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Could those early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise persisting for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably silly groove. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.

Whether its spitballing silliness will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

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

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