The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Dose of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? This longevity is partly attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as surprising 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 handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Vibe
Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it finally qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting plotting.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting satisfying, properly animated visuals.
If its freewheeling silliness will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke 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 chuckling anew.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
