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Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of narrative twists? This staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon settles into a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted components, forever showcasing satisfying, properly animated visuals.

Whether its spitballing humor will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be snickering all over again.

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