The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Dose of Snicker-Inducing Silliness

Would the original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact 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, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically animated visuals.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early students will probably be snickering all over again.

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.