I love animated movies that are not so childish they can be enjoyed by adults and are not so adult they can be enjoyed by kids. Such is the case with the new CGI animated film “Ralph Breaks the Internet”, a sequel to the 2012 film “Wreck-It-Ralph” in which we met the lovable character from the arcade game Fit-It-Felix Jr. (voiced by John C. Reilly). The first film also introduced Vanellope von Schweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman), a racer in the game Sugar Rush, and Ralph’s best friend. The two are constant companions at a arcade, and during the course of the new film confront the instillation of Wi-Fi at the arcade, and a broken steering wheel on Vanellope’s game. The aforementioned actions lead the two on a trip into the internet after they discover the replacement wheel for the game can be found on eBay. Once in the marvelous world of the internet, they purchase the wheel for Sugar Rush only to realize they have made an impossibly high bid and only have 24 hours to complete their purchase. The duo seeks help via Spanley, a pop-up advertiser who assigns them the task of stealing a car belonging to a character named Shank (Gal Gadot) from the online game Slaughter Race. While their plan almost succeeds, they are presented with an idea from Shank, who films Ralph in a humiliating situation, and advises the two to post the video on BuzzTube in order to make money. Ralph and Vanellope meet with chief algorithm Yesss (Taraji P. Henson) who advised the duo to film many videos featuring Ralph in order to make fast money. While attempting to gain “likes” for Ralph’s videos, Vanellope is sent to Disney fansite where she meets all the Disney Princesses in what proves to be a hilarious encounter. Seeing all the famous Princesses together is an unforgettable moment. While the two are raising money for the game wheel, Ralph discovers Vanellope has not been happy in her game, and wants to be part of Slaughter Race. Ralph is so distraught by the news he turns to the dark web so a virus can be unleashed on Slaughter Race. The only problem is, while the virus is successful in damaging Slaughter Race, the virus escapes the game and destroys the internet. Meanwhile, the friendship between Ralph and Vanellope has collapsed due to the actions of Ralph. However fret not, all is well that ends well. After all who wants an animated movie to end on a sour note? This film is a pure delight, with plenty of clever repartee between characters, and an ingenious depiction of the world wide web. I especially enjoyed the segment with the Princesses letting their “hair down” with Vanellope, and the racing scenes in the Slaughter Race segment, which would be at home in any of the “Fast and Furious” movies. For a fun time at the movies, I suggest you take a break during the busy holiday season and head to your local theater for a viewing of “Ralph Breaks the Internet”, a film full of surprises.
(Rated PG) 💻💻💻💻
