David Edelstein of "Slate" criticized the film's plot, calling it a "big, heavy anchor of a story structure to weigh him down." Mike Clark of "USA Today" called it "harmlessly off-the-cuff but facing far more pedigreed multiplex competition SpongeBob barely rates as OK when compared with "The Incredibles"." A reviewer noted in "Time Out London", "Anyone expecting anything more risky will be sadly disappointed." In his "Variety" review, Todd McCarthy said the film "takes on rather too much water during its extended feature-length submersion." Internet Movie Database staff member David N. Butterworth gave it zero stars, saying that "For much like fish, "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" truly stinks."