Ralph Breaks the Internet – 5 out of 5
I love, love, LOVE Wreck-It Ralph. I consider it one of my Top 5 Disney films and one of my Top 5 all-time best animated movies. I love the story, I love how it brings in all the best stuff of video games and leaving out the toxicity that too often comes with gamers and I adored the characters. I became such a fan that when I went on a Disney Cruise and got to run their 5K on their private island, I did so dressed as Ralph. This being said, it should come as no surprise that I was very, very, VERY excited for the sequel and I gotta say that it lived up to my expectations and went beyond them!
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| Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures It's good to have you two back for another film! |
It seems like everything is perfect for good old Ralph (John C. Reilly). Every day he gets to hang out and have fun with his best friend Vanellope (Sarah Silverman). However, after Vanellope starts to fall into a slump in her game, Ralph tries to save the day but ends up setting up a course of action that leaves the game with a broken piece. A replacement is available on Ebay but, since the arcade owner can’t afford it, Ralph and Vanellope venture into the internet in order to try and raise the money they need to get the piece. There, they find a violent racer game called Slaughter Race and Vanellope develops an unlikely friendship with the game’s main character Shank (Gal Gadot). Meanwhile, Ralph is working with an algorithm named Yesss (Taraji P. Henson) in order to make him go viral so he can make money but he learns Vanellope might not want to return to the arcade and wants to stay in Slaughter Race. His jealously gets the better of him because he doesn’t want to lose his best friend and soon heads to the dark web to meet with Double Dan (Alfred Molina) in order to find a virus and his actions lead him down a path where he will literally break the entire internet.
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| Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Give him a neckbeard and a fedora and Double Dan looks like the guy who gets really offended by the existence of women in popular franchises. |
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| Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures This entire sequence with the Princesses and the Oh My Disney website is non-stop fun and awesome! |
I was very excited for this sequel to Wreck-It Ralph but I also had some minor concerns. I wasn’t too worried about the general nature of the sequel not living up to what came before but, instead, was worried about the commentary that would be provided as Ralph and Vanellope’s adventure took them to the internet. When it comes to the ‘net and social media, a lot of artists like to get super pompous and preachy with their creations and think they are making deep and meaningful observations about it (and then it always just boils down to works that show people as sheep obsessed with their phones and this work is shared by that person you know on Facebook that makes up to the minute updated posts about what they are doing that exact moment). I didn’t want this movie to be looking down its nose at the internet because, for better or worse, the internet is a staple of our existence. What this film does, however, is take playful jabs at the internet without being pretentious about it and then focuses on the fun stuff the internet provides. The focus is never what’s wrong with the internet (except when they talk about how awful comment sections are and they are not wrong there) but rather showcases the reality of it and shows it off in an over-the-top and goofy way that fits the reality of the franchise. Finally, the movie does a very amazing job as it creatively transforms the internet into a world that digital characters can live in and explore.
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| Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures It's best if Ralph and Vanellope stay away from InfoWars. No sane person should go near that site. |
As I stated, I wasn’t too worried about this film hitting the snags that a lot of sequels have. Those snags usually involve the film not living up to what came before and often feeling like you are seeing the same adventure told in a different, but incredibly similar way. Ralph hitting the internet isn’t the same as Ralph trying to become a hero. This film feels and is an entirely new adventure and it continues to develop the friendship between Ralph and Vanellope. In fact, I really enjoyed how the story explores insecurities that can form within a friendship and how that toxicity can cause friction. This exploration is the cause for the more moving parts of the film, something the first film and Disney does exceptionally well. Just like the first film, this new adventure gave me some tears but it delivers a whole lot of laughs as well!
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| Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Even in animated form, Gal Gadot is a badass. |
So, Ralph Breaks the Internet is funny. When I say “funny,” I don’t mean like funny for kids or I chuckled here and there. I mean I laughed my bum off. Since we are living in the Golden Age of Animated Movies, the film delivers humor that is great for kids and adults alike and with joke types all over the humor spectrum. What’s even better is the fact this is a film about our modern digital age and it is making modern jokes that fit with said digital age. Nothing in the film felt like an out-of-touch 50 year old white man trying to talk “hip” with the humor. It feels completely modern.
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| Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Star Wars, Marvel, Wreck-It Ralph...all my favorite things are colliding into an epic sundae drizzled with awesome-sauce. |
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| Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Eeyore has seen your memes that depression can be cured by walks outside and has silently judged you. |
Ralph Breaks the Internet provides a very entertaining animated feature and a spectacular continuing adventure of these characters that I love so much. The story is hysterical and fun but also moving with its exploration of how great a friendship can be but also the work it takes for making that relationship work and benefit everyone involved. The cast is fantastic, the new characters are fun, the animation looks amazing and the commentary about the internet is presented as a rudimentary critique and doesn’t cross the line into smug, pretentious hate. Overall, the film hit my high expectations and went beyond them for a product that has all that irresistible Disney magic.
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