The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Could those early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Zany Vibe
Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably silly groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled 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 ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned elements, forever showcasing satisfying, properly animated effects.
Whether its spitballing silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early fans will likely be snickering all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
