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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part due to its broad appeal, tickling the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably silly groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest contemporary American animation, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting pleasing, properly animated visuals.

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

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be chuckling anew.

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