🔗 Share this article

Would the original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a recognizably silly groove. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly treatise 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 detail that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best modern American animation, the true rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly animated visuals.

Whether its spitballing silliness will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and arguably the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original students will probably be chuckling anew.

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