The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Would the early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series persisting for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Groove
Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it finally qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American animation, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically animated effects.
Whether its spitballing humor will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, 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 early students will likely be chuckling anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
