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

Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is partly attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Vibe

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced 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 digimation and hand-crafted elements, forever showcasing pleasing, properly animated effects.

If its freewheeling silliness will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the series – and arguably the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original students will probably be snickering anew.

Release Dates: 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.