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Would the original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly due 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 may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script 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 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it finally qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, consistently highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early students will probably be chuckling anew.

Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.