This is the polar opposite of a “lazy sequel”.
There is a lot of freedom that comes with being the underdog.
Released in 2012, Wreck-It Ralph was released to good but not great reviews (71% on Metacritic), and despite getting an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature (it lost to Pixar’s Brave), the box office amounted to a modest $471 million worldwide.
Comparatively, Disney’s other non-Pixar releases like Frozen ($1.27 billion, two Oscar wins), Zootropolis ($1.02 billion, one Oscar win), or even Big Hero 6 ($658 million, one Oscar win) were major successes.
So with those lowered expectations comes the opportunity to do pretty much whatever you want, which is exactly what it feels like when you’re watching Ralph Breaks The Internet: a group of genius film-makers going all-in on their big idea.
The plot is simple enough – the steering wheel on Vanellope’s (Sarah Silverman) racing game breaks, so she and her BFF Ralph (John C. Reilly) head into the vast world of the internet to find a new one – but that is a basic framework that the writers and directors are able to pin two very adventurous ideas.
Clip via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Ireland
One is the visualisation of the internet itself, which is once again shown as a futuristic city-scape (a bit of a movie cliche since anyone has tried to ‘visualise’ the internet on the big screen), but filled with unique jokes.
From the ‘Dark Web’, which is genuinely unsettling, to the online racing game ‘Slaughter Race’, which is basically Twisted Metal with Gal Gadot as the hero, the big settings are done fantastically well.
Then there are the tiny decisions, like each avatar being the same black-voiced block-headed mini-person who don’t react to their surroundings properly, or when Ralph decides to make some money online by becoming an online viral star, which results in him becoming a screaming goat and the next five minutes of the movie will be lost on you because you won’t be able to stop laughing at that joke.
There is so much going on in each approach to the internet, that it will likely require multiple viewings to properly catch each visual gag, every deep reference, all of the hidden meanings.
The other big idea is the message behind the movie itself. The first movie was basically about Ralph making peace with how the world sees him, but the big message behind this one goes above and beyond.
It should come as no surprise that the folks behind Zootropolis – a kids movie about how to deal with racism and corruption – would go big or go home on the sequel’s big theme, and it is one that will have just as a profound meaning for the adults in the audience, too.
We don’t want to go too far into here, because watching that message unfold over the movie’s two hours is one of its highlights, but we will say it will make you want to check in on your friend as the end credits start to roll.
The fact that there is a Roger Rabbit-esque world crossover, with Disney pulling in characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and their own back catalog (resulting in a scene on comedic par with the DMV sequence from Zootropolis), as well as the majority of famous internet websites and social media outlets.
By going big, Disney have taken their underdog and turned it into their dark horse. Whether it can do the bonkers box office business it deserves, or even take home some Oscar gold (it will be going up against The Incredibles 2 and Isle Of Dogs, for starters) remains to be seen.
Ralph Breaks The Internet is released in Irish cinemas from Friday 30 November.
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