The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Dose of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Goofy Groove
Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically animated visuals.
If its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original fans 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.
