🔗 Share this article

Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part due to its broad appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing satisfying, properly animated visuals.

If its freewheeling silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original students will likely be chuckling anew.

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