🔗 Share this article

Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This staying power is partly attributed to its broad charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly settles into a recognizably silly rhythm. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best modern American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted elements, forever showcasing satisfying, properly cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.

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