🔗 Share this article

Could those original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is in part attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably goofy groove. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American animation, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish visuals.

Whether its freewheeling humor will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original students will likely be chuckling all over again.

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