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

Would the original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, following experiencing the most surreal 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 now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American animation, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing satisfying, properly animated effects.

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

Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will probably be snickering 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.