Nickelodeon launched an animated series called SpongeBob SquarePants back in 1999 and it became enough of a hit to spawn a big-screen adventure in 2004. Both TV show and films continue to crank along, and 2025 brought The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants, the fourth in the cinematic franchise.

When he goes through a minor growth spurt, SpongeBob SquarePants (voiced by Tom Kenny) declares himself an official “Big Guy” and feels excited he can finally ride a massive roller coaster at local theme park. However, when he gets to the park, SpongeBob chickens out and skips the attraction.

Eager to prove his bravery, SpongeBob ends up the pawn of the Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill), a ghost pirate who wants to use SpongeBob to regain human form. This means SpongeBob deals with a mix of challenges to show his moxie before he needs to deal with the consequences of his inadvertent deal with the Dutchman.

Though I never saw the TV show or the 2004 movie, I did see SpongeBob flicks two and three. Sponge Out of Water hit in 2015 and Sponge on the Run in 2020.

I enjoyed both to some degree, but I can’t claim I loved either. That explains why I didn’t screen anything else SpongeBob related until 2025’s Search.

Does the newest movie make me more wholly embrace the SpongeBob series? No, but it nonetheless brings a pretty enjoyable adventure.

Though it doesn’t deviate from the same formula I saw in Water or Run. The SpongeBob universe likes to throw lots of gags at the screen and hope laughs result.

Which they do, though perhaps not as often as the filmmakers would like. While I don’t think too many jokes flop, some simply fail to hit the mark.

Still, a lot of the material does prompt laughs, and even if one bit sputters, 12 more will follow almost immediately. Search provides a pretty frantic pace, one that threatens to exhaust the viewer.

Happily, it never does. Although the pattern of jokejokejokejokejoke should wear down the audience, the film never turns irritating or wearisome in that regard.

A fine cast helps, as in addition to the series regulars, Hamill becomes a welcome addition. Water used Antonio Banderas in a similar role, but Hamill does much better in his part.

Banderas provided a turn that seemed silly and goofy even for a cartoon. Hamill better understands the assignment, so even though he goes for broke, he fits the spirit and tone of SpongeBob in a more successful manner.

Nothing about Search breaks from the established SpongeBob MO. Nonetheless, it comes with so much humor that it becomes a winning comedic adventure.

The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. As expected, the mostly animated film looked terrific.

Sharpness satisfied at all times. The movie came with a tight, precise presentation.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I witnessed no edge haloes. Source flaws remained absent.

With a variety of lively settings, the flick’s palette came with a broad set of hues. The colors always appeared vivid and dynamic.

Blacks felt deep and dense, while low-light shots seemed smooth and concise. This wound up as a highly appealing image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack also worked well. With so much comedic action on display, the mix tossed sonic pleasures at us on a nearly constant basis.

This meant a wild and involving sense of place and various antics. All the channels enjoyed a real workout as the music and effects surrounded the viewer.

Audio quality satisfied as well, with music that seemed full and rich. Dialogue became concise and distinctive.

Effects became accurate and showed appealing range and punch. I found a lot to like about this dynamic soundtrack.

A few featurettes follow, and The Veteran Voices goes for five minutes, 33 seconds. It includes notes from director Derek Drymon, and actors Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass and Bill Fagerbakke.

We find a look at the vocal performances from the SpongeBob regular actors. They provide a few minor insights but they mostly talk about how much fun they have.

The New Crew spans five minutes, 17 seconds. Here we get remarks from Kenny, Drymon, producer Lisa Stewart and actors Mark Hamill, Regina Hall, and George Lopez.

This acts as a complement to “Veteran” that covers the actors who joined the franchise for Search. It also highlights fluff more than useful comments.

Next comes The Flying Dutchman. During this five-minute, 57-second reel, we hear from Kenny, Hamill, Drymon, executive producer Vincent Waller, animation art director Travis Ruiz, and special effects makeup artist Gage Munster.

Unsurprisingly, this one looks at the film’s Dutchman character. Despite some of the usual happy talk, we get some worthwhile glimpses at the design and execution of the Dutchman.

From Bikini Bottom to the Underworld occupies four minutes, 38 seconds. It delivers info from Stewart, Ruiz, Drymon, Brown, Kenny, animation production designer Pablo R. Meyer, producer Aaron Dem, and executive producer Marc Ceccarelli.

The reel discusses animation and visual design. It follows in the footsteps of “Dutchman” to provide another generally solid featurette.

Finally, we get a music video for “Big Guy” by Ice Spice. It mixes movie clips with shots of Ice Spice on a roller coaster. Neither song nor video seem especially memorable, though I feel happy Ice Spice apparently finally abandoned that weird Little Orphan Annie hairdo she made her signature.

The package also features a DVD copy of Search. It lacks any of the Blu-ray's extras.

More than a quarter century after the TV series launched, The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants shows the franchise still shows life. It reinvents no animated wheels but it delivers an amusing and lively adventure. The Blu-ray brings excellent picture and audio with a small roster of supplements. SpongeBob fans will enjoy this effort.