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

Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American animation, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing satisfying, authentically cartoonish visuals.

If its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early fans will probably be chuckling all over again.

Release Dates: 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.