Movie Review: Ralph Breaks The Internet

Ralph Breaks The Internet

Director: Rich Moore & Phil Johnston

Starring:
John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk,
Alfred Molina, Ed O’Neill

Rating: PG

Runtime: 112 minutes

Disney teed up another home run when they announced Wreck-It Ralph would be getting a sequel. With the film’s release, they’ve officially hit it out of the park. Accepting change is hard, especially when it’s not what you want. The story teaches a lesson on moving forward that kids need to hear early and does it well. Ralph Breaks the Internet will be known as a classic going forward, thus earning its place in the Pixar canon.

My most memorable vision of a reality inside the internet comes from The Chappelle Show. While that’s not something to break out and show the kids, it is a pretty vivid depiction of the Internet from the early 2000s. It’s safe to say that Ralph Breaks the Internet takes the place of that portrayal by updating the internet’s look for the modern era.

Skyscrapers of data spread out amongst an endless stream of people running to different sites with Twitter birds flying about. The dark web’s a sketchy alley while video sharing sites are titanic mega screen-wielding show floor. Then there’s the online environment in the Twisted Metal-like game Slaughter Race. Its utterly bombastic and isn’t afraid to go all-out in its portrayal of the genre it’s standing for. The amount of love Pixar put into building this world is a testament to why they’re the best in animation.

Silverman and Reilly nail their characters once again, but that’s not the only place the acting excels. Coming off such a creative cast in the original movie, Ralph 2’s new additions are under a magnifying glass. The two major new characters Shank (played by Gadot) and Yesss (played by Henson) fit in perfectly though. Gadot plays a racer perfectly after playing Gisele for years in Fast and Furious movies. She’s got the attitude for it and absolutely kills the mentoring role her character builds towards Vanellope.

Henson says she has a heavy role in tweaking Yesss to become the character we see in the film. It definitely worked because the vibrancy of the depiction shines in more ways than one. Yesss’ personality isn’t as shallow as first seen when we meet the head algorithm in her office. Henson perfectly captures Yesss’ empathy towards Ralph when he sees hateful comments towards him under videos.

The writing shows that this movie knows exactly what it wants to say and how it wants to say it. The plot’s execution is great, managing to pull off separating its two main characters to develop their individual journeys. This gives viewers the best part of the movie, Vanellope’s chance to grow up. The first movie follows Ralph’s selfish desires and learning how to be self-less; which is something he still struggles with. This movie follows Vanellope’s dreams for more in life, playing that off Ralph’s selfish tendencies, creating a natural conflict.

I had the most fun once Vanellope goes off on her own. Hands down the best part of the movie is when she meets the rest of the Disney Princesses. It plays with a lot of Disney tropes, adding depth to near-century old characters and others that weren’t treated respectfully for decades. Then Vanellope being mentored by Shank is going to be a much-beloved storyline, brought up years from now.

Ralph Breaks the Internet is a wonderful movie that shows Pixar’s formula isn’t stale yet.