🔗 Share this article

Would the original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing pleasing, properly cartoonish effects.

If its freewheeling silliness will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early students will likely be snickering anew.

Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.