It’s hard to believe
that “Wreck-It Ralph” was released before “Frozen,” but it did. “Wreck-It Ralph”
was released in 2012, while “Frozen” came out a year later. “Frozen” was a
gigantic hit that put Disney Animation Studios on par with Pixar, but “Wreck-It
Ralph” was a great movie that kept Disney Animation’s streak running high after
the hit of “Tangled” two years earlier. Don Kaye is right when he said in his
review, “Ralph’s deft and witty blend of adult nostalgia for 1980s 8-bit arcade
video games, combined with a wonderful visual palette and a story that could
enrapture little ones, proved to be a unique and satisfying combination.”
After six years we get
a sequel to “Wreck-It Ralph,” and it’s safe to say that “Ralph Breaks the
Internet,” despite having a little hint of corporate requirement around it is
an entertaining, pleasant and emotional sequel. It takes our protagonist – the especially
strong yet completely immature Ralph (John C. Reilly) and the spirited, disobedient
and glitchy racer girl from the Sugar
Rush game, Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) – on a mission in a different area,
giving the sequel to not repeat a lot from the first film while still having both
grow as characters.
As “Ralph Breaks the
Internet” starts, Ralph and Vanellope have been best friends for six years while
loving their games and jobs at Litwak’s Family Fun Center and Arcade. One of
them does, however. Kaye mentioned, “While Ralph luxuriates in the simple pleasures
of his “life” as a video game villain (who now has friends and is accepted in
the community), Vanellope is growing tired of running the same races over and
over again and yearns for something different.”
A small mistake by
Ralph to change things up in Sugar Rush
ends up with the game being broken and a steering wheel – really impossible to
find for the old arcade game – needs to be replaced. Kaye said, “At first it
seems that this might condemn Sugar Rush and its denizens to the scrap heap,
but Mr. Litwak’s (Ed O’Neill) introduction of wi-fi to the arcade opens up the
internet to our heroes, and with it the chance to find a replacement steering
wheel on something called eBay. So into the modem and out along the phone lines
shoot Ralph and Vanellope, into the vast digital megalopolis known as the World
Wide Web.”
Kaye continued, “Other
films -- most notably last year’s misguided The Emoji Movie -- have tried to
portray the Internet and its various edifices in similar fashion, and there’s
no small irony in an entertainment behemoth like Disney attempting to do the
same (we’re somewhat surprised that there isn’t a Disney Plus skyscraper
already lurking within).” However, unlike a film like “Ready Player One,” which
gave the endless amount of corporate IPs as holy things of our imaginations and
youths, the filmmakers behind “Ralph Breaks the Internet” (mainly the returning
three directors and writers of “Wreck-It Ralph” Rich Moore, Clark Spencer and
Phil Johnston) gladly, if faintly, admit that the Internet primarily is there now
to shop.
This is shown in the
annoying little green pop-ups, voiced by Bill Hader, that always try to take
our heroes to malware sites and other online scams, but there’s also a clever
little jab at the parent company also when Ralph and Vanellope walk into the
Disney site (OhMyDisney.com) and encounter so many characters from Marvel,
Pixar and Lucasfilm. The funniest part is when Vanellope walks into the Disney
Princesses dressing room and meets every single main female animated character
from this studio (Jennifer Hale, Kate Higgins, Jodi Benson, Paige O’Hara, Linda
Larkin, Irene Bedard, Ming-Na Wen, Anika Noni Rose, Mandy Moore, Kelly
Macdonald, Pamela Ribon, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Auli’I Cravalho), with
many of them (almost all voiced by the original actresses) proving to be either
stuck in or madly different from the characters audiences are used to.
“Ralph Breaks the
Internet” also goes into the world of violent online games through a trip to Slaughter Race, where they meet the
tough but sympathetic Shank, voiced by Gal Gadot, and her racing team, and even
shortly into the dark web, but awful areas like 4Chan or Gab are noticeably not
in there. Kaye said, “When Ralph finds he has a knack for funny viral videos
that can be posted to raise money to buy the Sugar Rush part (the cost of which
has ballooned to $27,000 -- of course -- on eBay), he begins posting them on
Buzzztube, where the hive mind allure of such videos, as well as some of the
ugly vitriol and hate that any social media expression can inspire, is also
neatly satirized.”
At almost two hours,
the movie starts to feel long just when the third act starts, and some of the
plot feels like it is stretched like they were unnatural just to keep the story
going. However, the usual action-packed finale ends up a surprising and
completely emotional finale where our two characters – both of whom are given actual
life by the perfect animation and lead actors’ amazing voice work – have completely
improved in different ways even as their friendship grows.
Gadot, Taraji P. Henson
(as Buzztube main algorithm Yesss) and Alan Tudyk (as the bossy search engine
KnowsMore) are nice additions to the cast, but other returning actors like Jane
Lynch and Jack McBrayer only have cameos. Kaye ended his review by saying, “The
animation and visuals are spectacular and eye-filling as always, the electronic
world that these characters move through is endlessly imaginative, and like its
predecessor, Ralph Breaks the Internet weaves enough sophisticated humor into
the kid-friendly antics to keep adults watching as well -- instead of
surreptitiously surfing the Web on their phones.”
I have to admit, I
might consider this better than the first movie. The first movie wasn’t
completely new, but this one felt somewhat original with the content it was
given. However, it was still entertaining with some real legitimate drama in
there. Definitely go to the theaters to check this one out, especially if you
loved the first movie. I would say this is one of my favorite Disney sequels.
Thank you for joining in on tonight's review. Check in this Friday for the conclusion of “Vietnam War Movie Month.”
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