The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Dose of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Would the original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power 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 quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Groove
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon settles into a recognizably silly groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the best modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.
The Quest for Pirate Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish visuals.
If its spitballing humor will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
