Plankton the Movie

Grade: B+

In this new SpongeBob Squarepants movie on Netflix, the show's villain Plankton (voiced by Mr. Lawrence, who also co-wrote this), the diminutive evil genius, takes the center stage. He and his computer wife Karen (voice actress Jill Talley) have a falling out after years of his evil plans not working and him not listening to her. She goes solo and proving herself to be a far more competent and dangerous threat to the underwater town of Bikini Bottom and the entire world. Now, Plankton has to team up with SpongeBob (voice actor Tom Kenny) in order to save his marriage.

This has been a real step up since the last two films. (They had their moments, but both left something to be desired.) This feels more like prime SpongeBob, with goofy jokes, including some strong physical humor, and a little classic weirdness thrown into the mix.

Honestly, I'm surprised that the show hasn't done this story in its 25 years before. The script writes itself. Plankton and Karen have always had a comically tense relationship, and it always seems like Karen would be a whole lot better at the whole evil plan thing if she took the initiative (honestly, she's the most level-headed character in the entire show). Nice to see her brought to the forefront. (In Sponge out of Water, her role just ends part way through the movie without any follow up.) Her updated form, with three new personalities make for a bigger threat than any other movie antagonist.

What makes the script work in particular is that even though Plankton is a real big jerk in the movie, it still strangely manages to make us want to see him repair his relationship. We get to see the history of Plankton and Karen's love story, which is weirdly touching while still having them both be bad guys. (I feel that it really helped that Mr. Lawrence was involved in this in that he knows Plankton down pat and what to do with him).

I wouldn’t say I had any major cons about this movie, but if you’re one of those parents who don’t like it when shows don’t set a good example for children, understand that there are some pretty mean insults thrown around in this.

It seems that over the past three movies the animators have been slowly trying to perfect the 3D animation in an attempt to best translate the look and feel of the original 2D show. (The last film only came out a year ago, and I’m surprised at the stark difference of the animation styles between these two.) This honestly feels the closest. Characters have a smoother, more painted feel to them. Also, the movie is really colorful. 

PtM is a musical. Some songs are better than others, and I'm not saying this is one of  the great children's musicals, but it works overall. Karen's solo song is a real banger.

Recommended. I feel this is the second best one next to Sponge out of Water. (Yeah, I know a lot of people love the first movie, but only the third act really works for me.)

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie

5.5/10

In this new Netflix film based on the SpongeBob SquarePants show, all of the ocean town of Bikini Bottom is stolen by mysterious forces from above. It is up to Sandy Cheeks (voiced by Carolyn Lawrence), the squirrel scientist who lives underwater in diving equipment, and SpongeBob (Tom Kenny), the constantly optimistic fry cook, to save the town and their friends.

I give this movie points for having a more original plot than the last film, which had too many similarities to the first one, and I give the creators credit for creative randomness and just trying to have fun. But the jokes are really hit and miss. The plot ideas in here are all just okay; nothing that is particularly strong. 

I do admire for them giving the focus to Sandy, who to be honest doesn't get as much spotlight as some of the other characters (at least back when I saw the show, it's been a while). Heck, she's had so little to do in the last three films. I fear that the show's writers didn't have as much fun writing for her as the other main characters, but here they do manage to pull off the character being the center of your attention. There are many weak points, but Sandy is not one. She's always been the most adventurous of the characters and works well as someone facing a lot of physical obstacles. Also, her camaraderie with SpongeBob is so natural. The sponge himself also remains on point in his writing and his lovable personality. 

The animation like the jokes and story is hit-and-miss. Main characters and main props look good, but ancillary characters and parts of background don't feel as smooth. I do give the animators credit for doing such a good job translating the colorful 2D world of SpongeBob to 3D. Also, the slapstick and general motion animation are really smooth; the animators and storyboard artists really put their all into this..

Not strongly recommended or not. This is one of the weaker SB films, which is too bad, because it is clear that the directors and writers cared and were trying. If you're an adult SP fan, this like a lot of the later material just isn't the franchise at its finest, however kids probably won't have a problem with this, and it's an easy film to sit through.