SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Helping of Snicker-Inducing Silliness
Could those original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series persisting for a quarter-century, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is partly attributed to its broad appeal, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Groove
Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.
The Adventure for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-crafted elements, forever showcasing pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.
If its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will likely be chuckling all over again.
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.
