SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Dose of Giggle-Provoking Silliness

Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably silly groove. Its script 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 fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission 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 currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

If its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging inexplicably squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will likely be chuckling all over again.

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