🔗 Share this article SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Giggle-Provoking Fun Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as 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 thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom. A Familiar Goofy Vibe Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly finds a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting. The Adventure for Pirate Proof SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate 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 ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever showcasing satisfying, properly cartoonish effects. Whether its freewheeling humor will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie. Notable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing. The Verdict Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be chuckling all over again. Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.