The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun

Could those early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part due to its broad appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American animation, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically animated effects.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original students will likely be snickering all over again.

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.