The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Helping of Snicker-Inducing Silliness

Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is partly attributed to its broad appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly settles into a recognizably goofy groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting pleasing, properly animated effects.

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

Memorable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the franchise – and arguably the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will probably be snickering anew.

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