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Would the early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such longevity is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably silly groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing pleasing, authentically animated effects.

If its freewheeling silliness will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging inexplicably squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the younger audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

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

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