The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Dose of Snicker-Inducing Silliness

Could those early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a recognizably silly groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-crafted components, consistently showcasing satisfying, authentically animated visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early fans will probably be chuckling anew.

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