🔗 Share this article

Would the original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon finds a recognizably silly rhythm. Its storyline 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 a specific height, a detail that excites him as it finally qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing pleasing, authentically animated effects.

If its spitballing silliness will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed 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 clear: those original students will probably be snickering all over again.

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