Thekeybaldemasterrises Review of Ralph Breaks the Internet

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

Stunning and hilarious but ultimately a let down for me

[6/10 · 21 November 2018]

Wreck it Ralph 2: I don't wanna be negative Nancy on this one but I have to be honest. Wreck it Ralph 2 or Ralph Breaks the Internet, was a let down for me. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of good stuff in this movie, but in the end it fell short. It didn't deliver the promise of a true sequel to the things I personally enjoyed about the first film. It actually made me wonder if a sequel was even a good idea to begin with. The story tackles some real questions about friendships and growing up but not in a very comforting way. It makes me worry if this is not the best movie to send a message like this to younger audiences. Disney is known for being subtle when it comes to real world lessons but they've been more on the nose recently and it's starting to show some cracks. The movie doesn't carry over fun characters like Felix or Calhoun for anything more than cameos and that was super disappointing. They're replaced by new supporting characters like Gal Gadot's Shank and while the character design is spot on , she doesn't really add much to the story other than to move Vanellope's character along. All the best parts are in the trailers, in particular the Disney Princess cameos which is still hilarious but would've been more impactful if you didn't anticipate the jokes they had already shown. I actually hated the way they treated Ralph and Vanellope's characters in this movie. Granted they needed new obstacles for their relationship but it's almost like they're totally different characters from the last movie. Their personalities are inconsistent and I personally felt they said things that were totally out of character. It's hard to not like parts of this movie as it displays some stunning animation and carries plenty of good humor to keep you entertained. I just had to be straight up about how disappointed I was with this one. The first movie was appealing to me because of its love letter to gamers and the retro nostalgia in all of us who grew up with arcades and old school gaming. Yet at the center of it is a nice story about outcasts and accepting yourself for who you are. This movie took that away from me a little bit and I'm bummed I didn't love this movie more. It tried something different but it ultimately got too realistic for me and it made me emotionally unsettled. But not in the right ways. I still recommend you go see it as it has awesome animation and fantastic jokes but I don't know if I would buy this one. I'd like to just pretend it ends with the first movie. 6/10.