SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Dose of Snicker-Inducing Fun
Would the original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly attributed to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo 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 zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Vibe
Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.
The Quest for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, consistently showcasing satisfying, authentically animated effects.
If its spitballing humor will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will likely be chuckling all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
