Paramount‘s ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants‘ delivers on the cheerful fanservice fans have come to demand, but beneath the shine, the absorbent hero comes off a little flatter for the wear. This latest big-screen foray into Bikini Bottom replaces the wildly anarchic edge of previous films with a tamer, more predictable approach that very little ever surprises at first glance. Tom Kenny‘s voicework helps preserve SpongeBob’s sparkling wit, and the clean, shiny CGI holds a playful edge, though the comedic edge, for better or worse, feels smoothed out a little.
A softer sponge in a sharper world
For years, the show was cherished for its rash, surreal quality, even to the point where it bothered researchers who felt that its dizzying momentum challenged the limits of children. Its unorthodox approach put SpongeBob SquarePants in the mold of the renegade, as many cartoons aimed to capture the same zany chaos. In this case, however, the protagonist faces fear as opposed to shrugging it off, “scared stiff” of the theme park roller coaster, determined to show he is finally “brave enough.”
This sets the stage for the Flying Dutchman, voiced by Mark Hamill himself, whose cursed pirate deal sends SpongeBob off to find an underwater mountain and provides Mr. Krabs and the rest of the gang with a rescue mission. There are moments of absurdity—spying a gag in a locker room, a ridiculous, enigmatic dialogue sequence between SpongeBob and Gary—but the more physically complex gags never quite build toward the zaniness that fans of the series will recall from the old show. Director Don Drymon is a veteran series man and keeps the energy light and goofy, but never quite pushes the series off the deep end.
Instead, it’s the realization that the franchise seems uncertain as to whether it’s going to cash in on the memories or start an entirely new journey, and the end result is a middle-of-the-road approach that may well not please anyone. Children will simply enjoy the cartoon absurdity, but for adults who remember the radicalized bite the series once had, the realization that all of this takes a very careful approach may well shock them the most.
Even the most clever bits seem as if they were predetermined as funny but never mind-breakingly so, and in a world that’s all about the pandemonium, it’s the most startling thing about it. The Search for SquarePants is a pleasant enough viewing experience for families, but it implies a revolutionary sponge maturing into safe respectability when what fans really want is even more of the bold, hilarious insanity that originally made Bikini Bottom memorable.
