The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants

When I was a kid, there was no day more important than Saturday—especially Saturday morning. That was sacred time. I’d park myself in front of the TV, bowl of cereal in hand, and disappear into Saturday morning cartoons. I watched a lot of them, but Looney Tunes was always my favorite. You knew you were going to have a good time. What’s funny is that those cartoons were already more than thirty-five years old by the time I got to them.

These days, every generation seems to have that show they grew up on, and for kids born after 1999, there’s a pretty good chance that show was SpongeBob SquarePants. If you’re in that group, you’re in luck—SpongeBob is back, along with the rest of Bikini Bottom, for another big-screen adventure.

We find SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) waking up in his pineapple like he does every day, but today’s a little different. Today, he’s officially reached the impressive height of thirty-six clams, which means he’s finally a “big boy.” Big-boy height means big-boy privileges, so naturally, he and Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) head straight to the amusement park so SpongeBob can ride a roller coaster. Of course, once he actually sees the coaster in action, all that confidence disappears pretty quickly.

After that, it’s off to work, where Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) spins one of his classic tales about his days at sea—this time involving the Flying Dutchman and his legendary horn. Fired up by dreams of becoming a swashbuckler, SpongeBob and Patrick set off to find it, which, unsurprisingly, summons the Flying Dutchman himself (Mark Hamill). He offers to help SpongeBob become the brave hero he wants to be… as long as SpongeBob completes a dangerous adventure first. As you might expect, things don’t go exactly as planned.

Written by Pam Brady and Matt Liederman, SpongeBob: Search for SquarePants puts Mr. Krabs more in the spotlight than usual, using his past as the blueprint for the sponge SpongeBob hopes to become. The movie sticks closely to the familiar SpongeBob formula: SpongeBob wants to prove he’s brave, while everyone else still sees him as a kid. Because of that, the story can feel a little familiar, like ground the series has covered before. Still, even a familiar SpongeBobadventure is hard to resist.

In the end, SpongeBob: Search for SquarePants is a fun, easygoing trip to the movies that knows exactly what it is. The animation looks great, the heart is in the right place, and there are plenty of laughs along the way—even if not every joke lands. Sometimes it feels like it’s trying a bit too hard, but when it works, it really works, especially with some clever visual gags sprinkled throughout.

I didn’t grow up with SpongeBob, but I’ve always appreciated his offbeat humor and, more importantly, the friendship at the center of it all. The bond between SpongeBob and Patrick is still genuinely sweet, and it gives the movie a lot of its charm. Fans of the show will definitely have a good time here. It may not be SpongeBob’s best big-screen outing, but it’s still a journey worth taking—and one I’m always happy to go along for.