Dating a megalomaniac isn’t easy, especially if it’s Plankton (Mr. Lawrence’s voice), a creature with one obsession. He wants to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula even if his computer wife Karen (Jill Talley) has better ideas. He dismisses her ideas, which makes her angry enough to sing a song about dominating the entire world. And she’s doing it without him. Losing one’s computer wife isn’t easy, so he gets the help of Spongebob Squarepants (Tom Kenny) and others. Spending time together, Plankton looks back to their long love story, from him creating her to their small wedding. Plankton and Karen have, again, a long enough history of love and fights, but do they have too much bad blood now?

For the second time this week, Netflix is using existing IP, which leads to either a mess with merits or without them. To call this film meritless may be harsh, but the harshness comes from a fandom with a set of expectations from this. Which begs the question as to whether or not the Spongebob fandom comprises either children or of depressed adults. An internet search suggests the latter, who want the cartoon they love to explore dark themes or at least edgy themes. In a way, this film kinda attempts a kid’s version of dark and edgy as it chooses a villain as the leading character here. Not only that, but by having Spongebob befriend Plankton, Plankton: The Movie shows that bad creatures can be good.

Mr. Lawrence co-wrote Plankton: The Movie which, sure. I guess it’s a good idea for actors to have input on their characters. Or at least, they might have ideas where characters can go. One outside of the vision of the creators behind the original show. The thing is, the overall structure in the movie is a bit lacking. It’s basically a flashback movie to give fans lore. And yes, other characters call out the flashbacks, telling Plankton to stop reminiscing so he can actually ask Karen back. It’s like these flashbacks exist just so that the movie can have a cute image of Plankton and Karen on top of a cake.

Visually, Plankton: The Movie is also lacking, like please, why do 3D animation when 2D works  just as fine, if not better? So let’s talk about the characters then. They are important in a kid’s movie that is somehow saying ‘listen to women’. Again, Plankton and Spongebob are the main characters here, with Karen being a villain because of her grudges. Other sporting characters, then, are Karen’s gal pals. They feel bad for Plankton just as much as Spongebob and help him. Understandably, not every character in a show is going to get their spotlight. But this also means that we don’t see fan faves. With that in mind, we getPatrick Star and Squidward exist here as non entities. This feel like, personally, a big hate crime.

Stream Plankton: The Movie on Netflix.