The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Dose of Snicker-Inducing Silliness

Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part due to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly settles into a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing pleasing, authentically animated visuals.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early fans will probably be snickering anew.

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