The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Film Critique – A Swashbuckling Helping of Giggle-Provoking Silliness
Would the early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is in part attributed to its broad charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – possibly even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
An Established Zany Vibe
Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably silly groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.
The Adventure for Pirate Proof
SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently showcasing pleasing, authentically animated effects.
If its spitballing silliness will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging inexplicably squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.
The Verdict
In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original fans will likely be snickering anew.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.
