Alright, finally, I was able to round up my goddaughter and we went to see Ralph Breaks the Internet. (Sorry y’all, I had to see Creed II first. I just had to.) As with anything, there were things that were great and there were things that seemed a little unnecessary. Let’s explore, shall we?
So Wreak it Ralph, obviously, focused a lot on Ralph as a character because…it was about Ralph not wanting to be the villain in his game anymore. Ralph Breaks the Internet was more so about Vanellope and what she really wanted in her life outside her game. Not her life as a racer. Just wanted to clear that up because I had a thought about if video game characters can have lives. This is a tangent. My bad. The character development between Ralph and Vanellope was phenomenal. At some point in the film, I forgot they were video game characters who were created by HTML and CSS code. They became real people with real feelings. I love that about this film.
Let’s talk about the elephant in this movie, the addition of the Disney princesses. In the marketing, they seemed very unnecessary. Seemed more like fan service, toy selling service or movie selling service more so than them being apart of the plot; however, I was pleasantly surprised that their addition to the movie wasn’t really long and they actually played a real role in the film. They helped Vanellope, in a way, discover what really made her happy. I see what you did there Disney with Merida from Brave. It was cold but funny because I didn’t know what she said either. I also loved the twist on the traditional Disney princess signature song. Vanellope’s princess song was the opposite of a traditional Disney princess song. It was so wrong that it was right because it was Vanellope and she is voiced by Sarah Silverman (which if you’ve seen her standup, this makes so much more sense than if you haven’t. She’s a wonderfully strange woman and this character is the embodiment of her. Another tangent. Let’s move on.)
With this being said, as much as I love Taraji P. Henson who voiced the algorithm Yesss who helped Ralph make BuzzTube videos to make money for the steering wheel to fix Vanellope’s game, but her character might not have been needed. I typed that and almost cried because she’s a great actress but we could have done with less Yesss. Another thing we could have done without could have been the virus Ralph. At this point in the film, obviously Vanellope and Ralph have gotten in a huge fight and she never wants to see him again and I’m sitting next to my goddaughter and thinking, “Well, how are they going to resolve this?” I figured her new pal Shank from the new racing game she loves so much would talk to her about not losing a friend who is like family to her and they would somehow makeup and go home. Not what happened. A virus Ralph bought to force Vanellope to go back home with him got out into the open web and shut down all Wifi. The virus was a multiplication of Ralph’s insecurities. As an adult, this kind of made sense to me but as a kid this is just a huge Ralph that wants to either crush Vanellope or be her friend. I couldn’t really tell at this point. It did give us a touching moment where Ralph realizes that his dreams of being in the arcade is no longer the same dream that Vanellope has and he has to let her live her dreams, even if that means it’s not with him. Served a purpose but it just seemed bizarre and if you could make the Disney princesses useful, I would think that you could have thought of a better way to make Ralph realize that he was standing in the way of his friend’s happiness. Needless to say, didn’t like that scene that seemed to trail on entirely too long.
Gal Gadot voiced the hardcore racer named Shank in the online racing game called “Slaughter Race”. I like the addition of her. She was wise, soft and a damn good racer. She was the big sister that Vanellope needed in this movie. The princesses focused on Vanellope herself while Shank focused on her friendship with Ralph. Good balance, Disney.
Felix and his wife, Sergeant Calhoun,…didn’t need to see them. If the only purpose they served in the film was give the “Sugar Rush” racers a place to stay since their game was busted, then y’all could have kept that. It was a waste. We saw them for like three to five minutes THE ENTIRE TWO HOURS OF THE FILM. Waste of space guys.
You know what I absolutely love about this movie specifically? The animators are dealing with animating characters from various made-up games, all varying in technology. I loved how the animators could switch from “Tappers” game, which is clearly a game from maybe the 70’s or 80’s, where all the characters turn sharply and have a real techie type of movement to a game like “Slaughter Race” where the characters are more realistic and the same is more fluid in the motions of the characters. While Vanellope and Ralph never take the form of the game they’re in, it was cool to see how different they were in comparison to the characters around them. I need to date an animator. If anyone knows one, at least introduce me. I’m available!
So…
Should you go see Ralph Breaks the Internet?
I’m going to start by saying that these kids movies are getting longer and longer and kids are not going to sit still all that long, Disney! Also, this is a great sequel to the original, which is hard to do.
I’ve seen it and I would recommend it to anyone who loves the anti-Disney films. The films that don’t have the typical Disney plot. Love it! Could have been like 15 minutes shorter but I’m ok with it running one hour and 57 minutes. Ralph Breaks the Internet is on, what else, Disney+.
BLACK WATCH 