The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Dose of Giggle-Provoking Fun

Could those early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American animation, the true rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-crafted components, consistently showcasing pleasing, properly animated effects.

If its freewheeling humor will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early students will likely be snickering all over again.

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