The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Review – An Adventurous Dose of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly attributed to its broad appeal, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Vibe
Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-crafted components, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish effects.
If its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be snickering anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
