🔗 Share this article

Could those early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part due to its broad appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably silly groove. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American animation, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted components, consistently showcasing satisfying, authentically cartoonish visuals.

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

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, 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 certain: those original fans will probably be snickering all over again.

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