Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This longevity is in part due to its broad appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Vibe
Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.
The Quest for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting satisfying, properly animated effects.
Whether its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early fans will likely be snickering all over again.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
