🔗 Share this article

Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars 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 weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American animation, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish effects.

Whether its spitballing silliness will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original students will probably be chuckling anew.

Coming to Theaters: 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.