Boy, that post title is a whopper. Anyway, the youngest cinema goers among us are in for a treat this boxing day. Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon presents another SpongeBob movie, The Search for Squarepants. Though the visual and aural upgrade aren’t enough to save this sinking ship from a weak narrative structure and poor pacing.
Directed by series veteran Derek Drymon (Hotel Transylvania: Transformania) The SpongeBob movie feels like an episode in long form. Not even Mark Hamill (Star Wars, Batman: The Animated Series) having a blast, voicing deep sea spectre The Flying Dutchman, can rescue this mediocre entry in the franchise.
This reviewer has grown into a bit of an old fart, though, and clearly not the target audience. So don’t listen to me. Instead, may I paraphrase some comments from the family.
The adventurous five year old really liked the pirate (she means, The Flying Dutchman), who turned into a real person and ran away from SpongeBob on the roller coaster. She didn’t like that Mr Crabbs lied about being a swashbuckling hero. However, she did like that SpongeBob ended up being a swashbuckling hero anyway.
The sassy thirteen year old enjoyed the cinematography and accompanying score. She didn’t like the later scenes when the Dutchman escaped the ocean. Mark Hamill’s appearance in full prosthetic make-up was a bit too ridiculous for her. Loved the sound effects, but hated the disruptive insert comedy among action scenes.
The too cool, and maybe a little too old for this flick, fifteen year old lad liked the plot progression and didn’t feel bored. Loved the animation and cinematography. Though the plot was too basic, clearly written for young children. The lad is happy to acknowledge that this one isn’t for him.
In summary, the three to five year old audience loved the Krust out of this one. The odd shart a brick gag aside, there’s not much to keep the adults interested. This fourth Spongebob Movie sails in at an average 6/10 salty horns. Worth a holiday trip to the movies if you’re spoiling your little one, otherwise best left to marinate for streaming.
