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Could those early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is partly attributed to its broad appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that excites him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish visuals.

Whether its spitballing silliness will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong 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 crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early fans will likely be snickering all over again.

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