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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part attributed to its broad charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that excites him as it finally qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest modern American animation, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

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, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting pleasing, authentically animated effects.

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

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early students will likely be chuckling anew.

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