This film is a PG, was released on November 30th 2018, and this review will contain NO SPOILERS
Introduction
Ever since Disney Animation converted from hand-drawn animation to CGI, they have chain produced some fantastic films. From the subversive and clever princess movie Tangled, the action-packed adventure Big Hero 6, the extremely clever and well-written story Zootopia / Zootropolis, and the visually dazzling musical Moana. All of them have been brilliant, except Frozen, which was way too overrated.
However, out of all of them, Wreck-it Ralph is by far the best. It's not just a terrific animated film from Disney or the 2010s, but it is one of my favourite films ever, and is heads and shoulders above everything Pixar has made this decade except Toy Story 3. The extremely genius and inventive world building, insane visuals and action, and the creative characters all made that film terrific. But, given how open ended the story seemed for potential expansions, a sequel seemed like it'd eventually exist.
Thoughts Going In
As I said, I adore the original Wreck-it Ralph and hold it very close to my heart. So, I was a little bit nervous about the follow up when the trailers were released. The whole concept of hopping between different video games in the original is so much more wacky compared to the idea of doing such but in the internet. That and I had my concerns that Disney would use this as an excuse to promote all their owned properties such as Marvel and Star Wars as well as popular internet apps / websites such as Snapchat, YouTube and Amazon. Also, internet culture moves faster than the speed of light and so any references they made to popular trends at the time of making the film would most likely be long outdated by the time of its release. But, the positive reviews had me thinking slightly otherwise. So I had my concerns, but regardless, I was still very excited.
The Story
6 years after the events if the first film, the steering wheel on the Sugar Rush arcade game breaks, and consequently, the game is unplugged. Because of this, Vanellope is left without a game. However, a Wi-Fi router has just been plugged into the extension lead with all the games, so Ralph gets the ideas to travel into the internet and buy a new steering wheel from Ebay. But, it'll have to be paid for. So the two then try various methods to gain enough cash to save the game in time.
What I Liked
My favourite thing about Ralph Breaks the Internet was all the jokes they made about the internet. From pop-up adverts, to auto-fill, the dark-net, viruses, viral videos, comments, and so much more. However, the thing that I enjoyed most among these jokes were the meta Disney references. You've probably seen some of this in the trailer but so many Disney characters make cameos. The princesses, as I'm sure you know, but also Buzz Lightyear, Baby Groot, Stormtroopers, and even an animated Stan Lee. This was such a fun sequence and the self-referential humour made it all funnier. I'm glad this was only one scene because I didn't want an overload of this.
Another plus side was the fact that the film didn't rely on popular icons to make its story. There are some references to online sites and such but they are more blink and you'll miss it and don't weigh down the film. Much like the first which only briefly showed popular video game characters and spent most time in the fictional games, this only briefly showed well-known websites and spent most time in fictional ones, except for Ebay. I am happy the film wasn't just an advert for the app store.
The animation was also brilliant. The visual style of the internet is so fascinating. This was so dazzling to watch because so many things are happening at once. There's always people running around, vehicles whizzing all over the place, and pixels flashing. But, what's good is that all this remained in the background, allowing for the main story to always be front and centre and not letting the visuals distract. I appreciate that because it could've been so easy for this film to end up as just an array of literal flashy computer graphics. I'm glad that the animation was so strong, and that it was the right amount of mesmerizing.
This film has a strong message. It's about accepting your friends having different dreams / ambitions to you. This is applied to the film because while in the internet, Vanellope begins to take a liking towards a new game called Slaughter Race, which has a similar concept to her game, Sugar Rush, but nobody is controlling her nor is it as predictable. But Ralph doesn't want Vanellope to stay because he wants the two of them to remain best friends. This leads to the climax where Ralph must come to the realization that he might have to let her go. This gives the film a very powerful and relatable message and it works naturally in the context of the story, and isn't just shoved in there for no reason.
What I Didn't Like
There wasn't much I didn't like about this. The main issue that I had was that I just didn't enjoy the aesthetic of the internet as opposed to the arcade games. Something about going in and out of game worlds was so much more interesting than this. I don't think it is anything to do with the film making or anything but more just because it was cooler. Just because I saw Wreck-it Ralph as a young child and so I was mesmerized by everything about it, more so than I was about this.
The film also suffers from being extremely predictable. This is usually an issue with many sequels as once the characters and their traits have been established in the previous movie, we can most likely find it easier to predict how they'll act in a certain scenario in the next one. However, this film has major issues with this. Ralph is still lovably dimwitted and you can guess how he'll respond to things easily. Vanellope is still a smart talking misfit and you can't really be surprised by much of what she does. This also means that major plot-points in general are easy to predict. It makes the viewing experience much less satisfying as you spend time waiting for your prediction to occur. It's even worse when you notice how the film hits many of the same beats the first one did, and only cements your guesses as certain.
Conclusion
Well, I am very happy with Ralph Breaks the Internet. It's a follow-up to one of my favourite films that has a powerful message with just the right amount of self-referential Disney and general internet humour which doesn't distract from the main focus of the story, all coated with some terrific animation. Despite this, it is certainly in the shadow of its predecessor just because it was less predictable as well as an overall more interesting, original concept. But in terms of this year, it is probably the best animated film I've seen so far. It's a much better sequel than Incredibles 2 simply because I'm more fond of Wreck-it Ralph than I ever was of The Incredibles. That said, I haven't seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse just yet, so lets not say anything is for sure...
I'm going to give Ralph Breaks the Internet an S
The Story
6 years after the events if the first film, the steering wheel on the Sugar Rush arcade game breaks, and consequently, the game is unplugged. Because of this, Vanellope is left without a game. However, a Wi-Fi router has just been plugged into the extension lead with all the games, so Ralph gets the ideas to travel into the internet and buy a new steering wheel from Ebay. But, it'll have to be paid for. So the two then try various methods to gain enough cash to save the game in time.
What I Liked
My favourite thing about Ralph Breaks the Internet was all the jokes they made about the internet. From pop-up adverts, to auto-fill, the dark-net, viruses, viral videos, comments, and so much more. However, the thing that I enjoyed most among these jokes were the meta Disney references. You've probably seen some of this in the trailer but so many Disney characters make cameos. The princesses, as I'm sure you know, but also Buzz Lightyear, Baby Groot, Stormtroopers, and even an animated Stan Lee. This was such a fun sequence and the self-referential humour made it all funnier. I'm glad this was only one scene because I didn't want an overload of this.
Another plus side was the fact that the film didn't rely on popular icons to make its story. There are some references to online sites and such but they are more blink and you'll miss it and don't weigh down the film. Much like the first which only briefly showed popular video game characters and spent most time in the fictional games, this only briefly showed well-known websites and spent most time in fictional ones, except for Ebay. I am happy the film wasn't just an advert for the app store.
The animation was also brilliant. The visual style of the internet is so fascinating. This was so dazzling to watch because so many things are happening at once. There's always people running around, vehicles whizzing all over the place, and pixels flashing. But, what's good is that all this remained in the background, allowing for the main story to always be front and centre and not letting the visuals distract. I appreciate that because it could've been so easy for this film to end up as just an array of literal flashy computer graphics. I'm glad that the animation was so strong, and that it was the right amount of mesmerizing.
This film has a strong message. It's about accepting your friends having different dreams / ambitions to you. This is applied to the film because while in the internet, Vanellope begins to take a liking towards a new game called Slaughter Race, which has a similar concept to her game, Sugar Rush, but nobody is controlling her nor is it as predictable. But Ralph doesn't want Vanellope to stay because he wants the two of them to remain best friends. This leads to the climax where Ralph must come to the realization that he might have to let her go. This gives the film a very powerful and relatable message and it works naturally in the context of the story, and isn't just shoved in there for no reason.
What I Didn't Like
There wasn't much I didn't like about this. The main issue that I had was that I just didn't enjoy the aesthetic of the internet as opposed to the arcade games. Something about going in and out of game worlds was so much more interesting than this. I don't think it is anything to do with the film making or anything but more just because it was cooler. Just because I saw Wreck-it Ralph as a young child and so I was mesmerized by everything about it, more so than I was about this.
The film also suffers from being extremely predictable. This is usually an issue with many sequels as once the characters and their traits have been established in the previous movie, we can most likely find it easier to predict how they'll act in a certain scenario in the next one. However, this film has major issues with this. Ralph is still lovably dimwitted and you can guess how he'll respond to things easily. Vanellope is still a smart talking misfit and you can't really be surprised by much of what she does. This also means that major plot-points in general are easy to predict. It makes the viewing experience much less satisfying as you spend time waiting for your prediction to occur. It's even worse when you notice how the film hits many of the same beats the first one did, and only cements your guesses as certain.
Conclusion
Well, I am very happy with Ralph Breaks the Internet. It's a follow-up to one of my favourite films that has a powerful message with just the right amount of self-referential Disney and general internet humour which doesn't distract from the main focus of the story, all coated with some terrific animation. Despite this, it is certainly in the shadow of its predecessor just because it was less predictable as well as an overall more interesting, original concept. But in terms of this year, it is probably the best animated film I've seen so far. It's a much better sequel than Incredibles 2 simply because I'm more fond of Wreck-it Ralph than I ever was of The Incredibles. That said, I haven't seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse just yet, so lets not say anything is for sure...
I'm going to give Ralph Breaks the Internet an S
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