‘Wreck-It Ralph’ Sequel Tackles the Internet
December 6, 2018
The dynamic duo of Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz returns in “Ralph Breaks the Internet” for another adventure, but they move from their arcade to the World Wide Web.
As Hollywood has recently become more zoned-in to sequels, it wasn’t a surprise “Wreck-It Ralph” received its renewal soon after its release in 2012. And though it kept the same whimsicalness, this Disney movie radiates references one after another and another.
Ralph and Vanellope journey into the internet looking for a steering wheel to fix Vanellope’s game so it doesn’t get unplugged from the arcade. They purchase the piece through eBay only to discover that they need money, so Ralph looks into lucrative click-baits to make a lot of money fast.
The movie only focuses on those two, but an admirable part of the first movie was Fix-It Felix Jr. and Sergeant Calhoun. They contrasted humorously in the first movie but sadly were on screen shortly in the beginning and even shorter in the end for this one. Though their timeline didn’t contribute to the overarching plot, it would have been fun to see them in the internet as well.
Of course, when Ralph and Vanellope enter the internet it looks wild and inviting. The layout and sleekness of everything looked great and made sense, but the movie spent a lot of time showing that off. Vanellope is constantly amazed by things and the plot stops so she can go explore. But with her child-like curiosity, that’s more understandable.
As clever as their execution of the Internet was, there were too many times where the movie tried to subtly show off references that a younger audience would understand. And no, I’m not upset that I saw two references to Fortnite; it just felt like an advertisement at times.
But overall, the movie held up to all the hype is has received, but it definitely should not get another sequel. The movie can be sure to leave you smiling but the after-credit scenes are worth sticking around to see.