Tag Archives: Nickleodeon Movies

THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE; SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS – Review

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Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke) and SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) in The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon.

And just what type of feature film has been at the top of the box office for the last couple of weekends? Oh, and it just became the biggest grossing flick of 2025 (we’ll see if that holds with the Nav’i arriving from Pandora this Friday). I’m talking about ZOOTOPIA 2, an animated feature film. And a sequel that could be part of another ongoing big franchise. That’s not too unusual for movies from the “mouse house” (and their Pixar partners), but rare for others. Sure, there’s DreamWorks with SHREK and ICE AGE from Blue Sky (actually now part of Disney). Well, there’s now Paramount Animation whose lil’ yellow, smilin’ hero is headlining his fourth big screen adventure, all since debuting on the Nickelodeon cable TV network way back in 1999. So let’s travel to Bikini Bottom via the multiplex for THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS. Whew, to paraphrase another seafarer and the poster, “we’re gonna’ need a bigger marquee”.

To start this tale of deep sea exploit, we’re treated to a prologue from a live-action pirate who tells us of the legend of the Flying Dutchman. Not to worry kids, we’re quickly reunited with our guy, Spongebob Squarepants (voice of Tom Kenny), who’s very excited at his pineapple home. Turns out he’s gotten taller, actually tall enough to ride the roller coaster at a nearby amusement park, Glove World. Yes, he’s a “big guy”! His BFF Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke) join him on this momentous trek. Ah, but the very dangerous-looking ride causes Bob to have a “change of heart”. Yup, he’s the “chicken of the sea”. The duo head back to the Crabby Patty diner, where the owner, Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) teases him with tales of his past “daring do” showing off his own “swashbuckler certificate”. Hoping to earn one of his own, Bob and Patrick go through a secret trap door, to Krabs’ old artifacts and “knick-knacks”. Somehow, the duo pass into an “ultra secret” section that has a portal to the pirate ship of the Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill). It turns out that he’s tired of being a green ghost who must sail the seven seas for eternity. He has a chance to be human once more via a magical device that can only be activated by “the purest innocent”. Sounds like our “big guy” Bob. As they sail away, Krabs and Squidward (Roger Bumpass), head downstairs and try to follow the ship to rescue Bob and Patrick. Can the squabbling pair catch up to the Dutchman before Bob somehow sends the old pirate into the real world? And would Bob replace him as the captain of his ghostly vessel?

It’s amazing that the veteran voice ensemble (past 25 years already) can still bring such sprightly energy to the “core” cast of characters, particularly the gifted vocal styling of Mr. Kenny (Bill, Clancy, and Roger aren’t “phoning it in”, though they could). Now, with this outing, they’ve brought in a few more actors into their “play pen”. Hamill is the perfect craggy, cranky green pirate ghost, while Regina Hall make for an excellent “first mate/assistant” Barb. As good as they are, the visuals really have to sell this story. While the original TV series and the first feature were produced in glorious “hand-drawn” 2D-style “classic” animation (though I’m guessing some “flash” was in use), the producers have completely-embraced fully-rendered, rounded, textured 3D CGI tech. Happily none of the rubbery expressions and exaggerations are lost, as the artists really make the cast very expressive in their physicality, often recalling the “loonier” art of Bob Clampett (a “touchstone” in zany poses). And we even get some live-action actors and settings in the big finale, though they can’t compare with the eye-popping splendor of the undersea backdrops (what they can do with the sand and sea greenery). The only problem with this is the exhaustion from the manic “in your face” pacing, which was meant to keep kids engaged, but is so draining for over 90 minutes (maybe this would’ve worked better in a multipart TV miniseries). You really need some time to catch your breath, since there aren’t big musical numbers or any quiet interludes. Yes the visuals are superb (some “gross-out” close-ups feel like the handiwork of Spumco, the Ren & Stimpy studio, stalwart Vincent Waller), but it really begins to blend together by the third act. But the overall quality is maintained after all this time in the “briny deep” so that longtime fans (the original TV viewers can bring their kids and maybe grandkids) will get a nostalgic charge out of THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS. Oh, and the TMNT short that proceeds it is pretty clever, too.

2.5 Out of 4

THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS opens in theaters everywhere on Friday, December 19, 2025

PLAYING WITH FIRE (2019) – Review

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Need to drop off the kids at the multiplex while you take care of some pre-Thanksgiving “prep”? Or Christmas shopping (sheez, you perfect planners make us all feel like lazy slackers). Well, it’s still a few weeks until FROZEN 2, that Addams clan is going the way of the bags of “fun-size” candies and cardboard witches, and those ARTIC DOGS are racing across the tundra toward home video (seems to be setting records….all the “worst-ever’ ones). How about a nice PG-rated “family-friendly” slapstick comedy? Most kids love those firefighters and their big trucks (in grade school we’d rush to window upon the siren’s wail), and those big larger than life wrestlers. Mix ’em all up with a lovable sloppy dog and three rowdy, mischievous kids and you’ve got the “kiddie matinee fodder’ entitled PLAYING WITH FIRE. But with that name, is there still a big chance that you’ll get burned?

At the start of the story, we’re dropped right into a wildfire blaze alongside a jammed roadway. Luckily, the “smoke jumpers” of the nearby Redding, CA are there. led by heroic, stoic, chiseled, buff Jake ‘Supe’ Carson (John Cena). As the haze begins to clear, he and his men are whisked away via helicopter. Back at HQ, they watch a news report interview with San Diego Fire Commander Richards (Dennis Haysbert) who says that they need more “jumpers” at his bigger, busier main San Diego branch. Jake is stunned to see that most of his guys do indeed jump at the prospect, rushing out the door leaving a trio of loyal firefighters: pilot/cook Rodrigo (John Leguizamo), silent towering “mountain man” Axe (Tyler Mane), and Jake’s good “right hand”, the excitable Mark (Keegan Michael Key), along with a slobbering Mastiff named Masher (no Dalmations). As Jake ponders applying for the soon-retiring Richards’ position, a call comes in on a cabin on fire. Since there’s a major thunderstorm approaching, the quartet heads out, eventually saving a trio of youngsters: adorable three-year-old Zoey (Finley Rose Slater), adventurous impulsive 12-year-old Will (Christian Convery), and their “in charge” teenage sister Bree (Brianna Hildebrand). Returning to the station, she tells Jake that their folks have gone out on a “date”. And since the big storm has hit (blocking cell phone signals, so no word from the parents), they’ll have to “bunk” with the jumpers (lots of newly empty cots there now). They’ll be picked up in the morning, so how much trouble can they get into? And really, it’s just for one night, right?

The cast struggles to bring some depth to the cartoonish “one-note” characters. Cena, so funny in TRAINWRECK and SISTERS, is basically a humorless, stick up his you-know-what, straight man to be the butt of the hi-jinks of his co-workers and the kids. In the opening sequence, he does a nice bit of spoofing his action leading man looks (and he doffs several too-tight but now soiled T-shirts), but mainly he’s there to get things back in order. Key brings his usual high energy to Mark, but he’s doing a variation of his “hyper-focused’ manic sketch roles, a lackluster follow-up to his superb recent work in DOLEMITE IS MY NAME (stream it now). Leguizamo brings a bit of his motor-mouthed street hustler bravado to Rodrigo, but he can’t make the “call back” bits (nobody wants his Spam-infused recipes) work. Mane is intimidating as Axe, but it’s obvious his surly demeanor will melt away to reveal the ole’ ‘softy’ inside. As for the kids, Slater is an onslaught of adorableness, whose twinking eyes cast a spell on all (human and animal) caught in her gaze. Convery gives us a modern riff on the kid “trying to help” disasters of Dennis the Menace and the Little Rascals. And Hildebrand is a convincing “ring leader’, a protecting mini-matriarch who tries to juggle the responsibilities thrust upon her. It’s great to hear Haysbert’s booming authoritative voice, but he’s given little to do in an extended cameo. Always great, but criminally under-utilized is the gifted comic actress Judy Greer brought in as a brainy love-interest for Jake. She has to engage in some silly slapstick (dunked in a pond and drenched in a rainstorm…within minutes), until the kids play “matchmaker” to the bickering (so they must actually like each other) duo, when, as researcher Dr. Amy, she’s not fretting over her rare frogs. The talented Ms. Greer deserves a better showcase for her skills.

Director Andy Fickman can’t keep the pace light and consistent, making the flick lose any zany pep long before the usual “one hour in comedy lull”. Of course, the lackluster predictable script from Dan Ewen and Matt Lieberman (it really took two) should shoulder most of the blame. Even the standard “fireman” gags just fall flat making us recall how they were done with more style and hilarity more than eighty years ago in the classic 3 Stooges short “False Alarms” (they can’t wring laughs from a “snake-like” firehose). Some make give this a pass saying “well it’s PG, so the kids’ll eat it up” (talk about cinema indigestion). With some many witty, creative films aimed at the family market (the recent ADDAMS FAMILY and the returning toys of last Summer), that casual excuse for sloppiness just can’t cut it, especially when the end product came from three (!) studios: Paramount Players, Nickelodeon, and Walden Media. The only winner of this whole debacle may be actor Joe Manganiello who’s at the top of the “special thanks” list in the final end credits. Way to dodge a bullet, dude (perhaps he was to play Jake or Axe)! Unfortunately, audiences risk a nasty retinal scorching (pass the first aid kit) after watching the dreadful PLAYING WITH FIRE.

.5 Out of 4

WONDER PARK – Review

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Aside from going to the movies (natch’) what’s very very high up on the lists of kids’ fun activities? Right at the ‘tippy-top” would probably be a visit to a big ole’ amusement park. Not the traveling carnivals that go from town to town and set up for a few days in an empty field or a parking lot. We’re talking the big permanent vacation destinations like your “several flags over…” or “something land or world” with the Griswold family running in slo-mo toward the front gate. And just what could make such an excursion even more fun, aside from a multi-day express pass or unlimited refreshment vouchers? What if that place was based on your own ideas, if you were the “Imagineer” thinking up the perfect coaster or ride? Well, as this new animated movie suggests, that would truly be a WONDER PARK.

Actually, this place, in the film, is called “Wonderland” and it springs from the daydreams of precocious seven-year-old June (Sofia Mali) and her devoted fun-loving Mom (Jennifer Garner), with the encouragement of Dad (Matthew Broderick). All’s well until June (without Mom) enlists the neighborhood kids to help her put together the ultimate “Wonderland” style coaster from stuff gathering dust in their families’ garages and basements. Of course, chaos and calamity spill out into the town. But after a lengthy “time out” punishment, the family team’s back plotting and building miniature versions of their fantasy place. Then Mom has trouble keeping up with lil’ June. She’s so pale and tired that she must leave their home and travel far away to a place that will hopefully heal her ailments (perhaps a hospital or spa). The trio’s now a duo and, as the months become years, now middle-school-aged June (Brianna Denski) wants nothing to do with Wonderland, becoming obsessed with safety (particularly fixated on potential dangers to Dad). Finally, he convinces her to join her classmates on a bus trip to a math competition. But worried June finds a way off the bus and ventures homeward through the nearby forest. And that’s where she stumbles upon the “real” Wonder Land”. She’s even greeted by the ‘official mascots’: Greta the wild boar (Mila Kunis), big blue bear greeter Boomer (Ken Hudson Campbell), jittery porcupine Steve (John Oliver) and beaver brothers Cooper (Ken Jeong) and Gus (Kenan Thompson). The place is in disrepair because an army of now alive stuffed toys, the “Chimpanzombies”, are dismantling the rides and tossing them up into a swirling dark magenta storm cloud. June and the mascots must work together, but they can’t win without the park’s missing director/ ride builder, the chimp known as Peanut (Norbert Leo Butz). Evan if they locate him, will they save their Wonderland before it’s too late?

The filmmakers have done a pretty good job of balancing the voice cast with “name” stars and relative “up and comers” (a frequent “pet peeve” of mine is the reliance on “celeb” talent to sell an animated flick). Both Mali and Denski brings lots of youthful exuberance to the June lead with the latter taking on most of the “heavy lifting” of her traumatic turn into a safety “sentry”. Unfortunately, Garner is once again cast as the dutiful, nurturing, now almost martyred matriarch, too close to so many of her recent live-action roles. She gets the right amount of “sweetness”, but never gets to showcase her comic skills. The same might be said of Broderick (the original Simba) whose pop persona harkens to his dim, but doting dad without that “snark” that marks most of his live work (not just Bueller, but the recent TO DUST). Then there are the mascots, the “cuddly creature crew”. Most prominent (seen and heard a whole lot) is Oliver as the manic, motor-mouthed Steve. He’s an engaging comedian commentator, but his constant chatter, repeating phrases and whimpers, becomes tiresome and monotonous, as if they needed him to hammer the gags. Pixar proved (particularly with WALL-E) that the quiet can draw the viewer into the story’s world. His dominance takes away from the others, especially the talented Kunis who has little to do as the plucky and determined wild boar Greta (sad because she’s been great for so long as a regular voice on TV’s “Family Guy”). Relative newcomer Campbell brings a loveable, engaging gregarious quality to Boomer in between sudden naps (a clever gag involves his narcolepsy, called “frequent hibernation syndrome”). Just as he did in the recent Grinch feature, Thompson brings much-needed energy to Gus the beaver and is almost matched by Jeong as brother Cooper. And though, it’s more of the heroic “straight man” role Butz brings loads or warmth and charm to the courageous, clever chimp Peanut.

This flick is fairly unique in a couple of ways. It’s a Nickelodeon Movies co-production with Paramount Pictures (not that unusual), but it follows in the footsteps of JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS and BARNYARD, in that it’s really a feature film TV “pilot” for a series on that basic cable channel that debuts later this year (so, don’t be surprised, parents). Kinda’ sneaky, eh? The other unusual tidbit is the fact that no director is credited. Of course, there was one, but he was fired after an accusation of Sexual Misconduct (it’s “Time’s Up” for family flicks too). So the main credits are to the screenwriters, Robert Gordon (actually story) and Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (both co-producers, too). And as for that script, well maybe the blame should mainly go to the marketing folks because it goes very dark fairly fast. There’s no warning that the adored mama is nearly at death’s door by the twenty-minute mark. She’s doing the “full Camille” complete with pale flesh, coughing into an ever-present scarf, and eyelids at “half mast”. Many of the tots at the Saturday morning screening needed quick “comforting” by their escorts. Not that any kids’ flick should be free of tragedy, but this seems to come out of nowhere. Aside from that, the last half hour in the park is pretty much a near-constant story treadmill of screaming, running, and bouncing that loses any real sense of urgency and drama. Some of the rides are cool (that big robot squid that tosses rider-filled orbs is a dream/nightmare) and the hordes of lil’ chimps have much of the creepy (but not too scary) menace of the winged monkeys of Oz, but it’s not enough to sustain this story for 85 minutes. The character design is serviceable as are the settings, but it’s nothing really new or engaging. It’s just a shame there’s not nearly enough of a sense of wonder in WONDER PARK. Now, please board the shuttles back to the parking lot…

2 Out of 5