RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET:
AN EQUALLY NOSTALGIC AND FUN FOLLOW-UP THAT ARGUABLY SURPASSES IT IN CERTAIN AREAS!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: **** out of 4
DISNEY
Everyone’s favorite gorilla-fisted retro “Bad Guy” is back in Ralph Breaks the Internet, the anticipated sequel to Disney’s2012 critical and commercial hit, Wreck-It Ralph. Big shock, I adored the first movie when it came out and not because a certain blue hedgehog appears in it…okay, that was part of the reason but even if you took that aspect out, it was a clever and thoroughly entertaining nostalgia trip through the world of video games with unforgettable characters.
It was described by many as the video game equivalent of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? As it features several cameos consisting of popular characters such as Zangief from Street Fighter, Q*bert, Bowser from Super Mario Bros., and Sonic the Hedgehog to name a few. But, the film manages to be its own unique entity without becoming a cheap knockoff of that movie.
Fans of the movie, including myself, waiting ecstatically for news of a Wreck-It Ralph follow-up and with games evolving and becoming more advanced with otherworldly environments and unique characters, the possibilities are endless. Or, Ralph goes beyond the world of gaming and ventures into the world of the internet, that’s where Ralph Breaks the Internet comes in, with John C. Reilly (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Brothers, Guardians of the Galaxy), Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Battle of the Sexes), Jack McBrayer (30 Rock, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Smurfs: The Lost Village), and Jane Lynch (A Mighty Wind, Glee, Escape from Planet Earth) reprising their voice roles as Fix-It Felix Jr. bad guy, Wreck-It Ralph, sweet and sassy glitching racer princess of Sugar Rush, Vanellope Von Schweetz, “Good Guy” repairman with a magic hammer (Kiss it Thor!), Fix-It Felix Jr., and commander of Hero’s Duty, Sgt. Calhoun, and Rich Moore (Zootopia) back in the director’s chair.
So, after all the enthusiasm I gave the first film, how does the sequel hold up? Well, not only do I think Ralph Breaks the Internet lives up to it, but it surpasses its predecessor A small gripe I had with the first movie was that the trailers built up the characters would be traveling to several games in the arcade when really it was only two, given that their visiting the online universe now, they crank up the imagination and visual gags for the online community, it’s like if The Emoji Movie was done correctly.
Six years after the events of the first movie, Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz are hanging out all the time in the arcade and just being the best of pals. But when the arcade’s owner, Mr. Litwak (voiced by Ed O’Neill-Married… with Children, Wayne’s World 1 and 2, Modern Family) installs a new Wi-Fi router into the arcade and the Sugar Rush game’s steering wheel suddenly breaks, Ralph and Vanellope leave the arcade world and are blasted into the internet to search for a replacement wheel.
Along the way they encounter the dangerous free-to-play racing game, Slaughter Race and home of the game’s lead driver, Shank (voiced by Gal Gadot-Fast & Furious 4-6, Triple 9, DC Extended Universe), an algorithm known as Yesss (voiced by Taraji P. Henson-Hustle & Flow, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Karate Kid (2010)) who determines video popularity on BuzzTube (This movie’s version of YouTube) where Ralph becomes an internet sensation, the frightening realms of the Dark Web, and Vanellope even wanders into Oh My Disney where she befriends the Disney Princesses.
With time running out, Ralph and Vanellope must race across the web to find a new wheel, before Litwak pulls the plug on Sugar Rush forever. Oh, and Fix-It Felix Jr. and Sgt. Calhoun have become parental figures for the other Sugar Rush racers.
The film also features the voices of Alfred Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spider-Man 2, Rango) as Double Dan, Alan Tudyk (Frozen, Trumbo, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), who had previously provided the voice of King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, as KnowsMore, Flula Borg (Smosh, Pitch Perfect 2, Ferdinand) as Maybe, Hamish Blake (Real Stories, Twentysomething, Molly) as Pyro, Ali Wong (American Housewife, Inside Amy Schumer, Fresh off the Boat) as Felony, rapper, GloZell as Little Debbie, Timothy Simons (The Interview, Christine, The Boss) as Butcher Boy, Roger Craig Smith (Resident Evil (video game series), Assassin’s Creed(video game series), Regular Show) as Sonic the Hedgehog, and Melissa Villaseñor (Adventure Time, Saturday Night Live, O.K. K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes) replacing Mindy Kaling as Taffyta Muttonfudge.
Overall, Ralph Breaks the Internet is a worthy follow-up and by far the best sequel to a Disneyanimated film. It doesn’t give the audience a cheap, carbon-copy version of its predecessor like several of Disney’s sequels in the past, but rather continue the story by bringing the characters we know and love back and putting them in a new environment and situation.
Much like the worlds of the arcade, the online environments are absolutely gorgeous and filled with imagination and visual jokes, Twitter birds literally “Tweeting”, pop-up ads represented by people with advertisement signs, and a virus being like a creepy snake-like monster (It works in context).
If Wreck-It Ralph was meant to be the story about Ralph’s search for respect, then Ralph Breaks the Internet is about Vanellope looking for adventure and variety as she’s become bored with the same-old game and same-old tracks, in a similar way Incredibles 2 was more about Elastigirl than its main character. You continue to grow attached to Ralph and Vanellope as characters and you want to see them succeed in their quest to find the wheel, but as it progresses they realize that maybe they have different dreams in the end and might have to go their separate ways (Hard to imagine since they’re a perfect duo).
This is also proof that it’s possible for a feature-length commercial to be good, we’ve already had The Lego Movie set the standard a few years before, but Ralph Breaks the Internet is literally one big ad for Disney. Besides the Princesses, references to Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and several other Disney properties are present and they never, ever feel forced.
Ralph Breaks the Internet is my Go-To family movie for the Thanksgiving holiday, whether you want to take the kids to something fun or just looking for an entertaining animated flick, I guarantee you’ll have a “Wreck-tacular” time no matter what your “game” is.
From the blog www.moviewatchinpsychopath.blogspot.com
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