Ralph Breaks the Internet

Voices of: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina, Ed O'Neil, Sean Glambrone, Flula Borg, Horatio Sanz, June Squibb, Dianna Agron, Jason Mantzoukas, Vin Diesel, Kristen Bell, Mandy Moore, Jodi Benson, Paige O'Hara, Brad Garrett, Anthony Davis, Idina Menzel, Ming-Na Wen, Bill Hader (uncredited)
Directed by: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) venture into the internet to try and buy a replacement wheel from eBay to fix Vanellope's arcade game.

Review:

Tim: Disney surprised with the effective Wreck-It Ralph and once again succeeds with this sequel (although to be fair, I can't understand why it's not called "Ralph Wrecks the Internet". Still, while the movie might not quite get to the heights of the original, the difference is so negligent that it's nearly nonexistent. This is an entertaining, enjoyable sequel and a movie I had a lot of fun with.

I appreciated how this movie introduced the world of the internet. If the first film was a love letter to old school arcade games, it makes sense that a sequel would explore how the internet has shaped gaming. While the movie uses the internet mostly as a vehicle for Ralph and Vanellope to try and get to eBay, it does touch on many of the elements of how the internet has changed all our lives (both for good and ill). I liked seeing the internet through the eyes of video game characters. That was an interesting perspective and one of the highlights of the film. It was genuinely entertaining to see these characters navigate the internet- from the helpful search engines to the shady, seedy underbelly of the internet- this film does a good job of representing the multiple sides to this world-changing invention.

I thought the story was surprisingly mature. The relationship between Ralph and Vanellope is front-and-center, as you might expect. However, I didn't anticipate that it would explore a destructive co-dependent relationship. I don't know if it quite hits a home run with this examination, but I very much appreciated the attempt. It's healthy for kids to be exposed to the complicated intricacies of healthy and unhealthy relationships. Ultimately, there's a really good message here about what it means to love and care for someone else, especially when doing right by them isn't in your own selfish best interest. I applaud the film for exploring a topic like that.

The movie itself is fairly entertaining throughout. There wasn't a whole lot of laugh-out-loud moments, but it was fairly fast-paced. The movie was a tad long at 1 hour, 52 minutes, but it only drags in a few moments. The constant shifting of settings and the variety of characters keeps things interesting. While I did like the inclusion of characters like Sonic the Hedgehog, Zangief, and others, I do wish they had more than cameos here. Speaking of including famous characters, I have to say that I absolutely loved the inclusion of so many Disney princesses, especially when they were able to have the original voice actors reprise their role. We got to see Pocahontas, Anna, Ariel, Moana, Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine, Merida, Elsa, Rapunzel, Belle, Snow White, Tiana, and Mulan together. It's hard to explain how cool this one. On the one hand, you got to see all these iconic characters together, just hanging out. Their dialogue was humorous and self-effacing. We also got to see them together performing some heroic acts that save Ralph. The whole thing was just so cool. Disney maybe deserves some criticism for their focus on female characters as princesses (they have gotten better in recent years), but there's no doubt these are classic characters and mostly good role models for girls. It was great to see so many of these characters revisited here. That was actually one of the best parts of the entire movie.

The visual effects are once again strong. It's fun to see the spectrum of colors depicting these electronic worlds. The designs are impressive and clever and absolutely add to the mix. Computer animation has gotten so remarkable and this is a good example of the capabilities of the technology today.

I would probably say I like the original film a bit better than this one, but there's no doubt that this sequel is a booming success. This film came 6 years after the original, but actually did about $12 million more than the first film. Adjusted for inflation, the first film might come out on top, but it's always a win when a sequel out-grosses the first film. I enjoyed Ralph Breaks the Internet and I'm hoping they come up with another clever idea to make this a trilogy.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, The Little Mermaid, Brave, Cinderella, Mulan