The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Dose of Snicker-Inducing Silliness
Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Groove
Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that excites him as it finally allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.
The Adventure for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove 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 ghost ship adds a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting satisfying, authentically animated effects.
Whether its spitballing humor will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the series – and arguably the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original fans will probably be chuckling all over again.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
