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Would the early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of narrative twists? This longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Vibe

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

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

Notable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original students will probably be chuckling anew.

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