Plankton: The Movie is streaming on Netflix on March 7.
The tragic death of Spongebob SquarePants’ creator, Stephen Hillenburg, should’ve ended the franchise. It’s clear that Nickelodeon has almost no idea what to do except to go away from everything that made the show and its movies so excellent. In its latest bizarre endeavor to create spinoff films, following Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, Nickelodeon has placed a focus on the green guy who’s always trying to steal the Krabby Patty’s secret formula in Plankton: The Movie, a ridiculous spinoff with little merit.
Plankton: The Movie Review
Plankton: The Movie follows Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) and his computer wife, Karen (Jill Talley), as they quest for world domination. Fed up with his constantly failing schemes, Karen decides to do the unthinkable – go rogue. Now out of Plankton’s confines and stupidity, she manages to take over Bikini Bottom with almost no trouble, leading him and his arch-rival SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) to work together, save the town, and save their relationship.
Along the way, the antics feel very displaced from the world of SpongeBob. Appearances from familiar faces Patric Star (Bill Fagerbakke), Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), and Squidward Tentacles (Rodger Bumpass) are infrequent. Squidward only appears as a small cameo appearance. Instead, we focus primarily on the backstory of the Bikini Bottom’s villain and Karen’s relationship. Told through flashbacks, we learn how the two got together and about Plankton’s inner psyche.
Is it necessary to know all of this about Plankton? No! That should be the resounding answer, as Nickelodeon was developing this. Since Hillenburg isn’t there to protect the IP anymore, we instead are forced to watch as the studio scrapes the bottom of the barrel in an attempt to explore absolutely everything.
Unlike the delightful SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which now feels like a galaxy away, Plankton’s movie is an ugly, dull, and frustrating mess. It’s less funny and often focused on childish humor that won’t appeal to anybody except children.
The film’s saving grace is Mr. Lawrence’s involvement in the script. As the longtime voice actor of the character, Lawrence’s contribution to the script and story (the latter he developed alone) shows apparent love for the character. Unlike Sandy Cheeks’ movie, which was written and directed by unrelated artists in the SpongeBob world, this movie seems interested in keeping some of the fundamentals of its character.
It’s also a little interesting to see what happens when Karen goes on her own. As she becomes a supervillain and torments the entire town, we see a side of her that we’ve never seen before. It would be better if this were called Karen: The Movie instead.
One of the huge things holding this back is an apparent decline in quality, both from a voice-acting perspective and an animation one. Everybody’s getting too old to perform in this series, and Tom Kenny’s strained vocals make this feel like a relic.
Is Plankton: The Movie worth watching?
The animation is the same ugly 3D style that recent spinoff shows like Kamp Koral have used. It’s the epitome of the modern problem with the series: its cheapness. The show’s typical animation style gives it so much charm, and by taking a radically different approach, the charm is completely lost.
Ultimately, Plankton’s foray into a solo animated film is a bit of a miss. If this had come out ten years ago under the supervision of the series’ creator, it could’ve been a real hit. Plankton is interesting! Plankton: The Movie isn’t. It’s a forgettable streaming release that will be quickly forgotten by all but its most eager viewers. This spinoff perfectly represents SpongeBob SquarePants’ lowly state combined with the weak quality of Netflix’s catalog.
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