Review of movie Ralph Breaks the Internet

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Rating:4/5

Vanellope (voiced by Sarah Silverman) and Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) are very comfortable in their individual games and enjoy hanging out with each other. But Vanellope is bored of being in a predictable game where she wins every single race. To surprise her, an enthusiastic Ralph builds a new track during one of her races. But the game console breaks when her real-world player is unable to handle the new challenge. This puts the 'Sugar Rush' game out of commission, and all the characters are now forced to find new homes. Vanellope and Ralph set out into the Internet to find a way to fix Sugar Rush so that everything can return to normal. 

Building on the undeniable charm and affability of its two main characters, ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ attempts to take its story to a whole new realm when they are faced with all the hurdles that can be found online. Considering that they have been largely restrained to the confines of their game worlds, they discover the digital world has more to offer than they ever imagined. As they venture out, they also learn a lot about themselves and their friendship along the way, especially when threatened by viruses and spam that prove to be deadly. Of course, this is a Disney film, so the kid-friendly filters are well in place. But there’s still room for older audiences to enjoy themselves. The most ‘mature’ humour arises from the studio bravely taking pot-shots at some of its own characters – especially the tropes associated with all their fairy-tale worlds. The performances rendered by the lead cast Reilly and Silverman hold the narrative together. Yet, this story is primarily driven by Silverman’s Vanellope who comes into her own in this sequel. Silverman makes you invested in Vanellope’s journey, even more so than Ralph, in the best way possible for the film.

It’s hard to shake off Gal Gadot’s distinctive voice as the new character Shank, who struggles to fit into this world, although that’s no problem for Taraji P. Henson’s Yesss. Meanwhile, there are ample other smaller characters and multiple references to Disney properties that fill the screen with Easter eggs in fun sequences - look out for a bunch of cameo voices as the princesses. It does suffer from a case of ‘how much is too much’ with a run-time that could have been trimmed a little, no thanks to a screenplay that tends to wander off course. It might not have the surprise elements of the original, but ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ is a thoroughly enjoyable visual treat for children of all ages.