🔗 Share this article

Could those original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This staying power is partly attributed to its broad appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably silly groove. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever showcasing pleasing, authentically cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and arguably the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early fans will likely 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 December 26th in Australia and the UK.