Fuzzy Mushroom › Films of 2025 › The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Spore Score: 64/100 · The Pros: 72 · The Punters: 55 · 5 sources
Released 19 December 2025.
Good bet. Spore Score 64/100. The Pros rate it 17 points higher than The Punters.
By Fuzzy Mushroom · Updated 14 November 2026 · The Pros 72 · The Punters 55 · Spore Score 64 · How we write our takes
The latest SpongeBob film does better with critics than with paying audiences. The Pros give it 72, The Punters 55, and the Spore Score is 64, with a fuzzy tag and a 17-point gap. Critics tend to judge it as a kids' cartoon that is often genuinely funny, while plenty of viewers, many of them long-time fans, compare it with the show at its best and the first film, and find it lacking.
This is the fourth big-screen SpongeBob SquarePants film, released by Paramount in December 2025. SpongeBob wants to prove he is grown up enough for big adventures, and drags Patrick along when he sets out after the Flying Dutchman, the ghost pirate from the series, voiced by Mark Hamill. The trip takes them far from Bikini Bottom and into the world of pirate legends below the sea.
The animation is bright and lively, the gags come quickly, and Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke slot back into SpongeBob and Patrick as if they never left. Hamill clearly enjoys hamming it up as the Dutchman, and the story has a simple, warm message about growing up at your own pace.
It is light on the oddball, surreal humour that made the early series a favourite with adults too, and much of the supporting cast gets little screen time. For older fans it can feel like a safe, standard family adventure rather than something properly SpongeBob.
Young children and families looking for an easy, cheerful trip to the cinema or a weekend watch at home. Grown-up fans should keep expectations modest.
Good bet, with a Spore Score of 64. A bouncy, kid-friendly adventure that critics rate more kindly than audiences, largely because it is aimed squarely at children rather than nostalgic fans.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is a 2025 animated film directed by Derek Drymon. Genres: Comedy, Family/Animation, Sci-fi/Fantasy.
| Site | Side | Site score | Adjusted /100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CinemaScore | The Punters (audiences) | A- | 68 |
| PostTrak | The Punters (audiences) | 70% | 52 |
| IMDb | The Punters (audiences) | 5.7/10 | 47 |
| Rotten Tomatoes | The Pros (critics) | 78% | 77 |
| Metacritic | The Pros (critics) | 65/100 | 70 |
The Pros' sites said 69, adjusted to 72; The Punters' sites said 70, adjusted to 55. Every review site has habits: some score high, some low, some bunch everything in the middle. We measure each site's habit across thousands of films and iron it out, so a 7/10 from a generous site and a 7/10 from a harsh one aren't treated the same. Then critics and audiences each get one figure, and the Spore Score sits between them. How the Spore Score works.
Rent or buy on Prime Video ↗ Affiliate linkDVD & Blu-ray on Amazon ↗ Affiliate linkWhere to stream (JustWatch) ↗
As an Amazon Associate, Fuzzy Mushroom earns from qualifying purchases. Affiliate links never change a score.
Best films of 2025 · In UK cinemas this week · Release dates · Out now · Fuzzy Top 100 · How the Spore Score works