Movie · 2025 · Family, Comedy, Adventure, Animation, Science Fiction · 1h 23m · English
Curator score: 0.8/10 (31.1K ratings)
They needed a hero. They got a villain.
Overview
Plankton's tangled love story with his sentient computer wife goes sideways when she takes a stand — and decides to destroy the world without him.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.8/10
IMDb: 5.3/10
Letterboxd: 2.33/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Metacritic: 61
TMDB: 6.7/10
Director
Dave Needham
Production
Nickelodeon Movies
Cast
Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Carolyn Lawrence, Clancy Brown, Mary Jo Catlett, Lori Alan, Dee Bradley Baker, Kate Higgins, Genesis Clarre, Sale Taylor, Natalie Kailey, Austin Valli, Abbi Ella Gonzales, Toby Larsen, Dave Needham, Lisa Linder
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A noisy, uneven kids’ comedy with a few inspired animation ideas, catchy songs, and enough character-specific silliness to work for some SpongeBob fans. But the humor is repetitive, the emotional beats are thin, and the whole thing feels more like a long TV episode than a must-see movie.
Best for
younger viewers who like broad animated comedy
fans of SpongeBob’s side-character chaos
viewers curious about experimental animation styles
families looking for a light streaming watch
Skip if
you want the original show’s sharpest writing
you’re tired of franchise spin-off movies
you prefer character-driven stories over gag-heavy plotting
you dislike loud, repetitive kid-movie humor
Overview
Plankton: The Movie is built for fans of the character’s obsessive, tiny-villain energy, and it mostly delivers on that promise. The animation is more playful than expected, the songs are catchy enough to stick, and the movie leans into the absurdity of Plankton’s relationship with Karen in a way that gives the story its clearest hook.
Worth noting
That said, the film’s biggest problem is that it keeps circling the same joke and never quite finds a stronger shape for the plot. The emotional arc is simple, the comedy can feel overextended, and the whole thing often plays like a stretched-out special rather than a fully satisfying feature.
Bottom line
For kids or die-hard SpongeBob completists, it’s harmless and occasionally fun. For everyone else, it’s more of a curiosity than a standout animated movie: energetic, occasionally clever, but too uneven to recommend without caveats.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Blitric (2★) · 1371 likes
They accidentally forgot to get this release in the exact date on March 14 instead of a week earlier because it’s….
.
/ ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ \ | THE DAY THAT KRABS FRIES!!! | \ / … more
ram<3 (1★) · 1215 likes
upcoming movies in the SCU (Spongebob Cinematic Universe):
2026: the mr. krabs movie2027: gary: the fast snail2028: pearl: a teenage drama2029: squidward: the movie… but he doesn’t want to make it2030: bikini bottom: aquatic war2031: bikini bottom: endgame
AClockworkCody (2★) · 510 likes
I was really digging this new animation style, until Planktons giant thicc asscheeks got thrown in my face
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