Review: Plankton takes center stage in a fun (and ugly) Netflix adventure

One of last year's most resounding duds was Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, the SpongeBob spin-off that gave the Texan squirrel her first leading role. I like Sandy a lot, so I was excited for the movie, but it was a joyless bit of drudgery that couldn't seem to figure out how to make a movie about Sandy shine, why it was worth giving her the spotlight. It was bad, really bad. So I came into this year's spin-off, Plankton: The Movie, with trepidation, wondering if I was in for more of the same.

Thankfully, those fears proved unfounded, because this is a fun movie! I think a big part of what's working here is that Plankton's voice actor, Mr. Lawrence, came up with the story and is one of the co-writers on the film, even helping to pen some of the movie's songs (as did Oscar winner Bret McKenzie!). Who better to help flesh out Plankton than the one who has been bringing him to life for decades? I'm sure that formula wouldn't always work -- some actors aren't writers, after all -- but in this case, the resulting movie is a very good time.

The movie starts with SpongeBob doing a very typical movie opening, singing a song welcoming us to Bikini Bottom that also serves as a roll call of the familiar characters that populate the city. It's a bland and upbeat bop, one that had me thinking...oh, this is all they've got? But it ends up being a clever bit of misdirection, as Plankton interrupts and commandeers control of the camera. This is his story, his movie, and when it's a Plankton-centric adventure, we do not need a song like this to get things rolling. 

This bit is the first indication that the series' trademark humor is fully intact here. There are so many random jokes, great line deliveries, and silly bits of physicality that are trademarks of the SpongeBob franchise. I've always admired the series go-for-broke approach to comedy, throwing so much out and having most of it land, because it's all delivered with such earnestness. There's plenty of winking at the audience, fourth-wall breaks, meta moments, but it all feels like it's coming from a place that's true to the characters, rather than being an apologetic aside. It's not an easy sense of humor to keep up, and the fact that the series has managed to do it pretty consistently for 25 years is really impressive. I'm glad that, for this movie, it shines.

If only the animation shone. Like Sandy's movie, this one uses a weirdly bland CGI style rather than the show's 2-D look. The main characters look pretty good, and have the same spark animating them as we're used to, but a lot of the background characters and environments are so ugly. Most of it seems to have good bones, but there's a lack of polish to make it easy on the eyes. It's a disappointment, but I'm sure it comes down (at least partially) to budget. And hey, sometimes you get what you pay for.

There are a couple sequences that are exceptions, which employ traditional animation. There's a flashback to Plankton's younger years that evokes Flesicher cartoons, which is truly a joy to look at (and the song is fun, too). A later sequence that finds Plankton reflecting on the highs and lows of his relationship with Karen takes that style and puts it through a kind of hallucinogenic filter. These and other moments that give us a break from the ugly CGI are welcome reprieves, to be sure.

On the story front, this is, at its bones, a relationship drama. Plankton has neglected Karen for years, not listening to her or including her in his plans, using her for basic tasks while he gets to do all the flashy parts. She finally gets fed up, kicks Plankton out, and goes rogue, charting her own course for world domination that is extremely effective, and quick. Plankton teams up with SpongeBob, who suggests that looking to the past might help him figure out how to mend his relationship and, thus, save the world. Of course, Plankton is -- as one the film's songs reminds us -- a jerk, so he has ulterior motives, which play out nicely. It's nothing revolutionary, but I don't need SpongeBob movies to be revolutionary. I need them to be silly, colorful, and fun, and this one is. It doesn't reach the heights of some of the series' previous cinematic outings, but it's a good time, and the exact kind of movie that we should expect (and want) from our streamers.