🔗 Share this article

Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a recognizably goofy groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest contemporary American animation, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting satisfying, authentically cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will likely be snickering anew.

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