The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Helping of Snicker-Inducing Fun
Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This staying power is partly due to its broad appeal, 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 a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Groove
Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version 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 dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the twisting plotting.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently showcasing pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.
Whether its spitballing silliness will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early students will probably be chuckling anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
