Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (2024) Review: The First SpongeBob Spin-Off Animated Feature Hits Bottom

Yeehaw, Sandy Cheeks! The karate kickin’, diving suit-wearing squirrel scientist hailed from Texas finally gets her own movie in Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, marking the first character spin-off film from the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise.

It was a refreshing change of pace to give one of the beloved characters a main focus for a change other than the usual SpongeBob and Patrick adventure. While Saving Bikini Bottom: Sandy Cheeks Movie doesn’t sideline SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny), this spin-off is mainly about Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) trying to save Bikini Bottom with the talking yellow sea sponge tags along on an adventure.

The story? A huge construction claw invades the sea and scoops up the Bikini Bottom, leaving a giant hole in the ocean floor. Inhabitants like Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), Mr Krabs (Clancy Brown) and Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) are trapped during the sudden invasion and taken to a lab somewhere in Texas. Well, a crazy scientist named Sue Nahmee (get it?) played by Wanda Sykes wants to clone the Bikini Bottom inhabitants.

So, it’s up to Sandy Cheeks and SquareBob to find ways to get off the ocean and locate the missing Bikini Bottom and their family.

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie retains the same CG animation seen in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run four years ago. It’s vibrant and colourful but this spin-off also throws in a few live-action moments with the appearances of Wanda Sykes’ Sue Nahmee and her dim-witted lab assistants played by Ilia Isorelýs Paulino and Matty Cardarople. The live-action/CG hybrid looks subpar and even shockingly hideous, particularly in the later scene revolving around Sue Nahmee. Whether it’s done to look intentionally silly, one thing is for sure, the animation hybrid made me want to scream “My eyes!” just like from the scene of 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which later became a popular meme.

It doesn’t help either when the live-action characters barely make a lasting impression. Wanda Sykes’ scenery-chewing acting style fares the worst, resulting in one of the unfunniest characters, live-action or otherwise in the history of the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise. Now, for a spin-off we are supposed to learn more about Sandy’s character, her side of the story comes across as perfunctory and uninspired. Sure, we get to see her quirky family of circus performers but they are all merely portrayed as obnoxious comic relief.

The plot — credited to Tom Stern and Kaz — just glossed over the so-called family dynamics and if you are expecting a worthy buddy-comedy moment between Sandy and SpongeBob, all we have here is a series of interactions that are mostly loud and annoying. The humour falls flat with many of them trying hard to sound funny. It was a huge waste of opportunity to flesh out Sandy’s character arc. The rest of the recurring characters from Patrick to Squidward are all relegated to largely thankless roles.

Even if Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is aimed squarely at kids, the whole thing remains disappointingly monotonous. The title itself should have been entertaining and yet, it’s awfully low-stakes scenario. One of the enduring successes of the SpongeBob Squarepants series and movies in their heydays lies in the irreverent, gonzo-style madcap humour that’s both hilarious for kids and adults. I enjoyed the first two movies but beginning with the unbelievable disappointment of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run and now this, it looks as if the franchise remains stuck at the bottom of the ocean.

But I do somehow enjoy the “SpongeBob SquarePants Theme” re-tooled in a country-style “Sandy Cheeks Theme” with Tami Neilson yodelling the song played during the end credits.

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is currently streaming on Netflix.