Spongebob hasn't felt the same since the original movie back in 2004. The show and it's characters used to feel witty, original and alive. Since then, Spongebob has just felt flat and dissapointing. There have been a few moments in the last few years that have felt more inspired, (this movie being one of them) but still notnup to the level of the original few seasons and movie.
This new movie has a few similar plot points to the 2004 movie that were pretty obvious. Reminiscent of how ep 7 of Star Wars felt similar to ep 4.
But at the end of the day, it's Spongebob. Your kids will be entertained by this movie. My personal inner child just feels let down so Im writing about it on Google at 2am because I don't have a life.