🔗 Share this article

Would the early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.

Whether its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early students will likely be chuckling all over again.

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