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Could those original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated exploration on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

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

Notable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust 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 probably be chuckling 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.