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Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that excites him as it at last allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the best modern American animation, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting satisfying, authentically animated effects.

If its spitballing silliness will linger after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the younger 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 funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early fans will probably be snickering all over again.

Coming to Theaters: 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.