The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Helping of Snicker-Inducing Fun
Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly attributed to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Zany Groove
Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best modern American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew narrative.
The Adventure for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings 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-crafted components, consistently showcasing pleasing, properly cartoonish effects.
If its spitballing humor will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Notable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will probably be chuckling all over again.
Release Dates: 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.
