🔗 Share this article

Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably goofy groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure 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. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting satisfying, properly animated effects.

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

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early students will probably be chuckling anew.

Release Dates: 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.