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Would the original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is in part attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a recognizably silly groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best modern American animation, the real thrill ride is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove 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 ship introduces a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently highlighting satisfying, authentically animated effects.

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

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early students will likely be chuckling all over again.

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