The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Dose of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Groove
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it at last allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.
If its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will probably be chuckling anew.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
