The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Could those early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Zany 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 recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script acts as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.
The Quest for Pirate Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, forever showcasing pleasing, properly animated visuals.
If its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will probably be snickering anew.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
