Ralph Breaks The Internet Is An Entertaining And Worthy Sequel To Wreck It Ralph

       One of 2018's biggest animated films has finally landed on home video with Ralph Breaks The Internet, the box office smash and critically acclaimed sequel to the 2012 hit original Wreck It Ralph. Released on Thanksgiving weekend in November 2018, the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film but ultimately lost to Sony's Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Released a total of six years after the original, Disney finally gives audiences the long-awaited sequel to the first with the end result being an entertaining and strong sequel to the original film overall that's funny, heartwarming, and continues the jab at poking fun at pop culture with its endless amount of references. One of the things that made the first Wreck It Ralph appealing to audiences is not just its colorful universe that appealed to video game and pop culture fanatics, it also had unique and likable characters the audience grew to care about while becoming invested in their relationship, particularly that of Ralph and Vanellope. Ralph Breaks The Internet continues that relationship as well as expanding on the universe developed within the first movie with the same amount of heart and charm being put into the story, making it a worthy extension of the first film. Ralph Breaks The Internet wasn't the strongest animated film released in 2018, but it still ended up being one of the best as well as being a sequel worthy of the wait. 

      The plot for Ralph Breaks The Internet takes place after the events of Wreck It Ralph, with Ralph and Vanellope, now becoming friends, uncovering a Wi-Fi router in their arcade, which allows them to gain access to the internet. The first Wreck It Ralph was a surprise in terms of how entertaining it was not just for kids, but also for adults with its clever use of pop culture references (It was a kick to see Dr, Robotnik at one of Ralph's therapy sessions). The characters were not only charming and appealing to watch but had heart, making the audience care about the friendship between Ralph and Vanellope. Ralph's transformation in the first one was touching as he went from being viewed as a bad guy to ending up becoming a good person deep down, who cares about his friends. The first film was cleverly written because of how it merged both audiences together with how it appealed to young kids while playing off the nostalgia of their parents, particularly gamers. It was definitely one of the strangest efforts to come from Pixar thus far, but it proved to be one of their most unique and creative ones despite being a tad manipulative with its reference to popular arcade games such as Pacman and Mario-Kart. The secret about both Wreck It Ralph and Ralph Breaks The Internet, is they are mature films for adults disguised as kids movies (The techno soundtrack is another giveaway to that realization). Ralph Breaks The Internet continues the adult style tone of the first film with the growing friendship between Ralph and Vanellope, even if the concept of a grown Hulk-size man befriending a young girl comes across as being a bit weird. The sequel gives audiences more of the same but enlarges the heart of the first while turning up the charm meter with both its characters as well as its visually dazzling world. Almost everything one loved about the first film is here with a a few nice surprises and newer characters that remain interesting.

      As far as the acting performances go, John C. Reilly once again does a fantastic job playing Ralph with Sarah Silverman doing great once again playing Vanellope. The two showcase wonderful chemistry together and are hands down the heart and soul of the movie. There's really no one else that one can picture playing these parts as they both bring a lot of humanity and charisma to their roles. The same can be said for Gal Gadot as Shank, she does a very good job going from being an antagonist to Ralph and Vanellope to becoming an ally as well as a voice of reason for the latter when her friendship with Ralph stalls once again like the first movie. Taraji P. Henson shines in her small role as Yess with Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer giving notable performances. Alan Tudyk shines in his supporting role of Turbo/King Candy with Alfred Molina as slug-centaur Double Dan. In the voice acting department, everyone did an excellent job here bringing new characters to life while giving old ones more of a complex. Audiences are sure to get a kick out of the newer ones as everyone brings a fresh sense of energy and excitement to their parts.

      In the directing and writing department, Phil Johnston and Rich Moore return to their duties from the previous film and continue to build upon the universe they created. While some argue that the new film is nothing more than one giant product placement piece with how it advertises Google, Ebay, Amazon, and Yahoo, that isn't the case as those are worked cleverly into the story making them feel both instrumental to the plot and fun for the main characters to come across along with the audience to laugh at. Whereas video game elements played a large part of the first film, the new film capitalizes on the internet world. It's a fitting change as the sequel attempts to do something different with its new storyline while presenting it as an upgrade. The screenplay by Phil Johnson and Pamela Ribon is strong and does a reasonably decent job of continuing the adventures of Ralph and Vanellope, though Ralph's character arc isn't as strong in this one as it was in the original. The first movie showed a full transformation of Ralph's character with him learning from his past mistakes yet here he makes similar ones that come across as feeling repetitive making his character feel clumsy all over again and halting his progression. Vanellope also feels like her character somewhat takes a step back in growth as she's shown abandoning her friends to pursue a dream that's rather unrealistic. Wouldn't it have been just as powerful to show that she doesn't need to pursue that dream in the end because she realizes that she's right where she belongs with her being with Ralph. After all, the first movie showed that the two needed each other for their game to function. That would've been just as powerful and leaving the door more noticeably open for a third movie compared to the way this one ends. It also would've made Vanellope not come across as being rather selfish by ditching her friend to pursue her own desires . Despite these issues with the character motivations with the sequel, the relationship between the two in the film is still strong and ultimately works. Another issue with the screenplay is how often it leans on the original film for comfort with its plot feeling like the first movie repeated with the only difference being it revolves around the internet now rather than inside a video game. The inclusion of the Disney princesses is a nice touch and makes for a cute and charming scene with Vanellope. Some may find their cameos to be a mockery of their roles in their own movies, but it works great here as another pop culture reference, one of many sprinkled throughout the film that are more than welcomed. This movie was designed by its filmmakers to poke fun at pop culture, even Disney itself while paying homage to them.

      On a technical note, Ralph Breaks The Internet has animation that is beautiful to watch showing great passion and creativity that went into bringing this world to life. The film is colorful and easy on the eyes with the return of the retro gaming characters being a plus. The design of the background is amazing with such attention being given to detail with the films pacing moving fast though giving the impression the film is trying to squeeze everything into the confines of its running time. The amount of creativity that went into bringing the internet world to life is unreal with the film being one large showcase of imagination. The soundtrack by Henry Jackman proves to once again be highly effective while properly fitting with the films tone. As far as Pixar films go, this is one of their boldest and most creative works visually making both Wreck It Ralph and Ralph Breaks The Internet go so well together back to back as one continuous story regarding friendship and pursuing ones dreams.

      It's quite shocking to see how much criticism has been aimed at this movie by audiences as many have taken issue with its "product placement", making it feel like Disney was deliberately advertising the internet throughout the film while teaching kids they must have a credit card to buy something off Ebay and Google. Many accuse the film of being a cash grab and citing how the film was designed to be one big nostalgic ride for audiences without leaving much room for an actual plot other than closely mirroring the first movie. While its true the movie is full of product placement and brings all the Disney princesses together at one point, the filmmakers present both in forms that act as tools to the overall plot. The story for Ralph isn't a bad one, its just nothing groundbreaking other than being another fun adventure for Ralph and Vanellope. The message of the film basically says that friendships ultimately change but the real ones always grow stronger. Friendship is a key element of the plot as Ralph and Vanellope are both characters, that are shown to want more out of life while seeking change but ultimately find that letting go is hard but sometimes necessary to let others grow as evidenced by the films touching finale. Although it's not as good as the first Wreck It Ralph, Ralph Breaks The Internet comes very close and remains a strong sequel that retains much of the heart and charm of the first while being just as much fun to watch, carrying the same emotional weight. The Easter eggs and nostalgia references are more than enough to keep the fans happy while distracting from some of the screenplays minimal flaws such as the lack of a truly compelling reason for Ralph and Vanellope to venture off into the internet. Regardless, the plot still works and the overall film is a sequel worthy of being a continuation of the first film though one will be curious to see how Pixar plans on continuing the story from where Ralph ends.

Final Verdict: If you loved the first Wreck It Ralph, this is a must see