The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Would the original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is in part due to its broad charm, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments 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 holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly settles into a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting satisfying, authentically cartoonish visuals.
Whether its spitballing humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest 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.” It's clear: those original students will probably be snickering anew.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
