Ralph Breaks the Internet (Dir. Rich Moore & Phil Johnston, 1h52m)

 
Wreck-It-Ralph is one of my favourite Disney films. Hey, I'm a gamer, I'm a sap for odd-couple comedies, and the concept is one of Disney's most original in years. But, as for a sequel? There I was less sure-Disney don't have a great track record for them, the setting and idea do have their limitations, and once former villain Ralph (John C. Reilly) found his place in the arcade, his narrative arc, as well as racer Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) seemed to be at an end.

Ralph Breaks the Internet, whilst not repeating the lightning strike that was the first film, is nevertheless a great, if conceptually strange and slightly lopsided film, broadening the adventures of Ralph and Vanellope to the Internet in an adventure that tests their friendship to breaking point whilst rattling through a bizarrely metatextual amount of advertising and pop-culture references, and simply, whilst not quite a new game, it's enough of an expansion pack to keep any fan happy.

If the first film focused around Ralph's attempts to be a real hero, and to lose the stigma of being an arcade villain, but ended with a heartwarming sense of being accepted no matter who you are, Ralph Breaks the Internet is far more focused on Vanellope throughout-it is her wish for something more than the safeness of her own game that leaves her game broken, and sets her quest across the internet for a steering wheel, and from here, to adventures in new places that test her skills as a driver and excite her, that set her on a collision course with Ralph, who simply wants to go home and return to the arcade and his normal day to day routine.

In typical Disney fashion, this crumbling relationship leans itself excellently to the arc of the story, in which both of them, particularly Ralph, learns how to allow their friend space, even touching on how a friendship can turn toxic and coercive, with the dramatic finale that, appropriately, has touches of King Kong, the influence behind Donkey Kong, and by extension the fictional Fix-It Felix that Ralph originates from, but also, in stark, and, for a Disney film, quite disturbing visual terms, depicts Ralph's smothering friendship, and inability to deal with his friend wanting a different path to his.



Nevertheless, throughout the film, Vanellope is clearly the star, and her budding friendship with Shank, (Gal Gadot), the villainess of a Grand Theft Auto-ish racing game that brings Vanellope the unpredictability and excitement she needs, for the other key message of Ralph Breaks the Internet is that of following your dreams; both Vanellope's dreams, and Ralph's unexpected stardom as an internet celebrity, and the fickle and often cruel nature of the internet, are given ample screentime and development.

The internet itself is a strange realm, with most of the major players, from Google to Amazon, to eBay, who plays a huge role in the story, as the place where Venellope finds her steering wheel to her broken game, given their own skyscraper sized buildings jutting out of the surface of a tapestry of lesser known websites. Sadly, despite the concept being interesting at first, it feels, once the initial impressive nature of the spectacle has worn off, like every other futuristic city, with dingy underlevels of the "Dark Web", complete with viruses and dodgy dealings, below the shining white of the upper levels.

The sites are more interesting, and there is a great deal of inventness, from eBay being a truly massive auction hall, to the heavily featured Oh my Disney, which is the only point the film feels like it's trying too hard to push cameos, but still manages to get jokes in about online personality tests, the Disney Princesses, and the veritable empire that Disney has built in the last decade, to BuzzzTube, which feels like a critique on the vast amounts of content that Youtube has created every day, and how quickly trends can change, whilst  Slaughter Race, which, with its grungy, realistic aesthetic, feels like the most interesting world in the film, and certainly the one that has the most development. It could have been easy for the film to go overboard, and we do get brief glimpses at other, fairly prominent websites, but, much like the locales of the first film, Ralph Breaks the Internet is smart enough to keep itself to a few choice locations.

The supporting cast are, as ever, excellent-Gadot adds a pleasingly tough veneer to her character who still has a respect for the players who try and thwart her, whilst taking Venellope under her wing, and building a strong friendship with the young racer, whilstTaraji P. Henson  plays a smart hustling algorithm in charge of Buzzztube, who seems promise in Ralph. Bill Hayer, plays an advertiser and small-time style crook, Spamley, who runs a website to sell items to real world customers, Disney lucky charm, Alan Tyduk plays a professorial search engine, Knowsmore, whilst Alfred Molina, as a terrifying virus maker, utterly steals the show.

And then there's the Disney Princesses, and the rest of the Disney owned characters. Boy howdy, am I not sure whether Disney finally lost their minds with the pure metaness of finally admitting that the sexual politics of the entire Disney Princess concept, as well as a good half-dozen princesses interacting on screen, or whether this is simply another smart move from an increasingly self-aware, and gently self-mocking Disney. If one thing is irritating, it's that these extremely funny scenes have largely been spoiled by trailers, with only a couple of moments, admittedly among them the funniest and yet sincere Disney song in years.

Nevertheless, for all its flaws, Ralph Breaks the Internet is another excellent slice of Disney animation, with heartening story, well developed characters, and a story that, in the best Disney tradition, truly changes its protagonists at the end of their adventures, despite an oddly commercial edge to the proceedings, and adds another level to a well-crafted world.

Rating: Highly Recommended