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Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is in part due to its broad appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a recognizably goofy groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting pleasing, properly animated visuals.

If its freewheeling humor 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 coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, 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 early students will likely be chuckling all over again.

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