The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Would the original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? This longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Vibe
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.
The Quest for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing pleasing, authentically cartoonish visuals.
Whether its freewheeling silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early students will probably be snickering anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
