🔗 Share this article

Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its script acts 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 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned elements, forever showcasing satisfying, authentically cartoonish effects.

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

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty 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 series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early students will likely be snickering anew.

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