The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Could those original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part due to its broad charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Vibe
Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it finally qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American animation, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.
The Adventure for Pirate Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-crafted components, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly animated effects.
Whether its freewheeling humor will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original fans will likely be snickering all over again.
Coming to Theaters: 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.
