YMMV / The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

• Americans Hate Tingle: The movie itself got mixed-to-negative reviews in France, something that is unusual given that Spongebob, as a whole, is beloved there: this is caused by disappointment about its premise (the CGI scenes are only in the end) , the fact most of the main cast didn't get their traditional voice actors, misleading trailers and jokes that are unfunny for a French standards. The controversy caused by the fact the gulls got dubbed by Cyprien Iov, a youtuber who is popular in France, but among teenagers, doesn't help at all.
• Award Snub: Being a movie adaptation of one of the most dominant forces in KCA history, it looked to be a shoo-in to win Favorite Animated Movie. But alas, it lost to Big Hero 6. Although when an announcement about the category was not made when SpongeBob won Favorite Cartoon for the umpteenth time, it made it all but certain that it would lose.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • The seagulls are either adorable or the worst characters in the film, especially Kyle. Their role as the Audience Surrogate is also debated.
  • BurgerBeard is either an entertaining new spin on the series, or a one note villain. Antonio Banderas' portrayal is also sometimes seen either as a miscast or an unexpectedly good casting choice.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The rap battle between Bubbles and the seagulls at the end of the movie is a Gainax Ending if ever there was one.
• Broken Base: Tobias Lelle as the new German voice of Squidward. Some think he has a lot of potential and competently succeeds the late Eberhard Prüter, and are willing to give him a chance. Others think he's too unrefined and inconsistent in his voice, and doesn't quite capture the listless and cynical tone that Prüter had brought to the role. Furthermore, Prüter had a very distinctive, very unique natural speaking voice and that was what he used on the show; it was always going to make him a Tough Act to Follow.
• Character Rerailment: With Stephen Hillenburg back at the helm, the characters in the franchise are closer in characterization to the first three seasons than when he stepped down, which can be seen as an earnest attempt to return the show to its roots.
  • SpongeBob himself especially seems to have been hit with this. Still a keety Cloudcuckoolander, but here he is much less obnoxious than his Flanderized season 6+ self, and appears to be less of an Idiot Hero. Not to mention that his voice is lower like in the old episodes.
  • After three seasons of being comically inept as a villain to the point he needed his computer wife to tell him to blink, Plankton is back in this movie as a serious threat who actually comes really close to stealing the formula.
  • Squidward's Butt-Monkey status is heavily minimized, and he even gets thrown a bone.
• Contested Sequel: Depending on who you ask, it's either better than the first, worse than the first, or good in it's own right. Most agree it's an improvement over seasons 6 through 8, though.
• Critical Dissonance: Received positive reviews from critics, but audiences were more mixed. Compare the 81% critic score to the 54% audience score.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Bubbles, since he's a Stop Motion animated Dolphin who displays a rather... vibrant personality.
• Ending Fatigue: "Knock it off, you're making the movie too long!"
• Even Better Sequel: As far as Rotten Tomatoes goes, critics have rated this movie higher than its predecessor, which was also generally well-received.
• Improved Second Attempt: One issue some had with the first film was how the main characters (aside from SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton) were not given enough screentime. This film rectifies the issue by having Squidward, Sandy, and Mr. Krabs have more active participation in the plot compared to the first film.
• Jerkass Woobie: Plankton. Despite being an Affably Evil Harmless Villain as usual, everyone wants to end his own existence for something he didn't even do, and SpongeBob is the sole person to completely trust him and show him any compassion throughout the movie.
• Magnificent Bastard: Burger Beard is a swashbuckling pirate with dreams of converting his ship into his very own food truck. Travelling the seven seas with his crew of seagulls, Burger Beard tracks down a magical book that allows anyone who writes within it to change reality to their will. Using the book to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula, he causes Bikini Bottom to descend into anarchy while he makes a profit selling Krabby Patties on the beach; all without anyone being the wiser. Once SpongeBob and his friends track him down, Burger Beard uses the book to banish them to Pelican Island while he continues running his restaurant in peace. When SpongeBob returns after turning his friends into superheroes, Burger Beard uses his own guile to keep the heroes on their toes and eventually defeat them one-by-one. Although he's eventually taken down by Plankton, Burger Beard remains humble in defeat and indulges in his crew's request to sing the SpongeBob theme song. Ever-resourceful, Burger Beard is one of the craftiest villains to ever make their way to Bikini Bottom.
• Memetic Mutation: See this film's section on the show's meme page
• Never Trust a Trailer: The CGI superhero scenes were heavily advertised in trailers and marketing, despite only taking up the last 30 minutes of the film where most of the film is traditionally animated. This may be have been due to concerns that traditionally animated features wouldn't bring in an audience. Averted in the Japanese trailers, where the traditionally drawn scenes are more prominently advertised.
• The Problem with Licensed Games: The tie-in game SpongeBob HeroPants is considered somewhat unenjoyable, due to the repetitive and unengaging gameplay and general lack of relevance. It actually killed off the SpongeBob video game line until THQ Nordic reacquired the video game rights to the franchise.
• Tainted by the Preview: The movie was widely mocked and panned based on pre-release materials, mostly because they made it look like Nickelodeon's answer to other, usually widely-hated "live-action CGI cartoon character" movies such as Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Smurfs. Thankfully, the actual movie opened to positive reviews and a welcome reception from SpongeBob fans.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Gary the Snail. The only one of the seven main characters who never joins SpongeBob's superhero team and consequently, has next to nothing to do in the overall story.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The trailers implying that the secret formula was written on one of the pages of the book actually gave BurgerBeard a reason to attack SpongeBob. In the movie itself, it's never explained how he knew about the formula, and him playing the antagonist against the main characters made him look like he wanted to do bad things just because.
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • The traditional animation in this film is still incredibly stunning to look at, using many stylized facial expressions and amazing shading, making it really stand out.
  • The CG is also very well done, keeping the same kind of stylized cartoony look of the show.
  • For those that saw the movie in 3D, the time travel sequences look incredible.
• Win Back the Crowd:
  • News of series creator and former showrunner Stephen Hillenburg writing the story for the movie was positively received by fans.
  • The trailer has won over many fans thanks to its humor reminiscent of the first three seasons, as well as the very well done animation.
  • And now the release of the film seems to have restored confidence in the series for many disillusioned fans.
  • As with many modern traditionally animated films before it, such as The Princess and the Frog, this film has also started to inspire hope for future hand drawn animated features.
• The Woobie: SpongeBob, throughout most of the movie. The entire town hates him and wants to kill him, his closest friends have betrayed him, and he is overall saddened by what Bikini Bottom has become. It's hard not to feel sorry for him.

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