SpongeBob's Latest: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Goofy Vibe
Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew narrative.
The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials
SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned elements, consistently highlighting pleasing, authentically animated effects.
If its freewheeling humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the younger audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.
The Verdict
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as 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 suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early students will probably be chuckling anew.
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.
