostly, skew quite young. And those things Spongebob does that drive his onscreen castmate nuts — the shrieks and giggles and songs — are pitched to be a lot more irritating to adults than to small fry. Read full review

Slant MagazineEric HendersonFeb 3, 2015

Its dedication to the transgressive power of frivolity remains the franchise's greatest weapon. Read full review

CineVueJames LuxfordMar 26, 2015

The wayward narrative will appeal to fans as much as it will befuddle newcomers, making for an imperfect but hugely endearing family adventure. Read full review

The TelegraphRobbie CollinMar 26, 2015

The film moves like a pyjama case full of angry weasels, and finds ingenious ways to cram every scene with just one more loopy, disposable gag or slapstick thwack. It may not be the year’s best animated film, but it’s almost certainly the most. Read full review

Total FilmKevin HarleyMar 23, 2015

Next to message-laden, CG-soaked kids’ animations, SpongeBob stands alone. His return is a skittish but winning splash of nonsense: dip in. Read full review

EmpireNick de SemlyenMar 23, 2015

Over-familiar and the first half's pace is sea-sluggish but with inspired touches. Read full review

Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyFeb 5, 2015

What saves the film is that it is also packed to the gills with the classic slapstick sweetness that makes SpongeBob — in or out of water, on big screen or small — hard not to laugh at and love at least a little. Giggle, giggle. Read full review

The DissolveTasha RobinsonFeb 5, 2015

It’s amiable goofiness, delivered at an emphatic, feverish pitch. Inevitably, what works fine in 11-minute episodes becomes strained over 90 minutes on the big screen, especially during a grating musical number about teamwork. Read full review

The GuardianJordan HoffmanFeb 3, 2015

It isn’t just the sheer density of jokes that is impressive, but the diversity. Read full review

The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenJan 31, 2015

Rather than further expanding those seemingly limitless SpongeBob horizons, the live action/CG stuff never satisfyingly jibes with the traditional nautical nonsense down below. Read full review

Washington PostJen ChaneyFeb 5, 2015

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is like the family movie equivalent of a Krabby Patty: It tastes fine and will satisfy some cravings. But it’s ultimately a product cranked out to make money and keep our consumer-driven society, much like Bikini Bottom’s, chugging along without significant disruption. Read full review

USA TodayClaudia PuigFeb 5, 2015

The live-action elements — mostly in the person of Antonio Banderas as cranky pirate Burger Beard, who spends most of his time addressing a flock of seagulls — don't mesh seamlessly with the animated sequences. It almost feels like two movies awkwardly melded together. Read full review

St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsFeb 5, 2015

Squeezes plenty of color and noise from a thin concept, then runs with it until non-fanatics can’t keep up. Read full review

Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 5, 2015

It's passable. Read full review