The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Would the original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor talk like 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 Vibe
Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.
The Quest for Pirate Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever showcasing satisfying, authentically animated effects.
If its spitballing silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the franchise – and arguably the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.
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.