Plankton: The Movie/reception

This article gives the reception of the SpongeBob SquarePants film, Plankton: The Movie, which aired on Netflix March 7, 2025.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 14 critics' reviews are positive.

Jesse Hassenger of The Guardian gave Plankton: The Movie a 3 out of 5 star rating and praised its experimental aspects, such as the 2D animated sequences, flashbacks, and musical numbers. He however opined that the CG animation was subpar to that of the regular SpongeBob series and that the film ultimately felt like several episodes stitched together rather than a genuine feature experience.

Tara Brady of The Irish Times gave the film a 3.5 out of 5 star rating. Though they felt the CG animation to be lacking, they ultimately commended the film for its musical numbers and focus on existing series characters rather than celebrity guests. They concluded:"Who knew marital discord could be so much fun for all ages? Roll on, Squidward: The Movie."

Ferdosa Abdi of Screen Rant gave the film a 9 out of 10 rating. Though they made minor criticisms to the runtime length and SpongeBob's large presence within the story, they ultimately lauded the feature for its match up of multiple genres, mixtures of several animation styles, voice-acting, writing, and musical numbers.

Aidan Kelley of Collider gave the film an 8 out of 10 rating and referred to it as "one of the better things to come out of the SpongeBob Squarepants IP in recent years." They directed minor criticism to the main CG animation style, but lauded the voice performances (particularly Mr. Lawrence and Jill Talley), blend of differing animation styles, musical numbers, and writing.

Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film a 2 out of 5 star rating. He commended the musical numbers, but felt the film to be disappointing as Plankton was his favorite character from the series. Criticisms were directed to the lengthy runtime, largely absent supporting cast from the series, and writing.

Numerical ratings

On Google Reviews, the movie's rating is 3.4 with 3 stars.

Common Sense Media gives it a 3 out of a 5 rating.

IMDb gives it a 5.3 out of 10 rating.

Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 71% rating.

Metacritic gives it a 61 out of 100 with a "generally favorable" score.

Box office performance

In China, the film was theatrically released on March 8, 2025, where it was distributed by China Film Group Corporation. The film grossed a total of $1.2 million, with $700,000 accumulated from its opening weekend.

Nielsen viewership

Similar to Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, the entire film was leaked online as a video upload in August 2024 prior to its release. Plankton: The Movie was released on Netflix on March 7, 2025. It debuted with 14.3 million views over its premiere weekend, making it the number one overall title on Netflix's English-language film chart.