Chaos im Netz

7/10 - very original and creative, but not quite as good as its predecessor

"Ralph Breaks the Internet" truly surprised me. I was resistant to watching it during its theatrical run, despite being a big fan of its predecessor and knowing the pedigree of Walt Disney Animation. The marketing for this movie, which focused heavily on its new internet elements gave me more "Emoji Movie" vibes than classic Disney. "Look, we have Twitter references! Snapchat! Oh, and Star Wars and Disney princesses!" While I'm sure this strategy successfully got the butts of a lot of kids in theaters, it kept the butt of this cynical-but-otherwise-Disney-loving adult, firmly out. So, when I gave "Ralph Breaks the Internet" a watch recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find it contained all the consistent world-building, charming characters, and genuine heart of the original.

The sequel finds Ralph, and his best friend Vanellope living a charmed but otherwise stagnant life after the events of the first movie. While this stagnancy doesn't bother Ralph in the slightest, Vanellope (in true Disney princess fashion), makes it clear she wants more, and it's this tension that forms the root of the struggle of the story, including causing the catalyst that sends them on their journey to the internet.

I found myself as charmed by the movie's handling of the physical manifestation of the internet as I did by the original's handling of the lives of video game characters. (Side note: although the focus isn't nearly as high on video games as the original, there are still some fun elements there, such as musings on the grooming habits of a certain "Street Fighter" character.) The internet is a living world here, and the filmmakers clearly thought about all the ways they could have its well-known quirks inhabit themselves in the form of characters. Standouts for me were the pop-up street salesmen that aggressively touted their click-bait articles, and the search-engine worm character whose auto-fill was "a tad aggressive."

More than the handling of the world though, what I found truly surprising and compelling about this movie were its themes and the way it handled them. "Wreck-It Ralph" was a movie about identity and self-acceptance. "Ralph Breaks the Internet," far from being the cheap cash grab I thought it would be, actually continues those themes in ways I didn't expect, ways that I even think might even be new and challenging for kids.

Overall, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" was a much more worthy successor to the original film than I anticipated. If you're looking for a fun, humorous, imaginative movie that you can turn your brain off for, it provides all the necessary thrills. But it rarely loses sight of the characters and the heart that make these particular thrills so special.

This movie is much more self-aware than I had expected. I wasn't quite sure how they'd handle the concept of the internet, based on how they handled the arcade in the first movie, but I think it was handled very well, and it feels much more original than most Disney movies lately. it's rather entertaining, even if it's quick to reach for a laugh before it handles anything else. I love how the movie handles more serious topics such as cyberbullying and the toxicity of dependency, but it handles it in a way children can understand as well. it may not be as great as the original, and it may be much more predictable, but it's still a decent movie, and good enough for a rewatch.

I liked Wreck-It Ralph (2012), I found it charming and original with lashings of vocal talent to assist it but a sequel? Had big shoes to fill, and it didn't manage it.

It tells the story of our heroes venturing from the arcade to the internet to save one of their games and *Sigh* does a plot really matter here? Ultimately that's not what its about.

Full of goofy humor, the occasional adult-ish joke to keep the parents happy and lots and lots of product placement. A lot of people looking at the reviews clearly have issue with this but truth be told it would have been very difficult to show the internet in that fashion without showing off the big names. I'm sure a lot of money passed hands because of this, but I don't see why it's such an issue.

The voice cast once again are fantastic including newcomers such as Gal Gadot. The trailers "Princesses" weren't as obnoxious as I expected and quite frankly the whole thing is passable enough stuff but nothing more than that. Somehow a lot of the original charm seems to be missing, the novelty value has diminished and the whole thing felt more like a cashgrab than a loyal sequel.

That being said Ralph Breaks the Internet isn't bad, it's just not living up to expectations.

The Good:

Excellent voice talent

A couple of nice ideas

The Bad:

Pales in comparison to the first

Lacks charm

The satire really spotlights how pathetic much of the internet community are with "Trends" and viewing habits.

In the antihero's second adventure, he and his friend have a series of online adventures. Probably the most important scene is when Vanellope visits Disney's website (because apparently the Mouse House is a shameless self-promoter). The whole sequence is basically Disney's reminder to us that it's on a mission to swallow all popular culture.

Basically, I got what I expected with "Ralph Breaks the Internet". Just watch it anticipating a bunch of corny stuff that the tykes will find entertaining and you won't be disappointed.