A magic sponge for these troubled times.

Oh man, was children’s television a wild ride in the 90s. I mean, previous decades certainly had their moments, but as the 1990s eventually rolled around, all bets were off.

As a generation grew up, something was needed to feed their very particular televisual tastes, and while MTV took care of the older ones, the young’uns were left to wonder the wild west of kid’s TV. It was a crazy, unpredictable time, with Sky and cable broadening horizons (in the UK at least), making all manner of strange and alluring channels available, yet none came close to capturing the insanity of the decade quite like Nickelodeon.

Whether live-action stuff like the bonkers The Adventures of Pete & Pete or bat-shit-crazy animation like The Ren & Stimpy Show, the channel’s offerings were idiosyncratic and unlike anything any kid had ever seen before. What followed was a decade of shows unafraid to push children’s television boundaries, yet as time went by, things changed.

By the end of the 90s, and as times and tastes shifted, the channel shook off a lot of this crazy, however, one sea sponge appeared, ready to carry that baton. So, as the decade drew to a close, SpongeBob SquarePants was born, and over twenty years later, he continues to do his thing.

But after two decades riffing on the same hyperactive schtick, do SpongeBob and the gang still have what it takes to entertain?

After his beloved pet snail, Gary, is kidnapped by the nefarious King Poseidon (Matt Berry), SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) and best friend Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) set out on an epic quest to The Lost City of Atlantic City to rescue him. Crossing paths with all manner of danger and delight, they soon prove that there’s nothing stronger than the power of friendship.

With the world the way it is, sometimes all you want from life is to giggle at a hyperactive yellow sea sponge. Since 1999, SpongeBob’s irreverent brand of aquatic humour has kept young and old amused, and to be honest, that’s all you can ask for really.

In those twenty-one years, nothing much has changed to Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob brand, and despite the occasional wobble in quality, the series has managed to traverse generations with its light-hearted surrealism. So here we are two decades later with the arrival of Sponge on the Run, and while the look has changed, the energy and oddball humour certainly hasn’t.

After such a long and successful run on the big and small screen, Sponge on the Run certainly doesn’t rip up the SpongeBob rulebook, as it taps directly into the same energy that has sustained the franchise for so long. Sure, the decision to play it safe doesn’t exactly mark the film out as anything special, yet it delivers on many of the aspects that have won the series so many fans.

At its best when harnessing the surrealist silliness that has long been the series’ trademark, Sponge on the Run may be a relatively straight-shooting franchise entry, yet there are more than enough moments of pure absurdity to keep things interesting. Whether it’s the bizarre star cameos, King Poseidon’s strange snail fetish, or the usual wacky antics of SpongeBob and Patrick, Sponge on the Run knows precisely when to get weird. And when it gets weird, things click.

The fact that there’s not enough of this weirdness is certainly Sponge on the Run’s biggest disappointment. While the energy is high and the sugar-rush hyperactivity is as infectious as ever, the film lacks the spark of chaotic genius that made the series such a hit.

This isn’t helped by a rambling, unengaging, and borderline pointless plot that, while it certainly has its moments, struggles to offer much of the patented SpongeBob fun we’ve come to expect. While it’s always tough to adapt a television show – let alone a kid’s cartoon – for the big screen, Sponge on the Run can’t touch the franchise’s two previous movie instalments, as the narrative momentum flags badly the further into it we get.

But then, no one really tunes into SpongeBob for plot intricacies, so these issues aren’t exactly a dealbreaker. The plot itself is as forgettable as they come, yet Sponge on the Run makes up for it in character, adding some surprising (and welcome) layers to long-established favourites, while floating some new ones our way.

With flashbacks digging a little deeper into the relationships between SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, and even Gary, as well as fun new characters like Matt Berry’s deliciously narcissistic King Poseidon thrown into the equation, Sponge on the Run ends up delivering a surprisingly satisfying level of depth.

Oh, and of course you’ve got a whole bunch of cameos to help keep things lively. Since David Hasselhoff’s brilliantly bizarre appearance in the first film, random celebrity walk-ons are par for the SpongeBob course, and Sponge on the Run delivers the goods once again. There are a number of notable cameos throughout, and while none hit the mark like the Hoff, Keanu Reeves’ disembodied head steals the show as he drifts in and out, lighting up scenes, and imparting classic Keanu wisdom as he goes.

Much like everything else, the cameos are all rather silly. But then, would you really have it any other way? These live-action cameos also gel surprisingly well with Sponge on the Run’s tweaked animation style, that while it certainly takes some getting used to, ultimately works rather well.

While the film’s predecessor, Sponge Out of Water, experimented with the franchise’s trademark animation style, Sponge on the Run takes things a step further by ditching it altogether and going all in with the CGI. The shift away from tradition certainly throws things off in parts, as some of the show’s customary energy gets lost in translation, yet the result is a surprisingly effective one that looks pretty neat and hints at promising things in SpongeBob’s future.

With charm and energy to spare, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run makes for another solid entry in the long running franchise. Lifted by an inspired cameo from Keanu Reeves and a typically high tempo energy, Sponge on the Run’s relatively straight-shooting approach may lack the anarchic spirit and hallucinogenic vibe of either the series or the first two films, yet it’s chaotic sense of adventure and heart-felt sincerity make for genuinely comforting viewing in these scary and uncertain times.