The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Helping of Snicker-Inducing Fun
Could those early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Vibe
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that excites him as it finally qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew narrative.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled 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 introduces a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing satisfying, properly cartoonish visuals.
Whether its freewheeling silliness will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will likely be snickering all over again.
Coming to Theaters: 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.
