Review of Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) by Adam P — 27 Nov 2018

I can't put this on the same pedestal as the first film, but I was entertained.

Pros:

There are a lot of funny bits in here. The Disney princesses segment seen in the commercials is actually funnier than what you've already seen. I liked all the new characters as well.

Although the story goes with the old "close friends starting to drift apart due to new circumstances in their lives" plot, I really didn't mind that much. The plot goes into the emotional and psychological aspects of this more than you'd expect for a children's film. The movie is an introspection into unhealthy co-dependent friendships and self-doubt.

I watched the original film a couple days ago and it's impressive how much the animation still had room to improve over six years. The movement is a lot more honed here. There is also a pretty impressive visual in the final third-act action point. The world of the internet looks great. A lot of thought obviously went into the little details and how everything would work.

Cons:

The movie is more the sum of its parts than a cohesive whole. This is especially disappointing as I've always felt the original did an excellent job of pacing and presenting exposition in a natural manner. Every plot point and choice clicked, and you just don't get it here.

As much as I liked the new characters, they just sort of float in and out, and I kind of wanted a little more closure on them at the end. Unfortunately, since the emphasis is on the internet world, you don't get to see much of the other characters from the last film. To be fair, I appreciate that the filmmakers were trying to focus more on the story than fan service.

The biggest issue with this film is that the writers make Ralph rather dislikable. Yeah, he made insecurity-driven mistakes in his last film, but there all his actions and mistakes were understandable and he was ultimately benevolent. Here he's become too needy and insecure and ends up doing some baaaaaaad things.

I've noticed some some critics really liked this film and some just could not conciliate Ralph's actions. If the previous paragraph gave you serious concern, I can't fully recommend this. Still the theater audience I was with mostly seemed into the film, and I think less discerning target audience of kids will be entertained.