SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Helping of Snicker-Inducing Silliness
Would the original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Goofy Groove
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it finally allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.
The Adventure for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.
If its freewheeling silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
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 joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be snickering anew.
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.
