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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting satisfying, properly animated effects.

If its spitballing silliness will resonate after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original students will probably be snickering anew.

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