SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Snicker-Inducing Fun

Could those early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably silly groove. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American animation, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew narrative.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, consistently highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.

Whether its freewheeling silliness will resonate 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 coming out somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the series – and arguably the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will likely be chuckling anew.

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