SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Helping of Snicker-Inducing Fun
Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This staying power is in part attributed to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having 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.
An Established Goofy Groove
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably silly groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.
The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically animated effects.
If its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.
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.
