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Could those early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is in part attributed to its broad charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest modern American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing satisfying, authentically cartoonish effects.

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

Notable scenes include SpongeBob wedging 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 six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the franchise – and arguably the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be chuckling all over again.

Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.