The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – possibly even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Zany Groove
Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American animation, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.
The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting pleasing, properly animated effects.
Whether its freewheeling humor will linger after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early students will probably be snickering all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
