PLANKTON: THE MOVIE

In PLANKTON: THE MOVIE, SpongeBob and his longtime enemy, Plankton, team up to save the world from Plankton’s robot wife, Karen, when she gets angry at Plankton and decides to rule the world all by herself without him. While Plankton would normally head up these schemes, Karen kicks him out after serious neglect on his part led her to boil over. Now, without Plankton in charge, she’s able to pose a serious threat to the world because she’s smarter and hasn’t left any gaping holes in her plot, as Plankton normally does. With help from SpongeBob and his friends, Plankton comes to see how he wronged his wife, and they all hope that, if she forgives him, she will spare the world from destruction.

As is common with many SpongeBob stories, Plankton begins as the enemy, with a plot to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula so he can take over The Krusty Krab, Bikini Bottom and then the whole world. However, Mr. Krabs has had surveillance on Plankton and easily foils the new plot, sending Plankton home very quickly.

When he arrives home, Plankton finds his failing and rundown restaurant, The Chum Bucket, has been completely renovated and there are tons of customers, a first for him. His robot wife, Karen, says she realized The Chum Bucket needed a rework and she made these changes so they could attract customers. In doing so, they could compete with The Krusty Krab and potentially put it out of business; without even stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula. She did this because she loves her husband.

However, after quickly thinking about her plan, Plankton decides he doesn’t like at all. He starts taking a flamethrower to everything, eventually scaring off all the customers. Karen gets extremely angry, and the two begin to fight, resulting in Karen throwing Plankton out of their home.

Shortly thereafter, Karen magnetizes The Chum Bucket and emerges as a three-headed robot with her eyes set on world domination. She’s tired of Plankton neglecting her and going off on his plans for world domination without her.

Karen immediately begins destroying Bikini Bottom, using the homes of the town as building blocks for her battle station. She also begins to target Plankton with the hopes of capturing him and punishing him for how angry he’s made her. However, before she can destroy Plankton, he finds SpongeBob and the two run off together.

Karen begins to chase SpongeBob and Plankton, continuing to scoop up the town along the way and adding to her battle station. She also defeats any adversaries she faces, such as the town defense unit, led by Mr. Krabs.

However, SpongeBob and Plankton are able to get away and SpongeBob works to understand how Plankton and Karen’s relationship came to be so hostile. For example, he transforms into a gray-haired humanist psychologist with goatee and a German accent, comically simulating Austrian psychologist Sigmund Fredi. In a comical series of flashbacks, Plankton starts by recalling his family, his childhood high school and the creation of Karen from a desk calculator connected by wires to a potato. He and Karen start as friends, but the relationship soon turns romantic, especially when they go to college together, and Plankton attaches a TV monitor and computer parts to his living creation.

SpongeBob and Plankton end up returning to Plankton’s college, good old Bikini State University, or BSU. Plankton figures if he can find the original Karen configuration, the potato connected to the calculator, he can fix Karen and return her to what she was. Eventually, SpongeBob realizes that Plankton and Karen’s relationship went wrong because for the last 25 years he’s been prioritizing stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula over Karen.

However, Plankton wants to settle the score with his robot wife without apologizing. So, he faces off against Karen with the “New Karen” he creates with Karen’s old parts. However, New Karen immediately joins Mad Karen because they’re virtually the same person and share a hatred for Plankton. Depressed and having pushed SpongeBob away, Plankton accepts his defeat and stares death in the face.

Who will save Plankton and the world from Mad Karen and New Karen? SpongeBob to the rescue!

PLANKTON: THE MOVIE is very funny and entertaining, with a few hilarious moments that will elicit some chuckles when a viewer might recall them later, long after the movie ends. Also, the plot is fun and easy to follow, while placing an emphasis on strong moral values. However, some jokes are a little intense for younger children, such as when Plankton uses a flamethrower to the fancy restaurant Karen creates for him out of love. That said, the story has a terrific resolution and ending with some heartfelt, meaningful moments.

PLANKTON: THE MOVIE has a strong moral, redemptive worldview teaching the importance of friends and family. It places an extra emphasis on the sanctity of marriage and the importance of working through difficulties in a marriage rather than calling it quits when things get hard. Also, the movie extols repentance, forgiveness and empathy. In fact, the story reveals how repentance, forgiveness and empathy are necessary for a marriage to last. The script overtly uses the word empathy, but the word in the movie functions in a similar way similar to the Christian, biblical concept of “agape love.” So, ultimately, it’s love that saves the comical villains’ marriage and wins the day. As Frank Sinatra once sang, “Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage.”

However, the movie features some brief crude humor, such as two references passing gas. Also, PLANKTON: THE MOVIE features lots of cartoon violence, including some that could disturb younger children. For example, in one scene, SpongeBob is surrounded by tomatoes before a bunch of knives fall around him. The tomatoes get splattered, making it look like his blood shot everywhere, before it’s shown that the knives just hit the tomatoes. There are two other similar scenes that can be distressing for younger children, such as a moment where it looks like a character suffers a brutal death. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.

A final word should be said about the voicework in PLANKTON: THE MOVIE. For more than 25 years, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS has been making people laugh with its crazy characters and strange voices. Whatever you think about the series and its humor, which is often satirical, the voices are just fabulous. And, Plankton’s voice, as done by Mr. Lawrence, aka Douglas Lawrence Osowski, who also co-wrote the script for PLANKTON and helps write many episodes of the TV shows, is one of the best and most unique. So, kudos to Mr. Lawrence, Tom Kenney (SpongeBob) and the rest of the gang.