The defence The Popcorn Loyalist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
Adventure · Animation · Comedy · 2015
Evil pirate Burger Beard is in search of the final page of a magical book that makes any evil plan he writes in it come true, but the final page happens to be the Krabby Patty secret formula. When Burger Beard endangers Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Sandy, and Plankton must embark on a quest to retrieve the recipe and save their city...a quest that takes them to the surface world and transforms them into superheroes.
Movie details
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
“Making waves in our world.”
2015 Adventure · Animation · Comedy 1h 33m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.0 / 10
66.9K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
80 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
62 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Evil pirate Burger Beard is in search of the final page of a magical book that makes any evil plan he writes in it come true, but the final page happens to be the Krabby Patty secret formula. When Burger Beard endangers Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Sandy, and Plankton must embark on a quest to retrieve the recipe and save their city...a quest that takes them to the surface world and transforms them into superheroes.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water?
For the defence
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Trolls
Adventure · 2016
After the monstrous Bergens invade Troll Village, Princess Poppy, the happiest Troll ever born, and overly-cautious, curmudgeonly outcast Branch set off on a journey to rescue her friends. Their mission is full of adventure and mishaps, as this mismatched duo try to tolerate each other long enough to get the job done.
Monsters vs Aliens
Animation · 2009
When Susan Murphy is unwittingly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk on her wedding day, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches. The military jumps into action and captures Susan, secreting her away to a covert government compound. She is renamed Ginormica and placed in confinement with a ragtag group of Monsters...
The Angry Birds Movie
Animation · 2016
An island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds or almost entirely. In this paradise, Red, a bird with a temper problem, speedy Chuck, and the volatile Bomb have always been outsiders. But when the island is visited by mysterious green piggies, it’s up to these unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to.
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
Animation · 2012
The enthusiastic Pirate Captain, along with his rag-tag crew, sets out to beat his bitter rivals. The chaotic adventure takes them from exotic shores to Victorian London, and from a haplessly smitten scientist to a diabolical queen.
The Twits
Animation · 2025
When the meanest, nastiest villains pull a trick to take over their town, two brave children team up with a family of magical animals to bring them down.
Moana 2
Adventure · 2024
After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana journeys alongside Maui and a new crew to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced.
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Animation · 2012
Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon another adventure after their continent is set adrift. Using an iceberg as a ship, they encounter sea creatures and battle pirates as they explore a new world.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Adventure · 2025
Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate – on a seafaring adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
Animation · 2022
When Van Helsing's mysterious invention, the "Monsterfication Ray," goes haywire, Drac and his monster pals are all transformed into humans, and Johnny becomes a monster. In their new mismatched bodies, Drac and Johnny must team up and race across the globe to find a cure before it's too late, and before they drive each other crazy.
Minions
Family · 2015
Minions Stuart, Kevin and Bob are recruited by Scarlet Overkill, a super-villain who, alongside her inventor husband Herb, hatches a plot to take over the world.
Where it lives
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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Paul Tibbitt · Mike Mitchell
Written by
Glenn Berger · Stephen Hillenburg · Paul Tibbitt · Jonathan Aibel
Tom Kenny
SpongeBob / Gary / Agreeable Mob Member / Waffle (voice)
Bill Fagerbakke
Patrick / Male Fish / Eager Customer (voice)
Rodger Bumpass
Doctor / Squidward / Angry Mob Member #2 / Doughnut / Squidasaurus Rex (voice)
Clancy Brown
Mr. Krabs (voice)
Mr. Lawrence
Plankton / Plankton Robot / News Anchor Fish / Mob Member (voice)
Carolyn Lawrence
Sandy (voice)
Antonio Banderas
Burger Beard
Court is in session
Put The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.