Ralph Breaks the Internet, the sequel to the hit Wreck-It Ralph from 2012, proves to be a delightful, colorful, amusing, and sometimes moving sequel that might surpass the quality of the original. I know it did for me.
John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman are back as Ralph and Vanellope, the main characters from a series of video games. In this second installment, they find themselves having to save the game Vanellope came from by replacing the steering wheel after a kid breaks it while playing the game. Vanellope is also getting restless due to the predictable world she inhabits, but Ralph embraces the tranquility of repetition.
Everything changes for our heroes when the game store’s owner (Ed O’Neill) decides to upgrade to WiFi and Ralph and Vanellope decide to use this new system to browse the Internet in order to save the game from replacement. Once inside the Internet, it becomes an endless series of product placement ranging from Facebook and YouTube to Amazon and eBay. Even Disney couldn’t resist giving themselves a wink with references to Marvel and Star Wars. And speaking of Disney…
At one point in the film, our heroes get separated and Vanellope finds herself surrounded by virtually every Disney princess: Snow White, Cinderella, Pocahontas, etc. This provides an excuse for a major dose of nostalgia as well as an obligatory musical number about how Vanellope needs to find her own dreams.
Gal Gadot voices a character named Shank in another video game that plays like a kid-friendly version of Grand Theft Auto.
Ralph Breaks the Internet mostly succeeds due to the colorful animation, its zippy style of writing and humor, and a great message for kids about the importance of friendship and how sometimes two people need to go their separate ways, but that the friendship will always be there.
The look of the movie is truly fantastic even if it does get occasionally repetitive with its pop culture references blasting us in the face every 30 seconds.
Fans of the first film will be treated to a great amount of humor and heart that doesn’t play down to kids and also lets adults in the jokes. Speaking of that, there is a very funny mid-credit scene as well as a huge LOL post-credit scene that could rival anything Marvel does with theirs.
Grade: A-
(Rated PG for some action and rude humor.)
