The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Zany Groove
Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, 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 advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it finally 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 real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.
The Adventure for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing satisfying, authentically animated visuals.
Whether its freewheeling silliness will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the younger crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will probably be chuckling all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
