By Robert Scucci
| Published
As somebody who approached adolescence when Spongebob Squarepants first became popular, my mileage varies whenever a new movie or spin-off series makes its rounds on streaming. One thing I loved about the original series as a child was the crude, 2D animation that was sometimes elevated to nightmare status when Spongebob got sick and we got those extremely detailed closeups of his various pustules and eye crusties that bared a striking resemblance to the animation style you’d see in Ren & Stimpy. While I was first apprehensive to check out Plankton: The Movie, the most recent Spongbob spinoff movie streaming exclusively on Netflix, I was please to find out that not only does this latest installment honor Spongebob’s legacy, but continues to push the franchise into new territory while making a healthy amount of nods to the original series.
A Musical In The Spongebob Universe
Centering on… you guessed it, Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), Plankton: The Movie is an 84-minute musical that explores the titular character’s upbringing, relationships, and the source of his desire to take over the world by stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula from Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), one song and dance at a time. Until this musical saw its release, we only got a meager helping of chum to fill us in on the inner workings of Plankton’s machinations over the decades, and now we have a comprehensive origin story that nobody asked for, but that I’m also not complaining about.
My first thought ahead of watching Plankton: The Movie was that “we don’t need this, but I’ll bite.” And I’m so glad that I did because it builds on Bikini Bottom’s lore without feeling like a cheap cash-grab. To put it simply, Plankton was always a one-dimensional character, by design, and elaborating on his life gives him more depth without taking away any of his diabolical, short-sighted charm.
A Non-Insulting Origin Story
Plankton: The Movie begins with the usual bantering between Plankton and his computerized companion, Karen (Jill Taley), as they argue over the best way to take over the world. Karen, who’s tired of her creator’s countless failed attempts to steal Mr. Krab’s secret recipe, decides to orchestrate her own world domination plot and succeeds, which rubs Plankton the wrong way because she’s not following his orders, which she was designed to do.
After their falling out, we learn that Karen is the real evil genius and that Plankton is holding her back in many ways– most notably, he installed an empathy chip into her motherboard during one of her many upgrades, which she now has the wherewithal to remove. Spongebob (Tom Kenny), who only wants to help, functions as a de facto shrink for our one-eyed nugget of evil, and together they unpack his upbringing, his desire for world domination, and his one-sided relationship with Karen; the companion whom he created when he was just a kid to help combat his loneliness, as he was the smartest member of his dim-witted family by a longshot.
Meanwhile, as Plankton elaborates on his situation to Spongebob, Karen reaches the point of no return because she becomes more powerful than ever. To make matters worse in Plankton: The Movie, our hero (or is he still a villain?) recovers Karen’s old body parts, which immediately backfires because Karen merges with them and becomes a supercomputer and force of total destruction by the likes of which the community of Bikini Bottom has never seen before.
Ambitious Animation
While I’ll be the first to tell you that the CGI rendering in Plankton: The Movie isn’t my favorite form of animation across the Spongebob Squarepants franchise (don’t get me started on Kamp Koral), there are sequences more reminiscent of the original show peppered throughout the film that have a lot of thought behind them as the movie pivots into psychedelic territory during some of the more visually enthralling sequences. Even better, this drastic change in animation style never takes you out of the film, but leaves you begging for more, which I hope to see in future Spongebob Squarepants spin-offs.
By building on Spongebob lore without deviating from what makes the franchise so special in the first place thanks to its strong characters, and pushing its visuals to the next level, Plankton: The Movie is a worthy addition to the ever-expanding underwater world that was created by the late, great Stephen Hillenburg, and totally worth your time if you’ve been visiting Bikini Bottom since 1999 like most diehard fans.
Streaming Plankton: The Movie On Netflix
And sure, maybe a Plankton side quest isn’t necessary, and the show’s creator may have been against the idea of having so many spin-off properties getting the green light after his passing, but to long-time fans, and their kids who are now getting into Spongebob Squarepants, Plankton: The Movie ensures that Plankton, Spongebob, Sandy, Patrick, Squidward, and everybody else residing in Bikini Bottom are in good hands as their universe continues to grow in new and exciting ways.
Plankton: The Movie is a Netflix Original, and you can stream it right now with an active subscription.
