🔗 Share this article

Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing 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 payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict 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 mix of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently showcasing satisfying, properly animated effects.

Whether its spitballing humor will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

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

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original students will probably be snickering all over again.

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