🔗 Share this article

Would the early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is in part attributed to its broad charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a recognizably silly groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly 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 delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.

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

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the franchise – and arguably the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original students will probably be chuckling all over again.

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