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Would the early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is in part attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting pleasing, properly animated visuals.

Whether its spitballing humor will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase 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 arrives on December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.