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Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. 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 allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: 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 Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish visuals.

Whether its spitballing humor will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include 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 punishment guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be snickering all over again.

Release Dates: 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.