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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original students will probably be snickering anew.

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