By Nick Nitkowski 

We all know who lives in a pineapple under the sea. Absorbent, yellow, and porous we’ve seen. And if nautical nonsense is still what you wish, then a fourth Spongebob film is served for your dish. It’s truly hard to fathom how long Spongebob has been around. The first episode aired on Nickelodeon back in May of 1999. I was only eight years old when that happened, and I was such a fan of it. It made me laugh so much. But ever since the passing of Spongebob’s creator Stephen Hillenburg back in 2018, the quality of the episodes that were created afterward have not been great. Granted, I had stopped watching the Spongebob episodes sometime after the release of the second Spongebob movie “Sponge out of Water”, and I remember not being a big fan of “Sponge on the Run” when that came out during COVID. And don’t even get me started on the awful Netflix Spongebob movies. Now, here we are four years later, and we have a fourth installment getting a theatrical run called “Search for Squarepants”. 

The story behind “Search for Squarepants” is simple. Spongebob has discovered that he has grown about a centimeter or so in height and now considers himself to be a “Big Guy”, but he soon finds out that he is still terrified of certain things. In an effort to prove himself to everyone, he summons the help of the Flying Dutchman to guide him into becoming a swashbuckler with the help of his friend Patrick. But his boss Mr. Krabs believes that Spongebob might be in danger on this journey and sets forth to rescue him with the reluctant assistance of Squidward and Spongebob’s pet Gary the Snail.

I’ll give the movie this much; I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. That being said, I can also say that the movie only slightly exceeded my expectations. I’d be lying if I said that the movie didn’t make me chuckle more than a few times. Mostly, due to certain images that I was surprised were shown in a kids’ movie. In a way, it kind of reminded me of the old days of Spongebob, where the content would be silly and ridiculous while also pushing the envelope of what can be shown in a kids’ show. Seeing that on screen now in my 30’s made me feel like how I suspect my parents would react when seeing the Spongebob that I watched as a kid. I am now fully aware as to why certain parents that I know do not allow their kids to watch Sponegbob. It is completely valid, and it took me a while to see why for myself.

Keeping up with the theatrical Spongebob movie tradition, we have a big named actor in this one. The Flying Dutchman, who was originally voiced by Brian Doyle-Murray, is now voiced by Mark Hamill for the movie. While I remember Brian Doyle-Murray having a very distinct voice for the Flying Dutchman, I must say that Mark Hamill fills in the role very well. And for those wondering why they switched actors, there is a narrative reason in the story as to why. It also makes sense for a big named actor to be involved with the Spongebob movies somehow. David Hasselhoff was in the first movie, Antonio Banderas was in the second movie, and Keanu Reeves was in the third movie. And, of course, you have all the familiar OG cast members returning as the voices of all your favorite characters, even if some of them only have a line or two in the whole movie.

If there is one thing that annoys me greatly with these movies, it is the fact that there is little to no continuity with these movies. First and foremost, the first two movies were 2D animated, with the second movie blending in elements of 3D animation. Then, the third and fourth movies have both gone full 3D animation just because. They also never connect with anything going on with the show from the time I was watching it. But it’s also important to note that this is for kids and kids are not going to care about things like continuity. They just want bright colors and whacky humor with some slapstick, and on those fronts, this movie delivers.

Overall, Spongebob fans both young and possibly old will enjoy “The Spongebob Movie: Search for Squarepants”, but non-fans such as parents being dragged to see it by their kids may have difficulties getting through it. But as someone who fell off the Spongebob wagon years ago, this was definitely better than what I was expecting, and I was expecting the worst. It managed to get a couple of chuckles out of me, especially towards the end, which is really saying something for a movie like this. Would I go out of my way to see it again? Absolutely not. But if it happens to be available and I happen to be in need of some background noise, I’d let it play. But this is for the kids, and I’m confident that they will soak this movie in and absorb it like a Sponge.

3 stars