Ralph Breaks The Internet

Ralph Breaks The Internet – Six years after their adventures brought them together, Ralph and Venellope are still the best of friends. When Ralph’s well-meaning actions break Venellope’s game, the pair must set off on a journey into the internet in order to obtain a vital piece of equipment to fix it before the game is permanently removed. Discovering an endless world of everything, the pair find what they need but only have a limited time to find the money to buy it and find themselves inside a dangerous racing game which Venellope enjoys just a little too much for Ralph’s liking…

Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018) – Director: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59116673

Rating: PG

Running Length: 112 mins

Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot

Genre: Animated, Comedy

REVIEW: ‘RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET’

‘Wreck-It Ralph’ was a runaway success so hopes for its sequel ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ were high. What often happens with this unexpected level of popularity is that the plot is just rehashed in the hopes of recreating the hype without any of the freshness that made people love it. Thankfully, ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ maintains the essence of what made the original such a hit but brings in a brand new, relatable storyline.

This time around, best friends Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Venellope (Sarah Silverman) find themselves inside the internet which is so immense and overwhelming that Ralph struggles to understand any of it, while Venellope adapts well to her new surroundings. The core of the movie, of course, is the friendship between them and with Venellope a lot less acerbic (but never as saccharine sweet as her arcade game, Sugar Rush), the pair make it easy for the audience to feel comfortable with their genuine bond along with plenty of in-jokes and insults. Ok, so Venellope and Ralph are the core, the internet is the backdrop, but what is the overall message?

Without a definitive antagonist character, Ralph’s personality, in a natural, gradual and somewhat insidious way, is the thing that needs to be overcome. His insecurity, dependency and jealousy begin to take over his positives until they literally turn into something that tries to control, possess and smother Venellope. Ralph doesn’t even realise what is happening until it’s too late, making his transformation as much a surprise to himself as it is to Venellope (if not more so).

‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ takes all the elements that made ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ successful and tweaks it just enough to improve and, in the age of the internet where toxic friendships can truly take hold, its message is incredibly important and relevant.

CONTENT: IS ‘RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

At the beginning of a race in Sugar Rush, Venellope is taunted by the other, mean racers. However, she isn’t fazed by them and is just as mean back to them.

A character who has agreed to adopt a large number of children talks to a friend in a bar. Due to stress he downs a pint of root beer as if it’s alcohol.

When in the internet, many of the major internet companies are heavily advertised. There are also ‘pop-up ads’, which are held aloft by internet characters, one of these says ‘Sassy housewives want to meet you!’

Ralph and Venellope take go to an internet racing game called Slaughter Race which has a reputation for being dangerous. When they get there, a large dog growls menacingly at them but is suddenly eaten by a shark which appears out of a manhole. The two find themselves in a warehouse and watch as two internet characters try to steal a car. They are shown to have real-life counterparts who talk over the internet and it is their avatars who are in the warehouse. The avatars are discovered by the gang that owns the car and one of the gang members uses a flame thrower on them. The camera cuts away for a couple of seconds then the white outlines of these characters are shown on the ground (indicating that they have been killed); however the real-life people are shown to simply be frustrated by losing online.

Some scenes may be imitable for children. For example, a character casually jumps over a speeding train in a car, this may glamorise and trivialise playing around trains/train tracks. Also, Ralph makes numerous online videos, including deliberately burning a pie: he opens the oven which spills out lots of black smoke and, when he pulls it out, it sets his hair on fire. However, this whole video is comedic.

Ralph and Venellope find themselves in the ‘Dark Net’ which takes the form of dark, seedy alleyways which is inhabited by undesirable people.

Venellope becomes very angry with Ralph over his selfish and destructive actions, she shouts at him and her words clearly upset him. She takes a beloved item from him, breaks it and throws it away; Ralph is devastated by this.

A character is replicated over and over until there are millions of them, however they only have the negative personality traits and have far less intelligence so they behave much like a horde of zombies. They relentlessly pursue two characters and, eventually, come together to make one huge version of their character. It looks closely at one of the character’s it is chasing and could be a little creepy as their eyes are hollow, however due to the other action taking place this isn’t lingered upon so should not be too upsetting.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET’ FOR KIDS?

The Disney Princesses may not need a ‘big strong man’ but when romance is taken out of the equation the mutual friendship between (Princess) Venellope and Ralph show the value of a proper and respectful connection. Although there are a few slightly scary scenes and some insults that parents may not want to be endlessly repeated, we feel this movie is appropriate for all ages.

• Violence: 2/5 (the time spent in Slaughter Race could be a little scary, however Venellope is never fazed by anything that is happening around her and Ralph’s fears are comedic rather than frightening)
• Emotional Distress: 3/5 (two characters have to say goodbye to each other and they become tearful. However, afterwards they are seen to be embracing their lives apart and keep in touch regularly)
• Fear Factor: 2/5
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (one of the game characters is a very muscular man who wears nothing but boots and a tiny pair of underwear. A female computer game character wears tightly fitted clothing)
• Bad Language: 1/5 (Venellope exclaims ‘Mother Hubbard!’. Lots of well-meaning insults between Venellope and Ralph like ‘stench vessel’, ‘stink brain’, etc)
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of toxic friendships, mental insecurity, the impact of negative internet comments, the fleeting popularity of amusing videos, mutual respect, not smothering others, and respect for different needs and dreams.

Words by Laura Record

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