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

Would the early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor 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.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting satisfying, authentically animated visuals.

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

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early students will likely be snickering all over again.

Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.