Ralph Breaks the Internet sees best friends Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) venture off to the internet where they encounter new experiences, allies, and obstacles.
Ralph Breaks the Internet does what a sequel should in expanding the universe and giving us new and original avenues to explore. This sequel incorporates a heartwarming story with plenty of charm and features some great character and relationship development throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed this film mainly due to the story direction and how it all flowed mostly really well. It could have been really easy for this story to be bogged down by internet-related or Disney-related pop culture references but they’re all integrated so smoothly that they never take away from it. It’s a powerful story packed full of heart, charm, and emotion that makes this journey a meaningful one as well as a gleefully funny one. The humour is present and it’s very effective. It doesn’t fail to put a smile on your face with the well-timed jokes and cleverly placed references. Obviously there’s the occasional kid-focused joke but it doesn’t take away from the experience for other audiences.
There are a couple of bumps in the momentum of the adventure, mostly during the second act before things start to really ramp up but it remains enjoyable throughout. One element that really works for the film is the absence of any real clear-cut antagonist. It’s a refreshing story decision that allows the adventure to continue without having to introduce and develop a cliché villain. There is conflict in the story but it’s more emotional conflict than physical which is a decision I applaud.
As far as the characters and performances go there is a great expanded cast of personalities here, all of whom I enjoyed watching. The chemistry between John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman is as strong as ever and the relationship between Ralph and Vanellope is the high-point of the story. On top of those leads there is a group of supporting characters who are all great and the voice performances behind them top notch too. Gal Gadot‘s Shank, Taraji P. Henson‘s Yesss, we’re really fun characters to follow. Even limited appearances from Alan Tudyk‘s KnowsMore and Bill Hader‘s J. P. Spamley just added to the whole experience. Gal Gadot is the most featured of the names mentioned and she gets an arc of her own to follow and delivers really well on it. There’s also a bunch of other more minor characters who all add to their individual scenes. Anyone who has seen the previews would know that the Disney Princesses play a role in the film and despite not having all that much screen-time they definitely steal the show in their scenes so look out for that.
In the end I don’t really have any blatant issues with this film aside from some dips in momentum that are short-lived. It’s a tonne of fun with a heartwarming story, great character development, and stunningly smooth animation as always. It’s the best animated film of 2018 that I have seen and would absolutely recommend checking this one out.
8.1/10
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