The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness

Would the original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it finally qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate 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 larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original students will probably be snickering anew.

Coming to Theaters: 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.