SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Dose of Snicker-Inducing Fun
Could those early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part due to its broad appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Zany Groove
Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that excites him as it finally allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly animated effects.
Whether its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original fans will probably be snickering all over again.
Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
