Publication Date: 12-20-2025

The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) review

Dir. Derek Drymon

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

Sometime rather recently, the long-running SpongeBob SquarePants seemingly reached the same point as The Simpsons where the plots of most new episodes at least faintly recalls that of early ones. The most recent movie, Sponge on the Run, was a retread of the show’s TV special “Have You Seen This Snail?” Now, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is essentially reworking the show’s episode “Shanghaied” into feature-length, all while conveniently letting SpongeBob and Patrick forget that they’ve encountered the Flying Dutchman a handful of times in the past.

The good news? Search for SquarePants — the sixth SpongeBob movie total, if you’re counting those Netflix spin-off movies revolving around Sandy Cheeks and Plankton, respectively — is the best movie featuring the square sponge since the first one, which is now old enough to drink. I’ve been the old curmudgeon who has lamented the last two theatrically released SpongeBob movies felt radically different from the source material I grew up with, and still hold dear to my heart. Even though I will die on the hill that SpongeBob and the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom look their best in 2D animation as opposed to CGI, the latest movie is a chockablock with sight gags, seaworthy lessons, and a couple of strikingly surreal sequences.

The opening minutes of the film shows us the day SpongeBob (still voiced by Tom Kenny, est. 1999) has been anticipating for eons. He’s finally tall enough to ride on Bikini Bottom’s most fearsome roller coaster. When faced with the coaster in person, however, he realizes while he may be tall enough (36 clams, to be exact), he’s not necessarily brave enough. His boss, Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), is the bravest person SpongeBob knows, but he thinks his loyal fry-cook and best friend, Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), are just a couple of “bubble-blowing baby boys.” They lack the courage, moxie, panache, intestinal fortitude, and other traits that made Mr. Krabs the swashbuckler he was in his younger years.

Committed to showing Mr. Krabs that he’s the “big guy” he was singing about on his way to ride the Bikini Bottom coaster in the first place, SpongeBob and Patrick summon the fearsome Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill), a ghost pirate who promises to turn our yellow square-dude into a tough lad. He has a long list of challenges for SpongeBob to complete en route to achieving a swashbuckler’s level of manliness. Guilt-ridden over potentially sending his naïve employee on his own death mission, Krabs rounds up Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) and SpongeBob’s pet snail, Gary, to track him down.

If you thought Ice Spice’s outfit at the Search for SquarePants premiere showed way too much of her bikini bottom, perhaps she was foreshadowing the film in which she has a cameo. This sequel is loaded with butts of all kinds, including that of fish, mollusks, and other sea-critters. They appear to be a ceaseless source of inspiration for the talented individuals behind this project, including director Derek Drymon (Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania) and writers Pam Brady (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut), and Matt Lieberman (The Addams Family).

Slightly disappointing is the fact that numerous supporting characters, including Sandy Cheeks, Plankton, Pearl, and Mrs. Puff, do not have much, if any, presence in the film. The former two already had their own feature-length spinoffs, at least; that was almost certainly the justification for the minimal screentime. What’s assuring, however, is Search for SquarePants is predicated on the boundless, effervescent chemistry between SpongeBob and Patrick. A great moment comes amidst SpongeBob’s first challenge, when he learns he has to channel Mr. Krabs’ level of fearlessness in order to defeat an army of sword-wielding skeletons. SpongeBoy Me-Bob does that cute thing where he contorts himself into a completely different shape/likeness and uses the power of his good-natured humor to defeat the skeletons.

One of the best scenes in the film takes place in the real world (we’ve come a long way from the bitterly underwhelming Sponge Out of Water). It involves SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs riding a Santa Monica roller-coaster with an incline so high it stretches into outer space. The surrealist edge of the series comes from the uncanny visuals coupled with real-life people sharing a roller-coaster ride with two Bikini Bottom dwellers. For a series that sometimes gets too zany for its own good, this sequence achieves a perfect mix of enjoyably disorienting visuals and great physical comedy.

Like some of the best episodes of the series, Search for SquarePants harbors a terrific message that justifies its manic premise. It’s been too long since a SpongeBob movie felt worthy enough to be a big-screen adventure, but this one gathered the right barnacles for the job.

NOTE: Preceding Search for SquarePants in its theatrical release is a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles short cleverly called Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey. Between its gorgeous, rubbery-style animation (retained from Mutant Mayhem) and blatantly anti-AI message, it’s an uproariously engaging, briskly paced thrill. One of the best animated shorts in recent years.

My review of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)
My review of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
My review of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

Voiced by: Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, Regina Hall, Mark Hamill, George Lopez, Isis “Ice Spice” Gaston, Arturo Castro, and Sherry Cola. Directed by: Derek Drymon.