The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Could those early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such longevity is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Zany Groove
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew narrative.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting satisfying, authentically cartoonish effects.
Whether its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous pirate-themed 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.” It's certain: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
