🔗 Share this article

Would the original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that excites him as it at last allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

If its spitballing silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the series – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be chuckling all over again.

Coming to Theaters: 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.