SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Could those early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such longevity is in part attributed to its broad charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Groove
Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.
The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-crafted components, consistently showcasing pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.
Whether its spitballing silliness will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments include SpongeBob squeezing 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 punishment sure to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be snickering anew.
Release Dates: 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.
