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Would the early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series persisting for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible 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 film soon finds a comfortably silly groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting pleasing, properly animated visuals.

Whether its spitballing silliness will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the younger audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, 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 cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.

Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.