As I walked into the local AMC 14 for Disney’s sequel “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” I was excited to return to the virtual world of Ralph and Vanellope after a six-year hiatus since the first movie, “Wreck it Ralph.”
The movie, released on Nov. 21, involves arcade game character Ralph, voiced by John C. Reilly, and his friend, virtual racer Vanellope, voiced by Sarah Silverman, traveling to the world wide web in search of a replacement part to save Vanellope’s arcade game, “Sugar Rush.”
Although there is a new motive for the video game characters, “Ralph Breaks the Internet” contains the same underlying theme of a core friendship between Ralph and Vanellope.
The movie’s plot moves fairly quickly, cutting into scenes filled with different cameos from Disney Princesses to Star Wars characters and even Tinkerbell. However, with all this action, the emotion seems to be lost, especially after watching the tear-filled first film.
With the immense success of the original movie, directors Rich Moore and Phil Johnston may have taken the emotion a step back or two once they were reminded of the 4- to 12-year-old target audience the film had. Though some movies for children lack the emotional depth of reality in order to keep the young viewers uplifted, it may actually be a wise decision to include some of those realities to educate children while still entertaining them.
As is usually the case, this sequel did not live up to the original. The distance from reality the film provides is unlike the first film and at times, the sequel is overpowered by its heavy amount of action and cameos, rather than simply focusing on perfecting the plot.
With that being said, the creativity and animation the movie provides are commendable and the shocking end credits scene alone is a reason to head out and see the film. The series is not going anywhere and with talk of a third movie coming out in the future, watching the movie even with its flaws wouldn’t be a bad idea.