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Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is in part attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that excites him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting satisfying, authentically cartoonish effects.

Whether its spitballing silliness will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original students will likely be chuckling anew.

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