#71: Ralph Breaks the Internet

I'm not using the original convoluted title. You can lampshade it, but the title should have been Ralph Wrecks the Internet. I'm this close to typing Wralph Wrecks The Internet half the time.

The first Disney sequel in the Animated Canon since Rescuers Down Under. The next one, Frozen 2, is a sequel as well. I don't think Disney is doing a single original movie next year. It's either remakes or conclusions.

Dumbo, Aladdin, Lion King, Star Wars Episode 9, Infinity War II. Artemis Fowl (which I am very, very excited for) is a long-gestating adaptation of the once-popular book series.

Oh, right. Ralph.

tldr; I really, really loved it.

I did not expect to, I was just happy to see Vanellope again. But Disney movies have an unusual talent of being released when I need to hear the message.

SPOILERS



And that message is, friends are needy, venomous leeches.

No, not really, but geeze, Ralph. They don't sugarcoat it, they don't hide it. Because of years of being thought of as nothing but a bad guy, the first friend he gets, he doesn't want her to succeed or grow because he thinks he should be enough. Which is like peak middle America.

Of course, he learns the lesson at the end, in a surprisingly .... weird sequence that I won't spoil.

I didn't know where it was going - Unlike the original movie, I didn't read the junior novelization before watching. So the moral was probably the first really good one in a very long time from Disney Animated Studios, good and strongly presented.

I was so engrossed in the film that I completely forgot about the Princess cameos.

If you're worried about it being 'dated' in a few years time, honestly....there's maybe one or two slight gags that might age badly, but the rest of the plot is strong enough to the point where I didn't focus on if a joke would age for five minutes. It's not a hangup to me. Maybe in five years.

If you're going to complain about Disney referencing themselves, it's maybe 3 minutes? The princess song is more annoying than the Oh My Disney segment.

For introducing many more characters, the focus was mostly on Vanellope and Ralph, which I like. Shank (Gal Gadot) was far more enjoyable than I expected, and Yesss (Taraji P. Henson) was also entertaining and not in the film for as much as I would have liked.

It's paced wonderfully and I really had a blast with some of the voice cameos. The first one is great, but this one is really wonderful.