🔗 Share this article

Could those original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is partly due to its broad charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing pleasing, authentically animated visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.

Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.