SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Vibe
Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.
The Adventure for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish effects.
If its freewheeling silliness will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early fans will probably be snickering anew.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.