‘Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie’ review: The sponge has jumped the shark

There may be new depth to its title character, but Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie feels like an act of desperation.

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie isn’t the first time that SpongeBob SquarePants has made the leap to film. The prolific Porifera has taken quick breaks from his 300+ episode television run for theatrical escapades in 2004, 2015, and 2021. But there are a few significant differences this time around. This is the first time a SpongeBob film has ostensibly starred a member of the franchise’s supporting cast instead of the bouncy ‘Bob himself. It’s the first SpongeBob film set specifically for streaming instead of theaters. And it’s the first SpongeBob film to leak on social media months before its intended premiere (probably Squidward’s fault).

The film opens on a lively musical number that starts by introducing Texas expat/marine biologist/squirrel Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) before ending with Sandy, SpongeBob (Tom Kenny), and half of Sandy’s robotic horse Sparky watching in horror as their friends, the underwater town of Bikini Bottom, and the rest of Sparky are scooped out of the sea. Sandy identifies the culprit as her employer B.O.O.T.S. (Bureau of Official Texas Science).

The megalomaniacal Sue Nahmee (Wanda Sykes) has purchased the once-respectable laboratory and turned it into a water park. Now Nahmee plans to clone the residents of Bikini Bottom and sell them as children’s pets, forcing Sandy to reunite with her family (featuring the voices of Craig Robinson, Johnny Knoxville, and Grey Delisle) and save her friends.

When nostalgia forgets to come up for air.

SpongeBob SquarePants premiered in 1999. At this point, the original members of its intended 2-11 age demographic are now anywhere between 27 and 36. While some franchises choose to age with their fans, this one has stayed firmly targeted towards younger viewers. Several longstanding fans have taken exception to this, claiming that their era of SpongeBob is the only good one. It’s hardly the first series this has happened to, but it means any attempt to watch a new SpongeBob adventure must also trudge through a mountain of cynicism, much of it patently unfair. Yes, the film portion of the franchise undoubtedly peaked in 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. But anyone who says there isn’t joy in watching Antonio Banderas’ foodie pirate from 2015’s Sponge Out of Water or the Matt Berry-led political farce that is 2021’s Sponge on the Run is disingenuous.

With The Sandy Cheeks Movie, that mishmash of hatred and nostalgia has been intensified by the availability of an early version of the film. Anyone who wants an excuse to say a film is terrible can find one when watching an unfinished version. The film’s biggest naysayers will have you believe this is the worst thing to ever happen to the franchise. That’s far from the truth.

But make no mistake, this is still pretty bad.

The script from Tom Stern (Freaked) and Kaz (Phineas and Ferb) manages plenty of heart and humor when focused on the title character and her family. The Cheeks’ unwavering support for Sandy’s scientific pursuits despite her departure from the family’s traveling circus is sweet and human, despite multiple levels of cartoon silliness. And Knoxville’s performance as Sandy’s twin brother Randy is a consistent high point of the film. The scenes focused on hybrid animation, despite being nowhere near as good as the hybrid animation offered in the first two films, make for some satisfying visuals.

A bad day to be SpongeBob.

Sadly, everything else is a slog. The frequent cuts to the Bikini Bottom residents feature uninteresting jokes and even worse animation. The film’s human characters fare even worse. The talented Ilia Isorelýs Paulino and Matty Cardarople are nothing more than henchmen who deliver lengthy bouts of exposition. Sykes tries to chew the scenery, but that only reveals how paper-thin her villain is. Ultimately, the legendary actress looking more like George Lopez in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl than an evil businesswoman.

Things get completely out of hand when the film’s different elements finally collide in the climax. The characters become a muddled mess, the animation and effects become significantly worse, and that Sharkboy and Lavagirl comparison gains a new level of bizarre meaning. It’s hard to begrudge viewers who watched an incomplete version of the film when the final product still feels unfinished. And since this is still a SpongeBob film regardless of the title, Sandy takes the sidelines just when it matters most.

The bottom line.

Saving Bikini Bottom marks the beginning of Nickelodeon’s decision to start pumping out SpongeBob films at a Marvel-esque pace. Both The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants and spinoff Plankton: The Movie are releasing in 2025, with more films on the way. And unfortunately, this doesn’t bode well for what’s to come.

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is available on Netflix. You can watch the trailer here.

---

Images courtesy of Netflix.