The Synopsis
Six years after the events of Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph and Vanellope, now friends, discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure.
The Review
Wreck-It Ralph is back and is as lovable and destructive as ever. In this charming and self-aware sequel, Ralph (John C. Reilly) and his best friend Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) travel to the Internet on a quest to save Vanellope’s game. Ralph manages to “break the Internet” as a viral trend, he nearly literally breaks the Internet with a virus, and his selfish insecurities puts his friendship with Vanellope in hot water. Ralph’s goodness and his love for Vanellope are the only things strong enough to conquer his reckless tendencies, save the Internet, and restore his friendship.
Ralph and Vanellope’s adventure leads them through imaginative renditions of online shopping, social media, video games, and the dark web. The Internet is depicted as a bustling and colorful metropolis with users and data streaming overhead. Twitter is depicted as a huge tree with a flock of birds tweeting the latest viral videos, while Ebay is shown auctioning off oddities to enthusiastic Internet users. Plenty of big brands like Google, Amazon, and Twitter make cameos in this film, and Disney does its fair share of flexing. Still, the whole film is simply charming–the inside jokes and puns alone are enough to make it worth a watch, not to mention the profoundly illustrated life lessons and endearing characters.
This film is surprisingly nuanced in the way it deals with friendship. It discusses the idea of selfish friendship, learning to let go, and friends supporting each other in the pursuit of their dreams. Ralph learns to love Vanellope despite the two of them having different needs and dreams. He realizes that he was being controlling and clingy, his love for Vanellope partly existing because she made his life better. Ralph learns that valuing Vanellope means allowing her to be who she was meant to be. That is hard for him; he feels betrayed at first, but after some introspection, Ralph makes the right choice.
Dove.org approves Ralph Breaks the Internet for All Ages.
