SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part attributed to its broad appeal, tickling the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo 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. This proves everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Vibe
Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.
The Quest for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.
Whether its spitballing silliness will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will likely be snickering all over again.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
