Movie Review: Ralph Breaks the Internet · 6:02pm Mar 28th, 2019
Been meaning to do a review of this one for a good while now. Whew... let's get down to it!
The sequel to 2012's Disney animated movie about video-game characters and their offscreen lives, Wreck-it Ralph 2 (or as it's also known as, "Ralph Breaks the Internet") opens with Ralph (John C. Reilly) feeling very content with his lot in life at Litwak's Arcade. And why shouldn't he be? After all, he's appreciated now for his work as a video-game character, he has friends... chief among them, his very best friend, Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman). They have a great routine of going through their usual day (Ralph being the villain of Fix-it Felix Jr. and Vanellope racing in the arcade's racing game Sugar Rush) before meeting up to hang out during the night when the arcade's closed.
Except, to his puzzlement one night, Vanellope's growing bored with the sameness of things in the arcade. So one day, to surprise his friend, Ralph sneaks into her game and builds a new track for her... but his gesture has disastrous consequences that lead to the Sugar Rush console's wheel breaking and being unplugged by the arcade owner.
Desperate to try and save Vanellope's game from being shut down forever, Ralph and Vanellope make the decision to try and find a new wheel for the game cabinet. To do that, though, the pair will have to head out, into the vast unknown of the Internet, via the arcade's new wi-fi router...
Of course, being two arcade characters who've never been online before and have no idea how a number of things on the Internet work, Ralph and Vanellope's quest goes awry almost from the get-go: within short order, they've completely botched the order for the replacement steering wheel and need to raise a ton of money within 24 hours; from there, it's a rapid chain of chaotic attempts to work out a way of salvaging the situation, with Ralph and Vanellope running into a variety of colorful characters, ranging from clickbait wannabe salesman "Spamley" (Bill Hader), to living search engine "Knowsmore" (Alan Tudyk), popularity algorithm "Yesss" (Taraji P. Henson) and finally Shank (Gal Gadot), a major NPC from the Grand Theft Auto-like MMORPG "Slaughter Race."
While Ralph is focused on getting their quest over with and being able to return back to the arcade, Vanellope finds herself more and more interested in the online world. In particular the world of Slaughter Race, though before we get to that point we also have a hilarious detour to the Oh My Disney website, which gives us the film's funniest sequence, where Vanellope encounters the Disney princesses. I can't state this enough, that scene was wonderful in so many ways, mainly due to a lot of hilarious self-parody on Disney's part. (A particular gem being when the Princesses ask Vanellope if she's a princess, with questions such as "do animals talk to you?" "were you kidnapped or enslaved?" and finally "do people assume that all your problems were solved because a big strong man showed up?") The Disney princess sequence isn't a one-off joke either; material from Vanellope's encounter comes back later on in the film: my personal favorite being when she tries to sing about what she wants, and we get a hysterical song number about her love of Slaughter Race... explosions, car chases, sewer sharks and all. XD
Problems arise though, due to Ralph's own insecurities. When he discovers that Vanellope wants to stay in Slaughter Race, he freaks out at the idea of her leaving him, and promptly tries to find a way to keep that from happening. Which, of course, has disastrous consequences, and leads into the final act of the film, which involves Ralph confronting his faults... in a manner that's both unusual and yet quite interesting as well. (No spoilers!)
So, all in all, while I did quite enjoy Ralph Breaks the Internet... would I say that it's as good as the original Wreck-it Ralph?
...Most likely, no... but still, I found it to be a very engaging and entertaining sequel all the same. You have plenty of strong performances from the characters, be it John C. Reilly's Ralph being an excellent mix of endearing and pigheaded; Silverman's Vanellope being feisty and excited to do stuff as always; and many of the new characters deliver solid work as well. I was especially interested by the fact that - in a movie that's all about the Internet (and yes, does kind of touch on some of the darker sides of the 'Net... never thought I'd see the Dark Web be portrayed in a frickin' Disney movie o_0), there's actually no real out-and-out 'bad guy' (or even a 'hidden bad guy') on the Internet. Quite surprising, and yet rather refreshing too, in all honesty.
My biggest criticism of the movie? Hmm... I mean, in some ways, I do wish we could have seen more with the arcade characters from the original. There's a hilarious gag early in the film about Fit-it Felix and Sergeant Calhoun wanting to start a family of some sort, but unfortunately nothing comes of that until the very closing of the movie. On the other hand though, I can accept this, because really, the film is more about Ralph and Vanellope specifically rather than some of the others. So, it doesn't bother me THAT much. *shrugs*
It may not be quite on the level as the first film, but I still quite enjoyed Ralph Breaks the Internet, and I would recommend it.
Especially for the post-credits content 
And her dreams, but not creepy clown dreams. Also, the woman in Slaughter Race, whose name I forget, is voiced by Gal Gadot. Ie Wonder Woman.
5034188
Haha, yes. And yeah, Gal Gadot as Shank. Nice XD I was real impressed by her performance there. Especially in regard to her part in that song. A freaking Disney Princess-type song about a GTA Online spoof
5034191
And finding a shop called literally "A Dollar Store".
5034192
Yeah, that too. XD
There's a lot of good jokes in this movie.
5034193
The entire scene with the Disney Princesses was gold.
5034194
Ohh, yes. Well to be honest, just about everything with the Oh My Disney site was gold. From the stormtroopers as popup blockers to the "Ask Groot" stuff... even the Stan Lee cameo was great (bittersweet given everything, but still)... And C-3PO as the Princesses' butler was a nice touch as well.
5034199
Considering most of the Princesses are far better mentally adjusted than Anakin or Padme, I'm sure 3PO is JUST fine. That way he doesn't have to deal with their insane shit.
5034203
I'm sure of that too. XD
5034204
Then again, considering what most of the Princesses have been through, I dunno. They're less likely to drag him into it though.
5034205
Yeah. I think that second part is the real important one here. They're not really gonna go dragging him into their issues. (Which I'm sure he'd be grateful for, if he were cognizant enough to realize it.)
5034207
Which begs the question, are 3PO and R2 sapient? R2 definitely is, the guy has developed his own personality and sass, despite being incoherent, but 3PO? He's had his memory wiped at least once so...
5034209
R2 most assuredly is in my opinion.
3PO's a much harder case to figure out though. I really have no idea.
5034214
I suppose it depends which era 3PO. And what we define as sapience. He has moments where he goes beyond his programming such as showing genuine concern for those around him and bickering endlessly with R2. And keeping his promise to say nothing about Padmé and Anakin's wedding. But on the other hand, we don't know how complex the Star Wars universe can make droids, where does the programmed personality end and where does what he's genuinely evolved to be like that?
5034220
Exactly. I suppose that the "when" in the Star Wars timeline would be our best indicator, really.
5034228
We also have to keep in mind, that as brilliant a mechanic as Anakin is, and he is, he built 3PO when he was a KID. Did he build him to be able to become sapient? Did he even KNOW how to do that?
5034229
That's a damned good point. He built 3PO when he nine, in a junkyard...
WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!!
...Sorry, the reference had to be made.
5034230
No, no, that's fair.