🔗 Share this article

Would the original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite 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 handing out 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 festive short starring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish visuals.

Whether its spitballing humor will resonate after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will likely be chuckling anew.

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