Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (2024) Movie Review- A New Rock Bottom For SpongeBob

When I made the decision to do a yearly long retrospective on SpongeBob Squarepants for the show’s 25th anniversary, there was one main thing I was skeptical off, that the newest piece of content to come out in 2024 for the sponge would be so bad that it would make this retrospective feel like a giant waste of time. After all, we all know the narrative of SpongeBob Squarepants in the eyes of the media. Pre-movie SpongeBob good, post-movie SpongeBob bad.

The last thing I want is the latest movie or tv special to throw more fuel into that toxic fire when it’s already big enough as it is. However, in the case of this newest SpongeBob-related movie to come out in Saving Bikini Bottom: A Sandy Cheeks Movie, I figured it wouldn’t be worth talking about unless it was either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. And considering I’m writing this review, you could probably guess this particular film is either one of those metrics. And if you go by the subtitle of this review, you would probably guess it was exceptionally bad. Unfortunately, you would be right.

Saving Bikini Bottom: A Sandy Cheeks Movie is one of the worst things to ever happened to SpongeBob SquarePants and is perhaps the worst of all of the SpongeBob movies (Yes, including Sponge on the Run). It takes nearly every problem of the very worst of SpongeBob medium and cranks it up to 11. The plot is non-existent, the characters are at their most one-note and nonsensical, not a single joke lands or isn’t stolen from older SpongeBob material, the direction and special effects for the live-action sequences are jaw droppingly awful, and the main villain is one of the worst, obnoxious, and most cringeworthy villains I’ve seen in any movie. Not even previous saving graces from other bad SpongeBob content such as the animation and voice work are good here. If there was any indication that Nickelodeon no longer cares for the sponge we all know and love, look no further than this steaming piece of crap!

I honestly want to stop here because talking so negatively about SpongeBob Squarepants, a series I have loved nearly my whole life, just breaks my heart. However, there is so much wrong with this movie that I just have to get my honest thoughts out there. I would start with the plot but it would be hard to describe because there barely is one.

Premise: The Bikini Bottom is in danger once again, this time being scooped out of the ocean from some mysterious unknown source. The only ones left to save the town is Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) and SpongeBob Squarepants (Tom Kenny). The two head out of water to Sandy’s home state of Texas to enlist the help from her family to save their town and stop whoever it is that stole Bikini Bottom and everyone they love.

First off, despite what the title might suggest, this is very by in large a SpongeBob SquarePants movie that just happens to put the spotlight on Sandy Cheeks, much like how Shadow the Hedgehog was by in large a Sonic the Hedgehog game that just happened to put the spotlight on Shadow. There’s nothing different to in terms of tone, feel or music and just about all of the major SpongeBob characters are present and accounted for. SpongeBob is basically just reduced to being the co-lead of the movie. Netflix and Nickelodeon can fool people however much they want to but this is NOT a spin-off and most certainly another main entry of SpongeBob SquarePants. Which to be honest, makes the whole picture feel a lot worse than it already is.

It’s become a growing criticism with recent forms of media that it has the feeling of an A.I. making it and that unfortunately can be applied to here. There’s not a single plot element, character trait, joke, or reference that feels new or unique. Almost every single one of them has been stolen from other better SpongeBob medium and makes nearly every single beat of the film feel extremely predictable. You can see every single plot turn, character moment, reference, and moment of humor coming from a mile away. I’m willing to be if I asked ChatGPT to write out a Sandy Cheeks movie, this is exactly what I will get.

The plot, as I mention before, is barely there. It’s about the most barebone “save the world” story you can possibly imagine with nothing fresh or unique added to it. There’s no positive message for kids here or any hard lesson that the characters have to learn by the end. It just one random illogical set piece to the next that even for SpongeBob SquarePants, will test your patience and make your ability to suspend your disbelief basically impossible. Granted, SpongeBob hasn’t necessarily been known for having complex stories or the most internal logic but even with the other movies, it at least felt consistent with everything else going on and there was the germ of an idea that gives it an excuse to make into a film.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie acted as the original epilogue of the series that changed the status quo for its main Sponge at the very end. Sponge Out of Water took spoofs of a handful of classic films and put them all in a blender. Even Sponge on the Run had a climax that (despite the abruptly forced Kamp Koral flashbacks) could have been seen as a culmination of the series with the characters describing how much SpongeBob has meant to them over the years since the show’s inception. There is nothing of substance in Saving Bikini Bottom that warranted this being a feature length film when it could have been a 30 or 45 minute long special instead of a 85 minute long film.

The SpongeBob characters themselves are giving as lazy of a treatment as the plot is. There is nothing that stands out here in terms of their traits and personalities that you haven’t already seen before in any SpongeBob media. It takes the problem of the later seasons where they will take the one character trait that each character is known for and beat you over the head with it, making it their ENTIRE personality without deviating from that one specific trait. SpongeBob is overly happy and optimistic, Sandy is overly smart and competent, Patrick is overly dumb and stupid, Squidward is overly sad and depressed, etc. It’s just the one trait that each character is known for and literally nothing else. I would mention the others but they all feel like such a footnote here that I can’t be bother to speak of them because the movie itself couldn’t care less either. That’s not even to mention how clunky and unnatural nearly every bit of dialogue is that comes out of these characters’ mouth, with lines that feel as cold and lifeless as everything in this movie is.

When it comes to the new characters added in, they are even worse. While meeting Sandy’s family is an interesting idea on paper that would at least make for a decent special episode of the series, the group itself could not be more bland and boring in the finished film. So much so, that I can’t even remember any of their names, what makes them different from each other, and which one each said notable actor is suppose to be playing. There’s nothing that stands out with the family that makes them feel welcome in the world of SpongeBob nor does it offer any kind of extra depth or characterization for Sandy herself. The best we get is the hint of what Sandy was before she left Bikini Bottom with her family being circus folks and potentially was destined to be a spy there (Yes, really!) and nothing else.

It’s also quite jarring how the family seems to act like they are in a completely different universe than the one the movie is set in, especially with how little presence they have in the actual climax of the movie. They don’t so much feel like they are doing this to save their daughter’s town but more because she just so happened to be back in Texas and might as well give her a helping hand. It honestly feels like the family couldn’t care less what happens to Sandy’s home and her friends. It’s just like, “Oh, our daughter is back in town and needs a slight favor from us! I guess we can help here, even if we really don’t know what it amounts to!’ Meeting Sandy’s family should have been exciting to see for any fan, instead it’s lame and boring like the rest of the movie.

The worst new additions, however, have to go to the human characters. Not only are the live-action sequences with them generally poor and hard to watch, but these characters could not be more annoying and obnoxious if they tried. The two assistants are generally infuriating, going full cartoon in their performances that doesn’t feel entertaining to watch and gives the impression that the director for these sequences has no clue how to properly stage a live-action scene. If you thought the live-action Patchy the Pirate sequences in the show was cringe, you have seen NOTHING yet. However, neither one of them compares to the absolute WORST part of the movie, the main villain of the movie!

The main villain play by Wanda Sykes is easily the worst antagonist that the SpongeBob franchise has ever seen! She starts off as being a generic “corporate” villain that wants to use SpongeBob and his friends as a brand that they can turn into a huge profit (You couldn’t have been any less subtle with that, could you Nickelodeon?!) but then she becomes needlessly complicated once they reveal the origin story as to who and even why she is the way she is. Nothing about that makes any sense, her motivations for doing what she does is strange and quite frankly disturbing, every single line of dialogue spoken out of her mouth is an absolute groaner, the green-screening effects with her character are so bad it will make your eyes bleed, and her evil transformation at the climax is generally one of the most CRINGEWORTHY things I’ve seen in any form of media ever! You have to see it to believe it but I can only imagine how many folks will legit die of cringe whenever they see this character appear on screen in her “real” form.

Even the notable saving graces of prior bad SpongeBob content such as the animation and voice work cannot be praised here. The animation might have been decent for a video game cutscene but NOT for a future length film. It’s like they took the animation from prior SpongeBob video games, most notably The Cosmic Shake, but removed any of the fluent movements and the overall unique style that helped make it stand out for the game. It looks even worse in live-action, looking distractingly out of place with everything that is happen out of the sea with terribly dodgy CGI effects and dreadful editing for good measure. I mean at least Sponge On The Run looked nice and all of the voice actors sounded like they were trying.

Speaking of which, the voice cast, which has been a constant strength for all forms of SpongeBob medium, is shockingly flat here. Almost all the big name members of the cast sound incredibly bored to be here, feeling like they are just going through the motion and phoning in. I understand that everyone in the cast is older now and have been doing these roles for over two decades now but there is just no energy or passion behind any of the performances in the movie. Tom Kenny and Clancy Brown in particular sounds like they are on there last legs on voicing SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs respectively. They all sound just as tired and bored as I imagine most SpongeBob fans will feel watching this monstrosity.

I can’t imagine I will suffer through a worse film through the rest of 2024 than Saving Bikini Bottom: A Sandy Cheeks Movie. It’s basic proof that Nickelodeon no longer cares about the quality of the SpongeBob brand and clearly see the franchise as just a product in name only. Any of the heart and soul that has been a present through the very highs and even some of the lows is no where to be seen here. I know there will be plenty of folks out there dismissing this review and claim the movie overall is not that bad and giving it the “it’s for kids” pass but I generally believe SpongeBob SquarePants and children entertainment deserves better than this.

As someone that has been a defender of numerous amount of SpongeBob content to come out past the first movie (which you have seen throughout the course of the year), Saving Bikini Bottom: A Sandy Cheeks Movie serves as just the amount of ammo needed to those that claim that the sponge we all know and love is long gone and should have been put to sleep a long time ago.

Going back to the “corporate villains” I mentioned before, it’s ironic how the main thing going with them is that they are a big corporation that is wanting to capture SpongeBob and the rest of Bikini Bottom for the sake of merchandises and branding. With a proper creative team, that could have made for an interesting commentary and even a defense that SpongeBob means more to Nickelodeon than just his popularity alone. Unfortunately, when watching the movie, it comes across as Nickelodeon patching itself on the back for letting SpongeBob be what he has become. And especially after the passing of Stephen Hillenburg, that is about the worst possible feeling imaginable.

Help us Derek Drymon, you’re our only hope!

Other comments:

• There is literally a joke that SpongeBob makes early on about streaming on demand. That legit made me want to turn off the movie at that exact moment.

• Why does EVERY SINGLE SpongeBob movie have to take place out of water?! Just let the little yellow demon stay underwater for once!

• Remember in that one episode where Sandy says that squirrels can’t fly. That aged about as well as SpongeBob recently saying that he never learned how to tie a tie.

• I’m so sorry to Deadpool & Wolverine so saying you barely had a plot and relied too much on jokes and references. At least, the plot was built AROUND those jokes and references and they mostly worked in the heat of the moment. This is just……nothing.

• This movie was apparently produced by the same person that did Food Fight! Now, it all make sense!

• Which character from Sandy’s family did Johnny Knoxville voice again? I literally couldn’t tell.

• It’s odd how Grey DeLisle never did any voice work in SpongeBob until now. Just a shame she had to choose the absolute worst occasion imaginable to do so!

• I don’t care if Search for SquarePants or the Plankton movie (Yes, that’s going to be a thing) turns out any good, there should be no more SpongeBob movies after that.

• Sponge on the Run>Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie

• Heck, I’ll go a step further. Megamind 2>Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie

• Also, yes this was in fact a part of the SpongeBob retrospective marathon. I will do Sponge on the Run next month.

• Oh, and Squidward is totally gay for Sandy’s father btw. And SpongeBob as well.