The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Dose of Snicker-Inducing Fun
Could those early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of narrative twists? This longevity is in part due to its broad charm, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Zany Vibe
Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.
The Quest for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.
If its freewheeling silliness will resonate after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the series – and arguably the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early fans will probably be chuckling 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.
