SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Dose of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Groove
Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it finally allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.
The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, forever showcasing satisfying, properly cartoonish visuals.
Whether its freewheeling silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo 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 reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will probably be snickering all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
