Could those early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This staying power is in part due to its broad charm, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Goofy Groove
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 PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.
The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting pleasing, properly animated effects.
If its freewheeling silliness will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; 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 never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be snickering all over again.
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.
