🔗 Share this article

Could those early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is in part attributed to its broad charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. 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 allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned elements, forever showcasing pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.

If its freewheeling humor will resonate after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be snickering all over again.

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