Plankton: The Movie (2025)

​“Plankton: The Movie” stars Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, Clancy Brown, and Rodger Bumpass.  Released on Netflix on March 7, 2025, the film has Plankton’s world changing when his plan for world domination is thwarted.

The film was directed by Dave Needham, an art director known for films like “Penguins of Madagascar”, “The Lego Batman Movie”, and “Trolls”.  It is the second film in a series of SpongeBob SquarePants spin-off films.  Love can be pretty complicated sometimes, maybe even dysfunctional, but it always prevails when they truly admire each other.  However, none can be just as complex and dysfunctional as the love between the most villainous plankton in Bikini Bottom and his computer wife.  Plankton and Karen usually have their beef with each other throughout the “SpongeBob SquarePants” franchise when it comes to their plans for world domination, similar to every couple imaginable.  But, despite their quarreling and annoyance, they stuck together through thick and thin in their quest to take over Bikini Bottom.  However, their latest quarrel might end up being their last.  Despite the critical failure of Sandy Cheeks’ spin-off adventure last year, Nickelodeon and Netflix continue their goal of expanding the popular franchise through its spin-offs centering on its supporting characters.  Although SpongeBob’s presence still lingers because, why not?  This latest addition to the trend puts the spotlight on SpongeBob’s frenemy, who’s pitted against the biggest challenge of his life: his technological wife.  Was it able to correct the mistakes of the previous spin-off, or does it become another example of Nickelodeon milking this sea cow dry?  Let’s find out.

The story centers on Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), the antagonistic owner of the Chum Bucket, striving to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula from his business rival, Mr. Krabs (Brown).  After his unsuccessful attempt, Plankton discovers that his computer wife Karen (Talley) turned the Chum Bucket into a successful Mexican-themed restaurant.  Upset that Karen’s plan isn’t evil enough to his liking, Plankton burns the restaurant down, causing immense tension between the two.  Fed up with Plankton’s disrespect, Karen takes matters into her own hands by plotting world domination without him.  With a rogue Karen on the loose, Plankton must enlist the help of SpongeBob (Kenny) and his friends to subdue his computer wife’s rampage and fix their marriage.

There’s no doubt that I was willing to check “Plankton: The Movie” out due to my love of SpongeBob SquarePants.  However, I also couldn’t help but be a little cautious with how the franchise handles its spin-off movies.  “Saving Bikini Bottom” may have its absurd moments like the television series, but regarding its story and CGI animation, it didn’t hold a candle to the first two theatrical film adaptations we got in its earlier years.  I would even say that “Saving Bikini Bottom” was one of the franchise’s weakest efforts, if not the worst.  This film also ran into a similar issue of being leaked online a year before its release, like Sandy’s solo adventure.  Fortunately for us, “Plankton” has the benefit of having better reviews than “Saving Bikini Bottom”, indicating that the developers may have gotten their priorities straight in developing their spin-off features.  But does that mean I also see it as an enjoyable addition to the long-running franchise?  Well, yeah, it surprisingly does.

Compared to the other SpongeBob movies we have so far, “Plankton: The Movie” may not surpass the theatrical films on a cinematic and sentimental level.  However, regarding the spin-off films on Netflix, I’d consider “Plankton” a well-deserved improvement over "The Sandy Cheeks Movie".  One reason is the story, which focuses on Plankton and Karen’s relationship.  “Saving Bikini Bottom” does get credit for giving Sandy, one of the franchise’s popular supporting characters, her due as a main character despite SpongeBob lingering beside her.  However, the only problem holding that potential back was its run-of-the-mill and underwhelming screenplay, which lacked depth and heart in Sandy’s personal journey.  It was tolerable, but as both a streaming film and a SpongeBob movie, Sandy’s adventure was a complete washout.  “Plankton” offers a similar structure that puts SpongeBob’s frenemy into the spotlight, but again, SpongeBob is still front and center throughout his quest for world domination.  The result is a surprisingly effortful yet understandably fundamental recipe for success.

There’s no doubt that Plankton is a selfish and self-proclaimed “evil genius” who’s obsessed with taking over the world, but that’s also why we adored him in the show.  Plankton serves as an example of an over-the-top cartoon villain whose hatable persona is packed with genuine charm and slapstick humor, mainly due to Mr. Lawrence’s vocal performance.  While his evilness still reigns in the movie, there’s also a hint of empathy that forces him to confront his selfish desires.  In addition to reprising his role as Plankton, Mr. Lawrence also took charge of its screenplay and story alongside Kaz and Chris Viscardi, and it’s very easy to tell that he loves his character and Karen.  Through the story’s flashbacks, the film explores Plankton and Karen’s relationship further from their humble beginnings to their first attempt at world domination, highlighting Plankton’s endeavor of regaining the villainous and loving spark he and Karen once had.  In short, there was an attempt at providing a story worthy of Plankton’s adventure compared to Sandy’s spin-off film.

Some of its jokes, visual gags or otherwise, may not pop as many laughing bubbles as others, although the one involving the college was pretty funny.  The screenplay also doesn’t offer much beyond its made-for-streaming quality in terms of its themes and narrative structure, resulting in it being pretty barebones sometimes, especially when it combines several moments from specific episodes, such as Karen’s “Gal Pals”.  However, it usually compensates by doing the one thing “Saving Bikini Bottom” failed to accomplish: making me care for its supporting characters, mainly Plankton’s marital issues.  Additionally, the film is described as a musical, with original songs written by Bret McKenzie, Linda Perry, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Bob Mothersbaugh.  Given the show’s wacky nature, I wasn’t expecting the songs to be as memorable as the ones from “Wicked”, but I was hoping they would be catchy enough to tolerate them.  Thankfully, the songs weren’t too bad to listen to, with some being on par with the IP’s comedic and vibrant tone.  However, I can’t say that they’re fantastic, either, but I can see that the writers had some fun with them regardless.

Much like the previous films, the main cast from the show reprised their roles as their respective characters.  However, the only difference was that “Plankton: The Movie” didn’t include a single celebrity in the cast, leaving only the main cast to do the heavy lifting.  Those who are tired of the SpongeBob films being overrun by A-list celebrities would undoubtedly be relieved by this change.  Personally, I felt indifferent about it, as I’m only focused on judging their performances.  Unsurprisingly, the cast was once again superb in injecting lively and vibrant vibes into the characters, including Mr. Lawrence, who continues to dominate as the mischievous yet charismatic Plankton.  Jill Talley also deserves credit for conveying the heart and soul of Karen’s computerized appearance, further emphasizing her substantial role in the show’s later seasons.  Considering how much I’ve enjoyed Karen’s increased depth in the recent seasons, it’s no surprise that this film continues to take advantage of this change.  But, of course, I can’t forget about Tom Kenny, whose joyful and energetic performance as SpongeBob still shines despite occasionally overshadowing Plankton in his own movie.

Finally, we have the film’s animation.  Like “Saving Bikini Bottom”, “Plankton: The Movie” resorts to CGI as the primary animation style instead of the show’s usual 2D format.  While it didn’t hold a candle to the source material’s iconic traditional animated flair, I would say it did a fair job of translating the show's rubbery, cartoony, and colorful aesthetics in 3D.  Even though the animation quality sunk lower than an anchor, it did have a silver lining that made the movie stand out from “Saving Bikini Bottom”: the flashback sequences.  Those scenes utilized many different animation styles to showcase different points in Plankton’s life, with one example being his childhood years resembling a rubber hose style from the 1930s.  The flashbacks were undoubtedly the film’s highlight, as its experimental approach to the distinct formats offered a refreshingly fun reflection of the source material’s far-fetched and zany appearance.  The fact that Plankton’s movie puts more effort into the visual gags and styles than Sandy’s out-of-water experience showcased how much the SpongeBob team improved themselves.

Overall, “Plankton: The Movie” dominates with a straightforward and vibrant addition to the iconic franchise, but its small scale in the quality and storytelling is easily squish-able by cinematic standards.  Regarding SpongeBob’s trend of direct-to-Netflix spin-offs, Plankton’s undersea adventure was an enjoyable and serviceably animated improvement that fixes most of the mistakes “Saving Bikini Bottom” left on the streaming surface.  However, it’s also an undemanding and fundamental family movie whose story mostly swam through its narrative basics without much sentimentality in its core.  In terms of its entertaining voice cast, hit-and-miss plot, and experimental animation styles, the film came close to having the exact formula needed to take over Netflix’s charts, which would likely satisfy most of the franchise’s fans.  However, if you’re still weary about the IP churning out spin-offs, this may not change your mind, but there’s a good chance you’ll feel the same way I did.

C+