The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Dose of Snicker-Inducing Fun
Could those early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is partly attributed to its broad charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Groove
Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly settles into a comfortably goofy groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American animation, the true rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.
If its spitballing humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original students will probably be chuckling anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.