The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Dose of Snicker-Inducing Fun

Would the early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is in part attributed to its broad appeal, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its script acts as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best modern American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.

If its spitballing silliness will linger after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing 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 students will likely be snickering anew.

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