Yeah, that’s not the real title. Get over it.
Spoilers within. Click away, if you care.
Wreck it Ralph hit on all cylinders for me as a family film. You’ve got arcade stuff, a heartwarming friendship and a story about finding a way to live in your own skin. Do we like going to work day in and day out? Do we like taking our the trash, cleaning toilets, & the general work of self-maintenance? No. These things are work and can be tedious and feel menial.
This goes for anything you do for 30 years'; even things you love.
The moral of Wreck it Ralph showed us that happiness can be found in sharing these menial moments with people that we love. With friends and family and loved ones that accept us for the people we are and often see us differently, more positively, than we see ourselves.
Wreck it Ralph 2 follows with a narrative about clingy-ness and co-dependency; about lying to friends about and general Pettiness. The movie has its moments but it is also a complete betrayal of the first, which I find unforgivable.
I played The VO1D Ralph Breaks The Internet Experience before seeing the movie and nothing was really spoiled in doing so. The V01D Experience was a 15 minute playable movie trailer for the 2 hr commercial that is Ralph Breaks the Internet. John C. Reilly is charming as Ralph and Sarah Silverman is ever-adorable as Vanellope. Gal Gadot is excellent in a role as Shank, an MMO racer analog to Vanellope.
Vanellope’s game breaks and there’s an ever-relatable scene for Arcade Collectors in that the arcade manufacturer is no longer in business and the replacement part is expensive - and on eBay.
Aside from this chuckle the movie explores Ralph & Vanellope’s relationship as they travel through the internet in search of the arcade part (or funds to buy it.) Ralph’s simpleton tendencies are turned up to 11 and Vanellope’s sweetness is turned down in favor of her own selfish pursuits. Ralph is over-controlling and Vanellope and Ralph are both dishonest to one another.
Logos! So many corporate logos!
Everyone’s a villain in a plot that mirrors the first in a frustrating way.
Imagine if - after watching Luke Skywalker destroy the death star and save the rebellion, the beginning of ESB showed Luke gassing up Death Star 2 and entering the coordinates for the new rebel base. In Wreck it Ralph 1 the tension is around Ralph leaving his game and the impact to the other characters in his absence that will result in the game being decommissioned. Here, Vanellope decides she is bored with Candy Crush and that it’s okay for her to just leave and be part of an apocalyptic MMO / GTA clone. They hand-waive it off will “they’ll never even miss me.” W. T. F.
The movie has math mistakes (27years vs 30years for Fix it Felix) and plot holes galore.. It’s as if someone at Disney asked Alexa to build them a movie script.
I give it two out of 5 Quarters. I preordered it on Apple TV as a purchase and should have rented, instead..