🔗 Share this article

Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically animated effects.

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

Memorable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including 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 probably be chuckling anew.

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