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 predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Goofy Vibe
Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. 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 dream rollercoaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.
The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically animated effects.
If its spitballing silliness will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early fans will probably be snickering anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
