MRMOVIESETC REVIEWS:
"Ralph Breaks the Internet" (2018)
"Then I have to assume you made a deal with an underwater sea witch,
where she took your voice in exchange for a pair of human legs!"
"No! Good Lord, who would do that?"
You know, I guess I should be glad for the fact that it's only on rare occasion where legitimate concerns spawned from a film's initial couple of trailers end up coming true. Aside from the whole (pretty hilarious) "Bunny Pancake" thing that came out pre-release, all the others promotions for "Ralph Breaks the Internet" felt a little bit off, and that is not something I can say I have felt about a Disney Animation release since before "Tangled" back in 2010 when Disney was riding the Pixar wave hard due to their own solo releases prior to that being relatively uninspired. I wouldn't even say it was the plot progression that bothered me at the time because, while nothing outstandingly clever, if "Wreck-It Ralph" were to have a sequel, it makes decent enough sense to have the theme go from complete eye candy nostalgia to modern day relevant with the heavy movement of the gaming world transitioning to online platforms. In fact, as curious as I was to see how a character like Ralph would adapt to that type of change, and where I thought the whole "Breaks the Internet" was going to spin off from, something about the whole project just felt hollow to me that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
As it turns out, "Ralph" ended being a somewhat odd experience in that it was rich and playful in all the areas I wasn't expecting, and disappointingly flat in areas that seemed to me like easy wins the writers (Phil Johnston and Pamela Ribon, respectively) opted not to take for some reason. The end result is this rather mixed bag of hits and misses that serves as one of that last big Disney releases, sans "Mary Poppins Returns", before turning the page to 2019's enormous slate that could be either amazing or equally as mixed.
"Ralph Breaks the Internet" takes place six years after the original and finds Ralph and Vanellope basically where they left off - best friends that continue to do what they do in their respective Fix-It Felix Jr. and Sugar Rush arcade games, then after the doors are closed at night, they meet up and spend about every possible moment together shooting the breeze or goofing around in other games as part of their everyday routines. One day, when Ralph gets the impression that Vanellope has grown bored of Sugar Rush, he sneaks in during business hours to carve a new track for her to race on, which she loves, but the kids playing the game become baffled as to why they can no longer control her racer, and the custom steering wheel controller breaks. Normally this would not be a huge deal, except that the manufacturer of Sugar Rush has been a few years out-of-business now, and cost of the replacement part on eBay far exceeds what the game is worth and thus forces the arcade's owner, Litwak, to sell the game off for parts leaving all the characters within completely homeless.
By lucky chance, Litwak also so happens to be introducing wifi to the arcade for the first time, so Ralph and Vanellope capture the opportunity to infiltrate the internet and find that replace part for Sugar Rush. Unfortunately for them, what they thought was a game to win the steering wheel actually turns out to be a bidding war - a war that they win - for the small fee of $27,001 that the duo has twenty-four hours to claim or the bid is lost.
Growing more and more desperate, Ralph and Vanellope accept a shady task from a pop-up store that will pay them the funds that they need if they can steal a car from a violent racing game called Slaughter Race (think Twisted Metal) that belongs to the game's primary "boss", Shank (Gal Gadot). During their escape, Vanellope begins to fall in love with the game, as it is exceedingly more suited to her personality, to the degree that she begins not to care about the money or going back home. Ralph then starts to see the writing on the wall, and after becoming more clingy than before, their friendship experiences its first straining hardship.
I won't go too much further as it could cause some spoilers; however, I will say this was one big point of the movie that annoyed me and still continues to do so as I continue to reflect on it. See, it appeared as though Vanellope's crafty driving skills were to create an easy escape out of Slaughter Race until they get caught by Shank at the last minute, resulting in their surrender. Shank then tells them that there are better ways to make money online than stealing, and just like that, the whole thing gets dropped. I know this is Disney, and this is something that needs to be seen rather than attempting to adequately explain, but that came across to me like a cop out. Vanellope and Ralph were already risking their lives, why not let the danger and mischief continue a bit longer so the life lesson could be learned rather than simply told? I realize that Vanellope is in the midst of developing an admiration for Shank, yet this compromise was just too easy when it could have easily made for better material than what was to come next.
To make matters worse, the alternative that is offered to them is easily the biggest misstep of the entire movie - Ralph making dopey viral videos in the land of BuzzzTube (guess they couldn't get that YouTube logo check) because "Likes" translate to cash. Sure, Ralph's clumsy, ogre nature makes for an easy and comical target, and of course the whole gag is to poke fun at modern culture's need to be entertained by stupidity and cute cats all day long, but all that attempted subtext is NOT Wreck-It Ralph. The tonality and gesture is a transparently hollow beating of the square peg in a round hole in an effort, or lack thereof, to add twenty or thirty minutes on to a plot too thin to stretch to an almost two hour length and remain compelling. By the time that was over, a big chunk of the Second Act I should add, I wished things were back to the good old days of stealing cars since that had some entertainment value that kept things moving.
Thankfully, once the film gets back on track and focuses on the aforementioned friendship ripple in the once blissful pond, everything finally comes together in what is an enjoyable Third Act that I certainly didn't see coming and might scare the pants off some of the younger crowd; even if some of it felt like it was paying a bit too much homage to a certain "Matrix" sequel. Nevertheless, it is during this climax that a bulk of the heart the movie was hinting at the entire time is captured, and once it hits the heartstrings, it makes the swerving journey up to that crossroads point feel a little more worthwhile.
Now, I did just knock on some failed subtext that the filmmakers tried to pass off as naked opportunism to look hip, but that's not to say they failed at it across the board. Initially, I was kind of bothered by the fact that the animation in "Ralph 2" somehow didn't seem a vibrant and alive as a Disney film normally would, and then I started to notice how it came off as purposefully plastic with all the brand names and famous website logos plastered all over everything, thus making it feel so sterile that it was borderline gross. Maybe I'm way off the mark, but I'd say that sounds like fitting commentary, wouldn't you? C'mon, not everybody would admit it, but if the internet had a taste, it'd be salty roadkill.
When it comes to the two main characters themselves, I was also pleased at how much arc each one still had to offer after the completion of the first film. Granted, the plot scales are tipped towards Vanellope in this one, and while I do believe Ralph was underutilized with some painfully lazy dialogue at times, he was still left with enough personal growth to really put some sting in that Final Act that I mentioned before. That being said, I am not sure there was enough on either side that made me jump and say, "Yes, goddamn it, we really needed this sequel!" I suppose that can be said for most sequels, but you know what I'm getting at.
Overall, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" isn't too bad. Decent - I'll call it decent. I know I harped on the negative probably more than I intended to, especially since there were plenty of shining moments to enjoy. For instance, I thought for sure the whole "Oh My Disney" bit where Vanellope meets all the Disney princesses was going to be certainly painful; turns out, Disney actually can make fun of themselves, and the results had me rolling. Easily one of the highlights of the entire feature. Fix-It Felix Jr., while barely in this film because he didn't need to be, had some golden moments as well that parents will for sure appreciate. Additionally, there's a nod to Fortnite in there that was apparently cool. I didn't get it, because I don't play the fucking thing, but there's also that.
There has also been some negative talk regarding how the First Act felt rushed, but personally, I don't really agree. The nice thing about a sequel like this is that the main characters, their relationship, and the world around them is already so well-built that the writing doesn't need to spin it wheels or go back in time to establish what everybody going to watch it is already going to know. Spend a little time getting reacquainted with them, and then move on. I felt it worked and moved at the right pace.
I do wish that "Ralph 2" would have stayed truer to itself and its roots than trying to appeal to all the major sensibilities of its target audience. This is a film that seems to suffer some from an identity crisis in what could have otherwise been a solid follow-up. I did like it enough that I will certainly give it another chance or two just in case I happened to miss something. Even then, it's unlikely that I will see it as anything other than inferior to its predecessor, though that isn't to say it's a bad time at the cinema.
"Ralph Breaks the Internet": 6.5/10
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