SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Would the early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Goofy Vibe
Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably goofy groove. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version 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 dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.
The Quest for Pirate Credentials
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, brought to life 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-crafted components, consistently showcasing satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.
Whether its freewheeling humor will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be chuckling all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
