Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of side characters from Spongebob Squarepants get their own adventures. The “Have You Seen this Snail” special put an unforgettably emotional spotlight on Gary the Snail. Patrick Star now has his own spin-off series on Nickelodeon. And, let’s not forget about the Netflix film Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, starring everyone’s favorite squirrel from Texas. Well, it’s finally time for Plankton to lead his own film, and the result is…mildly entertaining.
This time around, Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) regrettably teams up with Spongebob (Tom Kenny) to stop his computer wife Karen (Jill Taley) from taking over Bikini Bottom and, quite possibly, the world. Now, a film literally titled Plankton: The Movie should be the villain-focused affair fans would hope for. Thankfully, Plankton’s sense of evil and sinister delight inspires the entire adventure. The comedy has some enjoyably dark turns that come through the animation and writing. From some well-timed tomato splatters to a hilarious “BS” joke between Spongebob and Plankton, it’s nice to see some more mature humor spliced into the franchise’s trademark silliness. It’s also fun to see Plankton immediately interrupt Spongebob’s opening antics to take control of the story, and the film captures all the right vibes of Plankton’s personality—especially when it comes to the musical numbers.
In most cases, we’re lucky to get one villain song in an animated flick—let alone any at all. With Plankton: The Movie though, you get your fill, and then some, of musical villainy, with a selection of original songs that add some great energy to the experience. Admittedly, Plankton and Karen’s voices aren’t the most refined or appealing to hear for an entire movie’s worth of musical numbers. But frankly, that’s a part of the fun, and Tilly and Lawrence excellently bring out some usually unseen emotions with these characters through these songs. For Plankton, there’s a good mix of hardcore villainy and soft ballads that come through songs like “I’m Plankton,” “I Made a Friend,” and “I’m a Jerky Jerk” that let his arc take shape. While Karen finally lets her wicked side free in “Say My Name, Karen” to great effect. Plankton: The Movie has songs that fans will easily enjoy, and these scenes are further elevated by some amazingly varied animation.
Although most of the film is created through familiar 3D animation, the song sequences come with some uniquely stylized visuals that are very pleasing to the eye. From a rubber-hose inspired flashback to Plankton’s upbringing to Karen’s terrifying presence being bolstered by some anime art styles, it’s really impressive to see this film utilize various aesthetics. Even outside the music, Plankton’s sudden sense of empathy gets a trippy look that’s super nostalgic and even adds some unexpected nightmare fuel—something that’s right at home with this franchise’s early days. Honestly, the non-3D animation moments are so good, you wish the rest of the movie was drawn like it because Spongebob, as a franchise, needs to get away from this ugly 3D look. This 3D animation is such an eye sore because of how bloated it makes characters and the movement is so distractingly off at times. It’s such an unnecessary anchor to the entire experience and it ultimately makes the film look cheap.
And frankly, that feeling of cheapness is something that takes away from Plankton: The Movie in general since it never feels as grand as it should. Sure, it’s no surprise that the film essentially feels like an extended version of a TV special. But still, even specials like “Dunces and Dragons” or “Christmas Who?” had more meat on their bones than this film does. There are definitely nice moments in story threads dedicated to exploring Plankton and Karen’s relationship throughout the years. There’s even some fun trips to the surface that see Plankton’s plans for domination fail in hilarious fashion. Overall though, Plankton: The Movie mostly feels like a stock-standard Spongebob adventure that isn’t all that memorable from a story front. There’s nothing fresh in terms of plot direction, and it has repetitive jokes and narrative beats that grow tiresome fast. It goes through the motions fans expect, and might be sick of at this point, while never totally keeping you fully engaged due to surprisingly rough pacing for such a short movie.
Plankton: The Movie might not be the most worthwhile Spongebob adventure or the most consistently enjoyable. But, it is nice to see Plankton take the reins for once and it leads to some delightful villainy that is brought out in fun songs, comedy, and animation that’ll leave fans moderately satisfied.
