SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun
Could those early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Goofy Groove
Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.
The Adventure for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing pleasing, authentically animated visuals.
Whether its spitballing silliness will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original students will likely be chuckling anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
