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Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best modern American animation, the real thrill ride is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early fans 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 26 December in Australia and the UK.