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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This staying power is partly attributed to its broad appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, 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. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's other weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a recognizably silly groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it at last allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the best modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

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

Notable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original students will likely be chuckling anew.

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