The film “Ralph Breaks the Internet” takes place six years after the events of “Wreck-It Ralph,” where Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) spend their nights jumping from game to game using the hub before heading back to work at the end of the night. However, after Vanellope’s game breaks Ralph and Vanellope venture into the Internet to find a way to save her game from being shut down.
One of the most amusing and interesting aspects of the film was the array of jokes made about internet search bars, internet access, the short-lived fame, animated and the unique environments and spaces that they created for certain applications within the film. For example, the application BuzzTube is a nod to popular video-sharing website, YouTube. Although, one of the most anticipated scenes within the film is the Princess Hall where Vanellope meets the Disney Princesses and they address some of the most common misconceptions of being a Disney Princess that elevates feministic ideals and ideas within society today.
Despite the film’s brilliant idea in having Ralph and Vanellope explore the Internet, the Disney team’s execution of this was excruciatingly poor. The story of the film was not large enough to make as a feature film and many of the conflicts within the story felt forced as there was no previous evidence in the past film to indicate so. Therefore, the film felt as if Disney was just trying to make another buck because they knew that people would buy the tickets.
This story was primarily suited for an animated series rather than a feature film because there was too much focus upon one problem. The film also felt incomplete and displaced because there were so many other issues that could have been explored yet most of them were unresolved, untouched or were resolved with no real explanation. In addition, the film also threw slight shade at the princess Merida for being made from Pixar which didn’t seem to be the greatest idea to do considering things.
Overall, the film was alright, but it definitely felt like it was on a set of train tracks that the audience felt they couldn’t ever get off of rather than being on the edge of their seats on what could happen next. Because of this, the film probably should have been put off for a longer period of time to explore more avenues to its story and to give it a little more depth because despite the unique environments, self-aware jokes and Vanellope’s iconic scene with the princesses the story lacks so much more content.
The more that was shown the more it became clear that the premise of the story was better suited for an animated series rather than a feature film. If the creators and the heads of Disney had taken the time to figure out what to do with Ralph and Vanellope and where they might go with the idea of the Internet, such as exploring internet safety or gaming etiquette, maybe the film might not have been such a disappointment.
