Directors: Rich Moore and Phil Johnston
Cast Headliners: John C Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P Henson, many many others
Original Release Date: November 21st, 2018
2012's Wreck It Ralph was not only a great Disney animated CGI film but it finally gave the world what was perhaps one of the best video game movies. That's because it managed to pay tribute , properly, to some classic arcade and retro games in its colorful, heartwarming and funny journey. Ralph Breaks The Internet only dips a bit more into more games(perhaps a bit disappointingly for those who wanted a sequel) and for the most part focuses on a new cyber realm: the modern day internet. On the surface it frightens of something shallow and “meme” filled like some animated peers but actually this book should not be judged by its cover. It's actually a solid followup that goes deeper on the laughs and lessons just as much as the visuals and scope. One must have to buy into the social media and websit conceit however.
It's
surprising how much of the worlds of the first film are seen again.
Titular hero-and-villain Wreck-It Ralph(John C Reilly) still hangs
out in the arcade after dark with the famous likes of Street
Fighter's Zangief and Sonic the Hedgehog between seeing friends old
in Fix-It Felix(Jack McBrayer) or newer in Vanellope Sweetz(Sarah
Silverman) and Sgt.Calhoun(Jane Lynch) at places like Tapper's Root
Beer bar, Tron light cycles(!), or the sugary racing land of Sugar
Rush. However this idyllic life goes awry once an accident causes the
arcade's owner to purchase a replacement part on the arcade's new
internet router. Ralph and Vanellope go to this mysterious new world
to find the part themselves and adventures ensue.
If
the first film and opening and sideline of here are “Video Game Toy
Story” this film is of course “Internet Toy Story”. In the
colorful, imaginative world of the net are hundreds of millions of
avatars representing users in a clever way. There's also
personifications and “buildings” of popular services like Amazon,
Ebay (or “eboy” as Ralph charmingly calls it) , and social media
“Buzztube”. Characters are met like the “Searchbar” librarian
Knowsmore (Alan Tudyk villian of the first film here as someone
else!), social media empire queen Yassss(Tarji P Henson), spam
scammer JP Spamley (Bill Hader), and even another game world in the
fierce Slaughter Race with key figure Shank (Gal Gadot) .
Even
with the very millenial theme the larger list of world gives some
variety in visuals and ambiance. The animated CGI graphics are of
course colorful and lush given that its Disney itself with directors
Rich Moore and Phil Johnston having some nice bigger shots. It's also
neat, and (purposefully used in what's some of the best sequences)
that something like Slaughter Race has such a gritty real look even
beyond Hero's Duty of the first film. It's entertaining to see a
action-movie, “Grand Theft Auto/ massive multiplayer online ”
esque game contrasted with the likes of Ralph and friends. The
other internet sites are more of a bright futuristic look but the
human avatars have a neat almost retro, “Inside Out” type design
to them. It is a step forward, to an extent, for these visuals if
anything.
The
plot has its ups and downs both for twists as well as for quality. It
becomes a road trip before being tangled up in drama between a couple
locations which reminds of how the last film felt the same way. One
could only imagine a world where they tried to go even further.
However that may be for good reason as there's some decent stuff in
the main Ralph / Vanellope plot that would be detracted by their
being too much else going on(and not much does with the arcade folk
of Felix, Calhoun, and Sonic getting just some gag lines).
Once
again the acting highlight is shared between Reilly's Ralph and
Silverman's Vanellope. Ralph has some humor and growth in his
dumbness. In turn one thought Vanellope may have reached her closure
in the first but she has even more of a journey here. She has a
rapport with Gadot's Shank that's very important to the movie
although everything's to a relatively simple family level. Gadot's
Shank has her charm but ends up being , coincidentally or perhaps not
, like her Fast and the Furious work than Wonder Woman but it's all
in the ballkpark. Seriously that music number may make it all worth
it. Henson's Yass , Hader's Pimley, and Tudyk's Knowsmore have their
chuckles but primarily serve exposition. However a new cast is always
welcomed. There's also the actually brief appearance of a "Oh My Disney World" with an insane amount of animated, Star Wars, Marvel , and etc logoes and characters mostly used for jokes but that's best reserved for surprises if one hasn't seen the commercials. It must be said that it was very neat to get the original Disney Princesses back from their actresses as brief as they are.
That's
what the movie is with not much more to say or detract. It's a voyage
into a net world filled with some laughs and action with a lot of
charm (and the occasional tear) along the way. Nothing is too new or
mindblowing but fans of the first would like this or due to its
nature even those who haven't seen. Who knows how it will hold up as
the decades progress however but seize the zeitgeist parodying moment
of it. 8.4 out of 10
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