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Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline 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 fact that excites him as it at last qualifies 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 true rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever showcasing pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.

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.