The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Dose of Snicker-Inducing Fun

Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned elements, consistently showcasing pleasing, properly animated effects.

If its spitballing silliness will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early fans will probably be snickering all over again.

Release Dates: 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.