The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Helping of Snicker-Inducing Silliness
Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is in part attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Vibe
Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly settles into a comfortably goofy groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that excites him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently showcasing pleasing, properly cartoonish effects.
If its spitballing silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early fans will probably be chuckling all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
