Ralph Breaks the Internet Review

Disney Animation has been going through a renaissance with Wreck-It Ralph being a part of it. After six years Disney has released a sequel to their video-game themed hit.

Six years after the events of Wreck-it Ralph the titular character is content with his life. He gets to spend all his free time with his best friend, Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman). But Vanellope is not so happy, in fact, she’s bored. When her game breaks it looks like Vanellope become homeless, so the pair set out to go on the internet to find a new steering wheel for Sugar Rush.

Wreck-It Ralph was a great film, especially for Disney fans and gamers. It had strong character arcs and themes, funny with some emotional moments and big stakes and visually amazing. Plus it has lots of video game references and cameos. A sequel was an exciting prospect but Ralph Breaks the Internet was too similar to the previous film.

In the first film Ralph’s arc was he hated being a villain, stuck in a rut and wanted to break out of his game. Now it’s Vanellope’s turn to have an existential crisis – she’s bored of existence and wants more. She knows her game inside and out and with Ralph she’s stuck doing the same activities. Going out to the internet allows her to explore a much bigger world.

Ralph Breaks the Internet also used a lot of plot points and structure from the origin, showing a lack of originality from the creative team. Like the first film a character wants to see more out of their existence and see more of the world, seemingly complete their task in the first 30 minutes and through Ralph’s hubris the digital world nearly gets destroyed. Ralph’s realisation and plot arc was similar to what he went through in the first film. Many screenplays for film, especially big budget films do follow a similar structure but Ralph Breaks the Internet kept bring up thoughts of Wreck-It Ralph. Ralph Breaks the Internet was not much of a continuation.

The lack of originality can be forgiven if the humour and animation are of a high standard. Fortunately, Ralph Breaks the Internet is a funny film. The marketing campaign highlighted Vanellope meeting the Disney Princesses and focused on cross-promotion which worried some people. But this led to some of the best gags in the film – Disney was self-referential and poked fun at the Disney clichés. There was a great twist to the Disney princess song. There are also pot-shots at internet culture, the best joke being about the comments.

The animation was at its best when the film visited the Slaughter Race game and the Disney world. Ralph and Vanellope come from wholesome games so visiting Slaughter Race was a shock to the system. Slaughter Race was a post-apocalyptic hellscape that was a cross between Twisted Metal and Grand Theft Auto Online. This was when the film was at its most inventive and action-packed. The rest of the internet is kind of bland because of the white cityscapes and the corporate branding. There were some flashes like the grimy underworld but as a whole a downgrade from the original film.

Ralph Breaks the Internet does manage to entertain but as a sequel to such a great film, it’s a disappointment. It does little to expand on the world or the characters that were created.