The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – An Adventurous Dose of Snicker-Inducing Silliness
Could those early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is in part due to its broad charm, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
A Familiar Goofy Vibe
Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American animation, the real thrill ride is the twisting narrative.
The Quest for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly animated visuals.
Whether its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.
Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early 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.
