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Would the original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown 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 Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably goofy groove. 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 stands a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

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 ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned elements, consistently highlighting satisfying, authentically cartoonish effects.

Whether its spitballing silliness will linger when the lights come up 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 novelty false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous pirate-themed movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early fans will likely be snickering all over again.

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