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Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its broad charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a comfortably goofy groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing satisfying, properly animated effects.

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

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be snickering anew.

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