🔗 Share this article

Would the original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of narrative twists? This longevity is in part due to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably silly groove. Its script acts as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing satisfying, authentically animated effects.

If its spitballing humor will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early fans will probably be chuckling anew.

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