The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Could those early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as unexpected 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 handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Goofy Groove
Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.
The Adventure for Pirate Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing pleasing, authentically animated effects.
If its spitballing silliness will resonate after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will likely be snickering all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
