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Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest contemporary American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary pirate license that will declare 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 ship introduces a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting satisfying, properly animated effects.

If its freewheeling silliness will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow squarer 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 subjected to endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original students will likely be snickering anew.

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