It’s been twenty-five years since a cheerful, porous sea sponge first charmed his way onto television screens. Few might have predicted then that the world of Bikini Bottom would not only endure but thrive, spawning a fourth feature film that continues to balance childlike wonder with a wink to grown-up audiences. The latest cinematic outing maintains the series’ signature, anything-goes spirit, proving there’s still plenty of comedic treasure to be dredged from the ocean floor.
The story finds our eternally optimistic hero, voiced once again by Tom Kenny, facing a very specific rite of passage: he must prove he’s tall enough to ride a coveted rollercoaster. This sets him on a quest for a legendary “swashbuckler certificate,” the key to being officially recognized as a “big guy.” His journey inevitably crosses paths with the spectral Flying Dutchman, here brought to life with scene-stealing gusto by a perfectly cast Mark Hamill.
True to form, the film is a vibrant collage of digital and traditional animation, prioritizing exaggerated, rubbery physics and visual gags. The humor ranges from the surreal—such as SpongeBob becoming even more geometrically perfect after a mishap—to the relatably mundane, including a sequence of endless dishwashing sure to strike a chord with young viewers. While the plot zigs and zags like a theme park ride, the heart of the film remains a gentle, PG-rated meditation on ambition and self-acceptance.
It may not reach the iconic, live-action absurdity of the franchise’s first film, but it delivers exactly what fans expect: relentless, good-natured silliness. A standout running gag involves SpongeBob’s starfish friend Patrick and a certain, cheekily delivered motto about size. By the closing credits, the film solidifies its place as a dependable family offering and, perhaps incidentally, one of the more entertaining pirate-themed comedies in recent memory—complete with a well-placed nod to a certain locker-dwelling legend. The laughter, it seems, is still bubbling up from Bikini Bottom.