‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants’ Review: A Ghostly Adventure Recalls Nickelodeon’s Golden Age Well Enough to Entertain Adults

SpongeBob (Tom Kenny), Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), and more Bikini Bottom residents return to the big screen in director Derek Drymon's endearing but flawed new feature.

Based on the beloved Nickelodeon cartoons created by Stephen Hillenburg, “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants” looks and feels like imitation seafood. Still, director Derek Drymon does better than you’d expect with Paramount’s spooky new feature film — expanding the swash-buckling legend of the Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill) into a funny, vibrant hellscape sure to lure in kids and millennials alike.

The new movie follows SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) and Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) as they attempt to prove their toughness, bravery, and “intestinal fortitude” as wannabe pirates battling a ghostly obstacle course in the Dutchman’s terrifying underworld. Drymon produces a colorful, witty wasteland that’s distinguished by the director’s impressive history and unique comedic flare as a storyboard artist. Think giant monsters abruptly ending a fight with a make-out session — or a three-headed seagull seemingly ripped from the hypothetical pages of a bizarro “X-Men”/“Little Mermaid” crossover universe.

The glossy aesthetic that’s plagued the “SpongeBob” movies since the first film introduced CGI to Bikini Bottom in 2004 continues here (funny to think that was once meant to be the IP’s “finale”), and that style only gets marginally easier to ignore the deeper into the action you get. That’s tough with rich visual storytelling overwhelming a narrative that’s thin by comparison. The film clocks in at just 1 hour and 36 minutes, handwaving an ocean of lore that doesn’t make sense with serious speed. Oddly removed from his bachelor beginnings, everyone’s favorite fry cook — who, again, is old enough to be a homeowner — gets implicitly aged down for a kid-friendly plot that starts with him finally growing tall enough to ride the scariest roller coaster in town.

That juvenile setup makes the TV show’s “Weenie Hut Jr.” episode look like a serious psychological drama, and it really wouldn’t work if it weren’t for the help of the original voice cast, together again. They keep the world emotionally cohesive and bring essential soul to the script’s sometimes strained sense of humor. Co-writers Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman are burdened by an intense affinity for wordplay that can’t hold a candle to the timeless absurdism the late Hillenborough brought to his treasured pineapple under the sea; although, the series had lost its creator’s sensibility long before he passed away in 2018.

“Search for SquarePants” wisely steers the satirical conversation away from assessing the franchise’s varied legacy from over the years. Instead, Drymon’s stand-alone misadventure with the Flying Dutchman delivers acceptable approximations of the core “SpongeBob” personalities we already know and love — rendering them through soft-hearted fan service that’s comforting, nostalgic, and decidedly good enough coming from such a seasoned profit engine. The comedy isn’t as dark or as smart as the animated series’ golden age (seasons 1, 2, and 3), but it casts a wide tonal net and catches a balanced effect that’s both familiar and fresh with an appealing that could work for any one of SpongeBob’s ages.

When he and Patrick reach the front of the theme park line (managed by the voice of… Ice Spice? Sure!), the porous and yellow thrill-seeker suddenly finds he’s too scared to get on the roller coaster. Soon, SpongeBob asks the salty and macho Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) for his help becoming a real “big guy,” who can take on intimidating challenges. The frugal restaurant owner is quick as ever to dismiss his most exploitable employee, but Krabs accidentally kicks off SpongeBob’s journey anyway when he and Patrick find a haunted relic from Mr. Krab’s nautical past in the Krusty Krab basement.

A magical “horn pipe” summons the Flying Dutchman and his right-hand scallywag, Barb (Regina Hall, a bright addition to the cast), and it’s not long before a vortex sucks the adorably soft duo into another realm where their swash-buckling trials begin. SpongeBob and Patrick think the gaseous green pirates are helping them face their fears, but they’re totally unaware of an insidious scheme the Dutchman has lurking beneath his ship’s friendly exterior. The path (or, as the friends debate, is it a road?) ahead of the crew resembles a winding Monopoly board inspired by waterproof nightmares, but Drymon keeps the inferno circles spinning at a merciful, steady clip using explosive montages that never feel tedious.

Leading Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) and Gary on a mission to save the boys, Krabs’ gruff energy helps balance out the bubbly optimism and introduces its own gritty texture through their competing storyline. The trio’s scenes will generally work better for older fans because they’re more cynical and sharp, and a pack of vicious angel fish torturing Squidward stands out among the more deranged vignettes this film’s surprising and gutsy spirit does proud. The last act eventually forces the two stories together, resulting in a “Spy Kids”-meets-“Barbie” live-action hybrid sequence for Krabs, SpongeBob, and the Flying Dutchman that will feel like a blast from the past to some… and a prosthetic fever dream to more.

This wide release successfully dips back into the lucrative lagoon of Viacom’s most enduring animated IP, putting SpongeBob and his friend back on the big screen for the fourth time since TV show debuted in 1999. The new “Search for Squarepants” (which, in the end, doesn’t involve SpongeBob searching for pants at all, really) marks the franchise’s sixth movie to date. It’s a solid if not exactly bold creative swing following a pair of “SpongeBob” spin-offs that went straight to streaming this year and last at Netflix, and proof its square star is a cross-generational icon who’s still enjoyable with his edges sanded down.

Grade: B

From Paramount, “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” will be released in theaters on Friday, December 19.

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