The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as 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 Groove
Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American animation, the true thrill ride is the twisting plotting.
The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing satisfying, properly animated visuals.
Whether its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early fans will probably be snickering all over again.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
