Movie Review: ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’
Ralph Wrecks the Holiday Box Office Proving That Studios No Longer Need Original Ideas
Over the five-day Thanksgiving box office weekend (a coveted spot for Disney animated features), “Ralph Breaks the Internet” grossed a huge $84.5 million intake making it the eighth Disney film to demolish the holiday weekend since 2008’s “Bolt.”
The highly-anticipated “Wreck-It-Ralph” sequel was just short of the $93.5 million record set by “Frozen” but joins the ranks of hits such as “Moana,” “Coco” and “Tangled.”
Although Vanellope and Ralph get into some of the funniest and geekiest shenanigans of 2018, the film seems to be an apparent cash-grab by the studio that used to produce original ideas, such as the aforementioned animated titles. Had this film been a direct sequel set in the arcade world that the original film had established, the movie may have had more heart, however, by introducing the characters to the entirety of the internet, and in turn pop culture, the film feels bloated with easter eggs, gags and references to the studio’s other properties.
“Ralph” wastes no time before introducing the characters to a new plug-in called WIFI, something new and dangerous to their world, and spends even less time before the two heroes decide to venture into the internet to purchase a new steering wheel for Vanellope’s arcade game, which they heard can be bought on Ebay. (No, I’m not making that up. This is actually the plot of the movie.)
It’s hard to laugh at the jokes when the film is treading in such familiar territory, talking about sites like Twitter and Google which the audience uses everyday.
While “Ralph Breaks The Internet” is admittedly 90 percent better than last years “The Emoji Movie” which had a similar “internet-based” theme, the movie still falls flat of the originality that the first film had.
That said, this is a movie that families can see together and thoroughly enjoy. There isn’t much to the story and there aren’t any glaring themes, though a side-plot with Ralph and the comment section could have been a more blatant narrative of online bullying. This film can be taken at face value and is a good excuse to eat popcorn and forget about the stresses of the world.
(Unless those stresses are coming at you from the internet. In that case, you will be reminded of your stress constantly.)
The best part of the movie is easily the interconnectivity of the Disney universe colliding together on screen. For about 25 wonderful minutes, the film goes off the rails into a “build-your-own universe” that will make any fan wish for more crossovers between Pocahontas and Elsa, R2-D2 and Winnie-The-Pooh, and more. Any fan waiting to see all of the Disney Princesses together interacting with the likes of Iron Man, C3-PO, Eeyore, Grumpy the Dwarf, and Baymax from “Big Hero 6” will be pleased.
—erickwood97@gmail.com
@GrahamWoodMedia