Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the twisting plotting.
SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting satisfying, authentically cartoonish effects.
Whether its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be chuckling all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
A tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering digital innovations and consumer electronics.
