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Would the original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is partly due to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American animation, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.

If its freewheeling silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: 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.