The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)

A pirate named Burger Beard acquires a book that makes written text come true, steals a sandwich recipe, and thereby plunges an underwater city into chaos. This is the second theatrical outing for SpongeBob SquarePants, and it proceeds with the confidence of a property that knows exactly what it is. The voice cast returns intact. Antonio Banderas appears in the flesh, chewing scenery aboard a wheeled ship. Nobody in the production appears to have been hired to make a point, and the resulting ensemble is pleasant, unremarkable, and entirely without agenda.

A town tearing itself apart over a Krabby Patty would seem to invite commentary on scarcity, commerce, or the appetites of the mob. It does not. The Krusty Krab and the Chum Bucket remain what they have always been: two cartoon storefronts engaged in a cartoon feud. Sandy Cheeks is capable, and the film never pauses to congratulate itself for that. SpongeBob's peculiarities are played for laughs, not framed as a condition requiring accommodation. The ocean is a setting, not a cause.

The final act hauls everyone to the surface, renders them in three dimensions, and hands them capes. It is loud, it is bright, and it asks nothing of the audience beyond attendance. No sermon is smuggled into the climax. No finger wags at the viewer. This is a children's comedy that respects its own silliness. In an era of animated features that arrive bearing moral instruction like a report card, this one simply shows up, tells a joke, and leaves. The classification is straightforward, and the evening is not ruined by homework.

For the record, the picture qualifies as a sequel, a superhero outing of the late-act variety, and a domestic box office champion. That is the full extent of its file. There is nothing else to enter into the ledger, which is itself a kind of distinction in this climate. The sommelier sets down the glass, finds it clean, and moves on to the next bottle without complaint. A rare thing. A children's film that has no interest in raising anyone's children for them. I have scored it accordingly, and I suspect it will sleep soundly regardless of what I write.

{"thematic_tags": ["sequel", "superhero", "box_office_number_one"]}