The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Could those early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Groove
Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest contemporary American animation, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted components, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly animated visuals.
If its spitballing silliness will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.
Coming to Theaters: 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.
