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

Could those early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such longevity is in part attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned elements, forever showcasing satisfying, properly animated effects.

Whether its freewheeling silliness will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: 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 Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be snickering anew.

Coming to Theaters: 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.