Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, calling it "the 'Good Burger' of animation plopping us down inside a fast-food war being fought by sponges, starfish, crabs, tiny plankton and mighty King Neptune." Ed Park of "The Village Voice" wrote, "No Pixar? No problem! An unstoppable good-mood generator, the resolutely 2-D ["The"] "SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" has more yuks than "Shark Tale" (2004) and enough soul to swallow "The Polar Express" whole." Michael Rechtshaffen of "The Hollywood Reporter" gave the film a positive review, calling it "an animated adventure that's funnier than "Shark Tale" and more charming than "The Polar Express"." Randy Cordova of "The Arizona Republic" said, "Like the TV show it's based on, it's a daffy, enjoyable creation." Jami Bernard of the "New York Daily News" gave the feature a score of three out of four: "It's not "The Incredibles", or one of those animated features that spent zillions on character design, pedigree and verisimilitude. But SpongeBob is a sweet, silly thing with a child-friendly esthetic all its own." Will Lawrence of "Empire" gave the film four out of five stars, calling it "a film for kids, students, stoners, anyone who enjoys a break from reality." Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" gave it a B-minus grade: "The best moments in his SquarePants first movie outing are those that feel most TV-like, just another day in the eternally optimistic undersea society created with such contagious silliness by Stephen Hillenburg." Desson Thomson of "The Washington Post" enjoyed the film: "You gotta love SpongeBob. Coolest sponge in the sea, although this one has a suspiciously manufactured look."