The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Dose of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Could those early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Groove
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.
The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently showcasing satisfying, authentically cartoonish effects.
If its freewheeling silliness will resonate after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Notable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original students will probably be snickering anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
