Review: Ralph Breaks The Internet (Wreck-It Ralph 2)

It’s no exaggeration when I write that the original Wreck-It Ralph meant a lot to me. It came out at a time that I faced some serious existential self-doubt and insecurity, so a movie about a retro arcade villain who wanted to be anyone BUT himself, but eventually learned to love who he was, was very relatable. Toss in the fact that it’s clearly designed as a love letter to classic gamers, and I considered it not only my favorite Disney movie, but the perfect video game movie (click here to read my previous article on this topic).

It should come as no surprise then, that prior to even stepping into the theater, my expectations were probably already a bit too high for Ralph Breaks The Internet. Still, I was very excited and curious to see what direction the filmmakers would take this one.

As a side note: why the heck didn’t they call it Ralph WRECKS The Internet? Missed opportunity, Disney.

Is Ralph Breaks the Internet the instant classic that Wreck-It Ralph was? No. Is still a very enjoyable movie? Absolutely.

Back to the arcade, but not for long

The movie picks up six years after the original. Best friends Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) still work their day jobs in their respective games and game jumping throughout the arcade by night. Life is predictable and seems perfect, at least for Ralph; after all, all he wanted in the original movie was some respect and appreciation from his co-workers in Fix-It Felix, Jr. We sadly never see Ralph wreck the building again or really interact with the Nicelanders, but it’s safe to assume that this has remained unchanged.

The original made clear that game jumping is fine as long as you return to your game before the arcade opens the next day…an inconsistency in the sequel I’ll address later.

However, Vanellope is getting tired of racing the same tracks every day and yearns for more excitement. A well-meaning Ralph tries to help but inadvertently causes Sugar Rush to break and puts the game on the path of being unplugged. To set everything right once more, Ralph and Vanellope embark on a quest to find the replacement game part, but to do that they must journey to a brand new land they’ve never experienced, but the audience is all too familiar with: the internet. Along the way, they meet new friends (and some frenemies, we’ll say) and their seemingly unbreakable bond is tested in a way that it never has before, which will result in some life-altering decisions that could change their friendship forever.

The Characters

Speaking as a fan, it is a wonderful treat to see these characters all together again six years later. Ralph and Vanellope are as lovable and endearing as they were the first time. Even now-married Fix It Felix and Sargeant Calhoon get a few scenes that are hilarious, but they are criminally underused and their presence in the rest of the film is missed.

The friendship of Ralph and Vanellope is as strong as ever in this sequel, and you can tell that John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman are still having the time of their lives voicing these characters.

In fact, pretty much EVERY video game character from the original Wreck-It Ralph cameos in the first part of this film, including Sonic, Dr. Eggman, Pac-Man, Zangieff and M. Bison. And while it’s great to see them, I really wanted to see other iconic game characters as well, even if only briefly. Whatever happened to that Mario cameo director Rich Moore promised us? 

Mario is STILL missing. If you want to watch him on the big screen, you’re going to have to travel back in time to 1993. 

Hello, internet!

Still, it was pretty clear from the trailers and marketing that the focus this time was going to be on the internet, and in that it greatly succeeds. The portrayal of the world wide web is clever and fun, and all too familiar and relatable. Almost every popular website you can think of is given a shoutout at some point (the product placement in this movie is out of this world). One of the best parts of the movie is seeing Vanellope travel to a Disney website, where dozens of beloved characters from classic Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel get cameos and  great lines. The Disney princess scene was heavily promoted in trailers, but is still greatly enjoyable and cleverly written, with Disney parodying its own tired tropes much in the same way it did with Enchanted in 2007. The fact that they were able to get the majority of the original actresses to reprise their characters just further added to the awesomeness. Sure, it’s fan service…but it’s earned.

It’s shameless self-promoting by Disney, but it’s well-written, executed and so much fun.

There are also some emotional moments in this film as well (though not as many as the original). At one point, Ralph creates a series of viral videos that pay tribute to videos you have definitely seen if you have spent anytime on YouTube in the last ten years. (I suppose he quickly took a class like the one I teach to learn some basic video editing). In one of the most powerful scenes in the movie, Ralph faces the comment section of his videos, resulting in a surprisingly poignant moment. Moments like this are the best parts of this movie, but there aren’t enough of them.

Taraji P. Henson is a welcome new addition to the world of Wreck-It Ralph as the voice of Yesss, a living algorithm that helps Ralph become a viral video star on BuzzzTube.

It’s great but can’t match Wreck-It Ralph

I have to admit that there was a part of me that was underwhelmed by this movie. There doesn’t seem to be nearly as much at stake this time around, and about halfway through the film the lack of urgency greatly decreases. Yes, as the title promises, there comes a point that Ralph literally breaks the internet, but that is short-lived and wrapped up too quickly for it to be that interesting or impactful on the real world.

I loved the original Wreck-It Ralph because it had such a unique message that separated it from most other Disney movies (notable exception being Monsters University): embrace your place in life, even if it seems like it sucks, because you’re part of a bigger plan, and with a new perspective, you may find that it’s everything that you wanted. This film arguably focuses more on Vanellope’s journey, but doesn’t allow her to learn a unique lesson along the way. She wants something new, she gets what she wants and doesn’t really have to struggle to obtain it. That’s a boring arc.

Ralph admittedly has a slightly more interesting arc. Ultimately, the movie is about respecting your friends and not letting your insecurities drive them away. It’s executed in a very creative way here that completely makes sense for these characters. But this moral simply does not resonate the way the first one did, and lacks the heart, because it lacks the scenes of struggle to justify it.

As a side note, it’s worth mentioning that this movie seems to break some strict rules set by its predecessor. While game jumping for support group meetings or hangouts was permitted, permanently abandoning your game (or “going Turbo”) was portrayed as the worst thing you could do as an arcade game character (that’s how you get your game unplugged and kill all the characters in it). When it is addressed in this movie, these implications are not discussed at all. Now, if the rules change for some reason, that’s fine, but to gloss over what was an essential plot point in the original without any legitimate explanation seems conveniently contrived.

Don’t get me wrong: Ralph Breaks The Internet is a very enjoyable movie. The characters are still beloved and it’s akin to hanging out with old friends again. And in many ways, it works as a love letter to the internet (as well as the history of Disney) in the same way that the original is a love letter to video games. Still, breaking a tired formula is what made Wreck-It Ralph a hit in the first place, and sadly, it’s the one thing Ralph doesn’t break in this film.

Regardless…it’s always great to see old friends again! And these characters will always be beloved.