Movie Review: Ralph Breaks the Internet
With more relatable and broader, funnier content, along with a sense of living that the Toy Story movies gave us as viewers, Ralph Breaks The Internet, or Wreck It Ralph 2, blows the original Wreck It Ralph out of the water.
As a viewer, I enjoyed and still do enjoy everything about Wreck It Ralph. As someone who plays video games and has occasional retro phases, the movie didn’t seem out of the ordinary to me. But to viewers of the movie who don’t have such a background, the movie is good, sure, but it could be easily lost on them.
This is where Ralph Breaks The Internet‘s blatant genius comes in.
After covering a small arcade, the obvious next step in the films would’ve been something comparable to the internet. Sure, Ralph and Vanellope could traverse through a PlayStation or Xbox console, but at some point both of these consoles hook up to the internet. The transition here was inevitable. The internet serving as the locale of the film’s main story and references opens the movie up to practically everyone, as the internet is essentially one of the bases of our pop culture.
Some of the references in the movie are so much better than just a simple Sonic or Q*bert Cameo that, again, are sort of exclusive to people who know they are. Especially with the latter of the two.
An example of these references would be a scene midway through the movie where Ralph is making videos of himself doing popular things and uploading them to an alternative YouTube for likes and money. The scene moves through an office space, showcasing some of the crazy videos Ralph has made, some of them being cooking tutorials, a Ghost Pepper Challenge, and lastly, (my favorite) a Bob Ross painting walk-through.
These three videos and other allusions, even more strongly than the silly videos Ralph makes, really summed up the movie’s humor for me. But on another hand, the story of this movie also “wrecked” the original movie’s.
In Wreck It Ralph, by the end of the movie, Ralph and Vanellope defeat the evil King Candy, become the best of friends, and from then on, spend every night together when the arcade is closed. In Ralph Breaks The Internet, the theme of friendship established in the first movie is more deeply explored and elaborated on in a sense that can be applied to more than just friendships but relationships in general with all kinds of people such as friends, best friends, and even significant others. I won’t spoil too much but, in short, Ralph Breaks The Internet beats Wreck It Ralph in a death match.
Joey is a striving musician as well as a journalist. His main focus is on the breaking down of popular albums and the in-depth analysis that it can offer. Check out his complete breakdown series of articles.