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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-crafted components, consistently highlighting satisfying, authentically animated effects.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early students will probably be chuckling all over again.

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