The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Would the original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This staying power is partly due to its broad charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Groove
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. 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 qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American animation, the real thrill ride is the twisting narrative.
The Adventure for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare 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 ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted components, consistently highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.
If its spitballing humor will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will likely be snickering anew.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
