Could those original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Goofy Groove
Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that excites him as it finally qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.
The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.
If its spitballing humor will linger after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original students will probably be chuckling 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.
