🔗 Share this article

Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon finds a recognizably silly groove. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it finally allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently showcasing pleasing, authentically cartoonish visuals.

If its spitballing silliness will linger 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 more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original fans will probably be chuckling 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.