Review: Ralph Breaks the Internet

I am sitting in the theater, having just gotten out of “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and waiting to see “Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelwald”. Yes I bought two tickets, I’m not screen hopping. Or whatever that action would be called.

Here is my spoiler free review of “Ralph”: it was great! Seriously loved every moment. It was definitely made to pander to the audience and it delivered on that promise. Each “cameo” and reference to pop culture (especially Disney culture) made me smile and I for sure “LOL”ed many times. Super cute. I am excited to add it to my collection when it comes out on video, it’s the kind of movie that you can enjoy over and over.

Now for the spoilers review. Spoilers. I said SPOILERS. If you don’t want spoilers stop scrolling here.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I mean it.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Ok.

.

.

.

.

.

.

So the premise of the movie is that Ralph and Vanellope love hanging out with each other every night when the arcade is closed, but Vanellope is getting bored in Sugar Rush. She has unlocked every level and found every shortcut. Ralph, trying to be a good friend, cuts a new track info the terrain for her. But this new track is difficult and Vanellope struggles against the “user” and the struggle breaks the game’s steering wheel in the user’s hand. Litwak, the arcade owner, wants to repair the game, but the Sugar Rush company has gone out of business and the wheel is selling for $200 on eBay, which is “more than Sugar Rush makes in a year”. Ralph, wanting to fix his mistake, offers to take Vanellope to “the Internet” to find the “E Boy” and get that steering wheel.

After a bidding debacle, Ralph and Vanellope end up bidding $27,001.00 for the steering wheel, and realize they don’t have any money to pay for that. In order to earn money, they click on a “pop up” to earn money playing video games. Their opportunity is to steal Shank’s car in the game “Slaughter Race” in exchange for $40,000. During their attempt, Vanellope shows off her mad driving skills and earns the admiration of Shank and her crew. But not the car. They give advice that they can earn money to pay for the wheel by going viral on the internet.

Ralph then begins filming and starring in a series of videos that continue to rise in popularity. In an attempt to add fuel to the fire, Vanellope goes out herself as a “pop up” to get more likes for the videos. She is sent to “Oh My Disney” and lands in the Disney princess dressing room, where some of the best moments in the movie take place. Disney is able to laugh at themselves and the often ridiculous plotlines of their princess movies.

Long story short, the videos raise enough money to buy the wheel, but Vanellope finds herself back in Slaughter Race and desires to move there permanently. However, that means leaving Ralph, her best friend, behind. Ralph becomes jealous and wants to drive Vanellope back to him. He obtains a “virus” from the “dark web” which he is told will just slow down Slaughter Race and make it boring. But what the virus actually does is finds an insecurity in the code and multiples it over and over.

The insecurity that it finds is Vanellope’s “glitch”. Once multiplied the game starts to break and reboot. Everyone has to evacuate the game quickly. Everyone gets out…. Including the virus.

Ralph reluctantly admits that he caused the breakdown of Slaughter Race because he didn’t want to lose Vanellope. She is (rightly so) angry at him for being so selfish. And she stamps off.

Once into the main hub of the internet, the virus is looking for a new insecurity. It sees Ralph and his “insecurity” in friendship with Vanellope and makes copies of “insecure Ralph” by the millions. The whole internet is now overrun by waves of these Ralphs.

The Ralphs team-up to make one giant insecure Ralph monster who is trying to destroy everything and everyone. Vanellope tries to stop it by telling it she will never go back to Slaughter Race again and will remain in Sugar Rush forever. But Ralph corrects her and says real friends don’t squash the dreams of their friends. And gives her his Blessing to race in the Internet forever. This kills the insecure Ralphs and the internet is saved.

The movie ends with Vanellope becoming a permanent character for Slaughter Race and she and Ralph can video chat each other each week. They can still be friends while having different dreams.

The movie had amazing computer graphics (as is now expected from Disney Animation Studios) and is heartwarming from start to finish. Ralph and Vanellope have a beautiful platonic relationship that is rarely seen. I appreciate that the plot is “realistic” in the fact that friends do get jealous sometimes and make rash decisions in anger. My only hold-back was the scene with the giant Ralph-Monster. It was really weird and longer than I felt it needed to be. But it really wasn’t too bad and it was a necessary plot-mover.

Some people might be turned-off by the blatant “product placement” throughout the movie. Brands like Facebook, Pinterest, eBay, Twitter, Amazon, etc. were featured prominently. In fact, my son just yelled from the other room “mom!! eBay was on TV!” so obviously the brands stuck with my 5 year old.

One of the side-messages of the film was about internet “trolls” and online bullying. Yas says to Ralph “the first rule of the internet is never read the comments”. I loved this message because it shows that anyone can anonymously sit behind their monitors and say trash online. But we on the receiving end should ignore those messages and not take them to heart.

Please go see Ralph Breaks the Internet. Take your kids! It’s a sweet movie you’re sure to love.

And Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m thankful for this blog to allow me a space to write my thoughts. And thanks for reading them.

All this writing is making me want a Dole Whip.  Do you know you can make one at home??  Check out my post here!