The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

Very similar to the edgy animated TV show.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie takes on rather too much water during its extended feature-length submersion.

The Nickelodeon cartoon series about an oceanic sponge and his starfish sidekick washes onto the big screen with a tide of weak one-liners, exaggerated reactions, and vaguely nauseating gags.

A film for kids, students, stoners, anyone who enjoys a break from reality.

Anyone expecting anything more risky will be sadly disappointed.

hile there is something a little familiar about the use of a journey narrative, and the hint of an uplifting message at the end of the film, the breezy insouciance, gleeful absurdity and wacky innocence of the series remains.

As a TV series, Spongebob has proven to be quite entertaining in 30-minute doses. Stretching the running time to 90 minutes doesnt help raise the level of appreciation, though.

As much as I resisted the Bob, I have to admit this is actually a pretty funny film.

The questions that the religious right needs to ask are how and why they ever confused homosexuality with pedophilia. Not only does blurring this issue do gays a disservice, it lets SpongeBob get away with murder.

It's never afraid to break out of movie conventions and revert back to its series randomness and sheer Monty Python-esque humor that made it a hit with kids in the first place.