Film of the Week: Wreck it Ralph – Ralph Breaks the Internet

It has been six years since the unique Wreck it Ralph released, diving into a new world, where we see classic and original arcade games crossing over. Ralph Breaks the Internet explores a whole new world, the internet. There’s a lot to digest at any one time, from references, Easter eggs, blatant self-promoting, and self-parodies, especially during the Disney World scene with the princesses.

For a kids film, the amount of information in one frame would probably fly straight over the target audience’s head. Only the adults may be able to fully understand what’s going on, whereas the kids can focus mainly on the characters. Seeing their favourite characters interact with one another, for a child who’s only ever seen the character in their solo movie, would be mind-blowing.

The title may have Ralph’s name it in twice, but this sequel mainly focuses on Vanellope, and dealing with having her game soon to be unplugged. It’s Ralph’s fault that her game is soon to be shut down, but he tries to redeem himself by helping her get a new steering wheel. They traverse the internet, exploring areas never before seen, even the dodgy areas to try and claim the money via a website to get money to buy the steering wheel from eBay.

In terms of being a sequel, it does what all good sequels do – add something new to the story, develop characters more. The unique world within the film does offer new aspects – it was a naturally good sequel.

Whilst it is primarily aimed at the kids, it is truly a family-friendly film. Adults alike can easily sit down and watch it with their children, because of the internet setting. It’s full of scenes that equally allow adults to fully understand, but also give kids a good lesson.

As it has become traditional among films nowadays, there are two end-credits scene – one half way through and one at the very end, and both are comical. One breaks the fourth wall in a spectacular way, and the other is entirely aimed at the adults, because they’ll fully understand exactly what’s going on. I didn’t see this film in the cinema, but I can only imagine people’s reactions when they saw the scene at the very end of the credits. Its quality is on par with that of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse end credit’s scene. It’s also one of those scenes that must absolutely be kept to those who have seen it, to keep those who haven’t reactions genuine.

Disney’s self-awareness, borderline parodying itself was a genius move. Although we saw the princesses in the trailers, it was inevitable we’d see much more “promotional content” throughout the film – it would have been weird if it didn’t include Disney World, and so to make it into a parody was a smart move, and upped the quality of the overall film, as it can never be seen as a blatant way of promoting themselves.

Wreck it Ralph – Ralph Breaks the Internet offers a genuinely thought-provoking insight to the internet for young viewers, and can also be seen as a reminder to us adults – some parts of the internet are not to be tampered with. It’s a massive place, everyone needs to be careful. There are two morals in this story – and subtly weaving them both throughout the movie without the notion of it being clunky gave a smooth viewing experience, allowing us to take in all what is necessary, and soak up the background also.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)