It has been more than a decade since fans of Krabby Patty-flipping Spongebob Squarepants made his debut on the big screen back in 2004, but Squarepants and gang have made a return this year in “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.”

The movie, released earlier this month, follows the TV show’s longtime plot of Plankton, the villain, trying to steal the secret Krabby Patty formula, only to be thwarted by Spongebob. However, with an estimated $66 million budget for the movie, director Paul Tibbitt had a more than a little creative wiggle room. Bikini Bottom starts off in a 2D world and then enters a 3D world in the 3D movie, making Spongebob’s plans to save the Krabby Patty formula more elaborate than those in the TV show.

Plankton’s diabolical plan to steal the Krabby Patty formula leaves Bikini Bottom in an apocalyptic state due to the absence of the formula which makes the coveted burger. But there’s a twist: We soon find out that Plankton didn’t actually take the formula and the evil pirate, Burger Beard (voiced by Antonio Banderas), takes the Krabby Patty formula onto land and sets up a food truck to sell the Krabby Patties.

The unlikely duo of Squarepants and Plankton team up to go on an adventure through the 2D and 3D worlds and even meet a dolphin in space while traveling in a magical photo booth to save the secret formula.

Sitting through the film, there are points where it is hard to not laugh or at least giggle at the snarky jokes and ridiculous puns. Those jokes were the only things keeping me inside the theater.

One of the major problems I had with the movie was why Spongebob didn’t have the Krabby Patty formula memorized. After 16 years of flipping the same burger, you’d think he’d have it down by now. Instead, I had to sit through an hour and a half of Bikini Bottom having a tizzy fit because they couldn’t get their daily Krabby Patty.

The creators idea to have Antonio Banderas play the evil pirate, Burger Beard, in the film was one of the best parts of the movie. Banderas’s character gives the plot line just enough of a twist to keep the movie interesting.

Another fun addition to the movie was it’s featured song, “Squeeze Me.” Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, Shay Haley members of the funk, hip-hop band N.E.R.D. performed the tropical sounding tune that was played in the background of a number of scenes. The song was so catchy that it was stuck in my head for almost a week after I left the theater.

The movie also has good morals, stressing the importance of teamwork. However, that could have been easily done in a 30-minute TV segment.

While Spongebob has tested the waters on the big screen twice now, it is clear that Bikini Bottom fits best on the little screen. His vexatious laugh and moronic speech (as Plankton would put it) have a hard time keeping an audience entranced for longer than an episode, but the movie still provided a satisfying laugh.