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Could those early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that excites him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted components, consistently highlighting pleasing, authentically animated visuals.

If its spitballing silliness will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will likely be snickering anew.

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.