Would the original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.
Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.
SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently highlighting satisfying, properly animated visuals.
If its freewheeling silliness will resonate after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.
Memorable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.
Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early students will likely be snickering all over again.
Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.
Milan is een ervaren opticien met een passie voor visuele technologie en klantgerichtheid.
