🔗 Share this article

Could those original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon settles into a recognizably goofy groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American animation, the real thrill ride is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently showcasing satisfying, authentically cartoonish visuals.

Whether its spitballing humor will linger after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones gag 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 snickering anew.

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