- Date of Release: 19 December 2025 (2nd January 2026 In India)
- Genre: Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Fantasy
- Language: English
- Watch On: Theatres Only
The Spongebob Movie: Search for Squarepants
Introduction
In many ways, the fourth installment of the Spongebob franchise titled ‘The Spongebob Movie: Search For Squarepants’ is a template film. There is the protagonist with an inferiority complex, there is a villain pitted against him, some friends of the protagonist who are either designed to be his sidekicks, or others aiding the narrative. Something about films isn’t right when the entire plot is generic and straight-forward. I understand that the demographic of the film is viewers under the age of 7 – or so did we fit into that demographic when we were kids. I remember watching a few episodes of SpongeBob back in the day – paying little attention to the story but completely enamoured by the animation which I then referred to as a ‘cartoon’. But in all fairness, The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants is so generic even from an animation point of view, that it lacks any sort of vision. The plot seems like another writing credit to ChatGPT, the sole contributor of a ridiculously bad film like Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri (2025), to the point that it is frustrating.
Story & Screenplay
Written by Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman, The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants reintroduces us to Spongebob (Tom Kenny), a fry cook who suddenly grows tall enough much to his delight. It is clear that he has been vertically challenged all his life, while carrying a height syndrome within him much like most kids today. And so the big deal that his height is, he wishes to sit on a roller coaster ride that has a permissible height limit given the dangers involved. But once he and his best friend Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) enter the arena – Spongebob gets cold feet only for him to seek help from Mr Krabs (Clancy Brown), who in turn weaves a lie about him being a swashbuckler in his youth. This prompts Spongebob to enter the underworld that houses the ghost of a Flying Dutchman who lures him with a sole purpose – to swap bodies with an innocent soul and get back to life.
First things first – I get the underlying themes of confidence and bravery that are in play. We all have grown up with aspirational heroes wherein we look to inculcate specific qualities of theirs in our lives. For instance, Virat Kohli the batter has grit and determination that I did take as an inspiration for in my daily life. But cinematically speaking, you need the proceedings to have some meat to them. It is almost criminal to be so predictable and bland, almost being stationary with the plot that aspires to be a road…err sea movie coupled with a chase of sorts. If it were on land, the film would be Dhoom but in the sea it is Doom!
The proceedings are just so uneventful that I had a hard time in keeping my eyes open. And I am not so sure if your kids would love it too! It just felt like that one dish that you reluctantly order in a restaurant, only to later regret it. Hell, the drama here is similar to a food vlogger ordering food from a one-star restaurant on Zomato, just so that he could earn money from the views that he gets. This film remains exactly that – a quick buck to be earned at the cost of any nonsense being served in the garb of the drama being catered to the kids. This, while Zootopia 2 is laughing in the corner.
The idea of going from point A to point B was an absolute slog, with the drama being devoid of any humour, insight or entertainment. Even the realisation that creeps in is so bland that it lacked any sort of imagination. In that sense, the drama can also be compared to a roller coaster that forms the basis of the climax – except that this roller coaster is more like an Indigo airline plane that refuses to take off, or a train that is delayed by over ten hours, or even a snail that moves at a ‘rapid’ pace but only moves an inch. Enough said, all my creativity is drained out – because this film had nothing really to write home about!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues here are intended to be funny and entertaining but instead are the most lifeless lines that I have heard in a long time. The BGM is as generic as ever, doing nothing to elevate the drama at any instance. The animation is good but the issue that I had was that it lacks imagination, particularly with the unfolding events in the narrative. In other words, I have seen better animation works that do tick the requirement of ‘imagination’ too. The editing pattern needed some serious retrospection because even a 90 minute runtime felt like a four-hour punishing marathon. This, while I do have the appetite for longer formats too – even as my concentration was inexplicitly transformed into boredom. Talk about a character arc right there! Director Derek Drymon has nothing going for him here. Neither does his world building work nor his characterization, and he isn’t even able to generate any humour or emotions along the way. The direction is literally lifeless just like the prompt given to ChatGPT.
Voiceovers
The voiceovers are just about average here – working well from the voice modulation standpoint but not so much from the emotional point of view. Regina Hall as Barb and Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles are decent. Mark Hamill as the Flying Dutchman is hardly intimidating which is a huge demerit given that he is the main antagonist here. Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick is fairly alright but there is nothing much to write home about too. Clancy Brown as Mr Krabs does faintly contribute to a few emotional moments but the writing just reduces his character to a broadstroke. Tom Kenny as SpongeBob is all fun and games but I was never quite able to take him seriously because of the lack of a strong emotional core. The emotions were missing and so was the entertainment.
Conclusion
The Spongebob Movie: Search For Squarepants is probably the worst animation film to kickstart 2026. It is bland, unfunny, and so uneventful that I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. But perhaps in the film’s defense, I am not the demographic of the film! To each their own, it is! Available in a theatre near you.