Ralph Breaks The Internet: Film Review

Ralph Breaks The Internet: Film Review

Vocal Cast: John C Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Bill Hader, Taraji P Henson, Alan Tudyk
Directors: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore

Mashing elements of The Emoji Movie and a riff on friendship, Ralph Breaks The Internet's deep dive into internet nostalgia, in truth, seems more aimed at an adult audience than kids enamoured with the sugar rush of Wreck-It Ralph.

When someone breaks the controller of the Sugar Rush arcade machine, Ralph and Vanellope spring into action to try and secure the part from eBay via the Internet. But the clock's ticking and the machine faces being permanently turned off.

It's not that Ralph Breaks The Internet is a bad film - in truth, its ode to friendship and the central relationship between Ralph and Vanellope means that it keeps you engaged and makes you forget that it was six years since the last one.

But it does feel shallow and episodic throughout, with a great deal of Disney product placement within. And to be honest, it does feel like the idea of parodying the internet has already been done in many ways with The Emoji Movie - leading to a feeling that mocking viral videos, memes and internet fads feels more tired than it should do.

Central to Ralph Breaks The Internet, is a 10 minute section involving the Disney princesses which led this reviewer to feeling majorly conflicted.

The bastardising of the Disney canon is fair enough, but it seems unnecessarily cheap to mock the princesses who have helped the company make so much money, and have left them so ingrained in our culture. It's almost as if the meta-touches are not needed here, and some targets should be off-limits.

The messages come thick and fast at the end of Ralph Breaks The Internet, and with no subtlety whatsoever, but given one takes on the male toxicity of the internet before devolving into a Stay Puft marshmallow man / King Kong showdown, it's a nice, albeit sledgehammered, touch about bullying and the darker side of the world.

Ultimately, Ralph Breaks The Internet is a solid time at the cinema, albeit a forgettable one.

Its ode to friendship and letting go is commendable, but obvious from the beginning, but to be honest, Reilly and Silverman overcome such lazy tropes and obvious touches with performances that have warmth and emotional depth.

They're cool to hang out with thanks to the nostalgia and some of the gags, but the novelty may be wearing off a little quicker than expected.