Plankton: The Movie Review: A Decent, Zippy Fun

Okay… here we go again as we have another SpongeBob Squarepants spin-off film with Plankton (voiced by Mr Lawrence) finally gets his own movie. The last time a SpongeBob SquarePants spin-off film resulted in the disappointingly scrapping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie a year ago.

I hope the history doesn’t repeat itself here and thankfully, Plankton: The Movie manages to get it right here, albeit not entirely successful with plenty of kid-friendly fun and slapstick-y, irreverent humour that defines the SpongeBob Squarepants franchise clocking just under 90 minutes. So, this tiny, megalomaniacal green blob has been trying to steal the Krabby Patty formula for decades since its introduction in the animated series back in 1999.

That was 25 years ago (!) and whatever plan he has cooked up over the decades, well, remains a continuous failure. Even his longtime faithful “wife”, Karen (Jill Talley), the supercomputer begins to feel tired with his endless failed schemes. And so, she hatches a plan of her own: turning their secret headquarters of the Chum Bucket into a fast food joint. While she sees it as an evil success with many customers keep on coming for more, the ever-stubborn and narcissistic Plankton begs to differ.

This triggers a war between the two of them as Karen had enough of him and even went rogue by turning into a super-evil, three-headed — screen monitors, to be exact — robot with three different personalities including snarky, smart and evil. She starts wreaking havoc in Bikini Bottom and the only way to stop her from a complete annihilation is Plankton himself.

But how? Cue to Plankton’s arch-rival-turned-frenemy SpongeBob (Tom Kenny), who ends up cooperating with him by… doing a psychoanalyzing method. This leads to the extended flashbacks shot in an old-school, 2D black-and-white animation as we learn how it all begins. Like how he always loved world domination ever since he was just a little kid, and most of all, the first time he and Karen got together until their college days at the Bikini State University.

Not to mention why Plankton decides to make it his mission to steal the Krabby Patty’s secret formula. Plankton: The Movie benefits from the love-hate relationship between Plankton and Karen with SpongeBob added as a supporting role but I’m glad the talking yellow sponge doesn’t overshadow the movie. Director Dave Needham, formerly a storyboard artist for animated movies like Penguins of Madagascar, Trolls and The Lego Batman Movie, keeps Plankton: The Movie at a zippy pace with enough zany moments, particularly during its energetic first half.

Needham’s busy visuals from the black-and-white flashbacks to the cheeky musical numbers and the combination of computer-generation animation and live-action hybrid, where the latter is especially true during the beach sequence, are entertaining to watch. The voice cast is top-notch, notably Mr. Lawrence and Jill Talley as Plankton and Karen.

The same also goes to Tom Kenny in his typically hyperactive voice performance as SpongeBob and some of the regulars including Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick and Clancy Brown as Mr Krabs. It’s a pity that Rodger Bumpass’s Squidward is almost non-existent here as he relegates mainly to a background appearance.

Frankly, the core of the storytelling — credited to Mr Lawrence himself, Kaz and Chris Viscardi — is competently put together here, especially the origin of Plankton’s backstory and the fact that we get to see a pissed-off Karen gone amok all alone adds a little zest to the movie. While the second half somehow feels repetitive, Plankton: The Movie remains a decent step-up from the abysmal Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie.

Plankton: The Movie is currently streaming on Netflix.