Plankton The Movie Review: A Movie That Truly Saves Bikini Bottom

 Copyright © Netflix, Nickelodeon Movies


Title: Plankton: The Movie
Director: Dave Needham

Based on: Characters by Stephen Hillenburg

Release Date: March 7, 2025



    It was so surprising that the previous SpongeBob spinoff movie, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, set a huge low for the franchise's 25th anniversary. Then, Nickelodeon pulled out a new spinoff announced for Plankton, which also got entirely leaked on X/Twitter, until it got picked up by Netflix a year to today. For this first review of the year, we will talk about Plankton: The Movie, the second character spinoff movie to SpongeBob SquarePants. Instead of Sandy Cheeks, this spinoff will now focus on Plankton, the villain who tried to steal the formula for 25 years straight. It got positive reviews from critics and audiences for being a step-up from the Sandy Cheeks movie. Rotten Tomatoes has the movie at 77% for critics and 71% for audiences. There is also an IMDb score of 5.4/10. Then, there is Metacritic with a 61 Metascore, plus a 6.0 User Score on average. Plankton: The Movie sets up as an apology, of a fun story filled with evil musical numbers, that will truly save Bikini Bottom once and for all.


Summary

   Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) has been coming up with his plan of taking over the world. However, when his wife, Karen (Jill Talley), decides to do the plan without him, it's up to him to stop her to save their relationship and Bikini Bottom.


Reasons

    The goods of Plankton: The Movie are the fun story, catchy musical numbers, and a secret message. Instead of just saving Bikini Bottom, the mission that is also included is to win back Karen. The movie does have its fun moments, but they are more focused on what is needed to be done, instead of just serving as filler to try hard. It also aligns well with Plankton from the show where he focuses on his evil plans and devotes loves to his wife. As a stand-out from the other SpongeBob movies, this one is also a musical, and the musical numbers did work. They are there to make you entertained with the songwriting and instrumentals shoved in. The main thing is that they connect well with Plankton's development throughout the movie. Aside from that though, the songs, like "I Made A New Friend" and "I'm a Jerky Jerk," come in different styles to match what is going on with Plankton and Karen. Unlike most of the other SpongeBob movies, this one has a mature message: to know that your spouse or partner loves you. Even though that is more for an adult movie, the writers executed it in a way to have kids understand it. Plankton may be a bad guy but he and Karen are unstoppable.
    Aside from those, Plankton: The Movie also has heartwarming chemistry, spot-on jokes, and solid animation. The movie needed to exist because it explored Plankton's relationship with Karen. In the show, it barely shows their problems and challenges in the episodes. SpongeBob fans can now learn how they met and what led to their marriage. Moving on, the jokes are actually funny. Unlike the Sandy Cheeks movie, there are barely any fetishy gags involved, or any visual jokes just for the heck of it. Even better, there are some that give a nod to the show. Sure, you can say that both the Plankton movie and the Sandy Cheeks movie both have good animation. However, this statement was just in regards to the normal CGI. This one had an opportunity to explore different formats of animation, especially the various forms of 2D animation in the character's thoughts.
    Plankton: The Movie did prove to be an improvement from the Sandy Cheeks movie, but it still has its problems. It does use some tropes that were already used in other animated movies. The big one here is the Liar Revealed trope which was not executed right. For a SpongeBob movie with not that big of a budget, this might be the least worthy moment. Just like with the Sandy Cheeks movie, there are canon inaccuracies to the show. Some points from the movie were not presented in canon, especially from Karen. Luckily, the writers did not make the characters laughable stereotypes, nor did they inflate a small point to make it their whole character.



Conclusion

    Like what the people said on X/Twitter, Plankton: The Movie, is a big improvement to the Sandy Cheeks movie, and that shows this one can truly save Bikini Bottom once and for all. I guess we were wrong about Paramount's absence being a bad indicator. Nickelodeon is enough to make something this good. This movie actually has a working story and better humor, unlike the Sandy Cheeks movie going in multiple directions and delivering fetish humor. If you are a fellow SpongeBob fan or you just want a fun animated movie, then please go give this a look. This is an evil treat, just like the Krabby Patty.


    Score: 9/10 (high enough to steal the krusty krab's formula!)




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