Dave Chappelle’s 2003 sketch ‘If the Internet Was a Real Place‘ was a revolutionary in its depiction of the internet as a shopping mall with Dave perusing the different storefronts (meant to symbolize a different website to visit), while being harassed and distracted by pop-up windows offering free gifts until he ultimately gets a virus. Thank goodness for pop-up blockers.
Which brings up back to Ralph Beaks the Internet.
Ralph 2 opens with the newly formed friendship of Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) and their nightly post-work routine of spending time together at the bar sipping root beer. It’s during one of their deeper conversations their views of their video game existence are completely different. While Ralph may be content with the humdrum of daily life, Vanellope wants something different and exciting to happen after spending an eternity as a bubble gum car racer.
After the arcade’s owner Mr. Litwak plugs a Wifi router in the arcade surge strip, the other video characters shrink back from the unknown while Ralph and Vanellope venture into the world wide web and see what’s beyond the arcade. Upon returning home, Ralph tries to make his friend happy by changing a few critical logistics to “Sugar Rush” which ultimately leads to a malfunction. Heading back into the internet to try and locate a fix, after overhearing Litwak plans on pulling the Vanellope’s game forever, the duo embarks on a race against time journey that will test the limits of their friendship when Ralph is forced to put Vanellope’s needs ahead of his own to save her.
With the help of Yesss (Taraji P. Henson), a trending algorithm who knows how to amp up online phenomenon and Shank (Gal Gadot) Ralph and Vanellope not only accomplish the goal that brought them to the internet, but come out on the other side with their friendship stronger than they could have ever imagined.
And that’s where the fun begins, so let’s start with the positives.
When trailers began surfacing for Ralph 2, it seemed as if the film was going to be a quest to fit as many Disney Easter eggs as possible over the span over 2 hours (think the Disney Princess scene) but in actuality, it’s so much more. It’s a vibrant, multi-layered story that hammers home messages on growing and maintaining friendships, how insecurity effects ourselves and our relationships, the curating of popular online content and how it’s forced on browsers, and the growth of content sharing from the early days of Napster and Myspace to YouTube, Snapchat and other popular websites. The rich storytelling ups the ante by including some fantastic action sequences involving Vanellope and a band of racers, reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One.
The downside, the storytelling will appear to adult, because of its nostalgia references, but will be confusing to young children who have no idea what the characters are referring to. Ultimately it’s a Disney movie and if for no other reason the very young will enjoy the bells, the whistles, the colors, and the adventure.
BSO Grade: A-
“Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-Ralph 2” hits theaters on Nov. 21, 2018.