Run time: 96 mins

Roughly every five years, a new SpongeBob comes along and inflicts another hallucinatory, surreal adventure on children and their unwary cinemagoing parents.

SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) is now 36 clams high, a source of particular excitement as this will allow him to ride the rollercoaster of his dreams. SB’s quest to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy”.

To that end, he and his bestie Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) blow an enchanted horn to summon the Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill), and learn how to be swashbuckling pirates. Alas, the cursed pirate plans to double-cross them and use their quest to undo his own gloomy fate. But first he’ll be driven barmy by their good-natured attempts to help him out, and their blithe knack for surviving the underworld to which he consigns them.

Snicker-inducing silliness ensues with the series’ trademark bizarre humour that will have some parents howling, and others utterly exhausted; either way, the kids will adore it. Whether its daftness will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it’s a solid SpongeBob film through and through.