SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Dose of Snicker-Inducing Silliness
Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is partly due to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Zany Vibe
Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced 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 initial, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.
The Quest for Pirate Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently showcasing satisfying, properly animated visuals.
Whether its spitballing humor will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original fans will probably be snickering anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
