Ralph Breaks The Internet Reviews: What CinemaBlend Thought Of The Wreck-It Ralph Sequel
A theatrical sequel to an animated Disney movie is a rare thing. In fact, it's only happened once before. Twice if you count Fantasia 2000. Ralph Breaks the Internet brings back the video game characters of Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz and sends them to explore the world of the internet. How does the sequel stack up to the original? The official CinemaBlend review gave the new movie four out of five stars and our own Eric Eisenberg felt that, while it may not be quite as good as the original Wreck-It Ralph, it was still a great time spent with great characters.
As with the best of Disney's animated films, the movie isn't simply "for kids" as it deals with some fairly serious topics that the youngest viewers might not understand on first viewing, but their parents certainly will. The setting of the film is a bight, shiny new playground with the physical representation of the internet built to look like a massive technological city, with every name you know from Google to Pinterest represented as a building. But the movie isn't about that, it's about Ralph and Vanellope, and their relationship, and that's where most here would agree the movie shines, though we disagree about just how much.
Not everybody at CinemaBlend fell in love with Ralph Breaks the Internet. Managing Director Sean O'Connell feels the sequel really suffers in comparison to the original. He doesn't feel the new movie is bad, just disappointing.
While Sean didn't feel that Raph Breaks the Intenet was a worthy sequel, with everything in the film feeling less than Wreck-It Ralph. His opinion is not universal. CinemaBlend project manager Cody Beck actually felt the sequel exceeded the original, thanks, in part, to a continuous stream of laugh moments and references to both Disney and internet culture.
At the heart of Ralph Breaks the Internet is a story of friendship. Many fell in love with the story of Ralph and Vanellope. It's the reason the sequel exists in the first place, but CinemaBlend News Director Jessica Rawden felt that ultimately the sequel's constant focus on the brands of the internet doesn't do that relationship any favors.
As the resident CinemaBlend Disney expert and also the Games editor, it would seem fairly obvious that the original Wreck-It Ralph was a particularly special film for me. In the end, I have to say I really enjoyed the sequel, and if it doesn't reach the level of the best Disney films, that's only because the best Disney films, like Wreck-It Ralph, have set a pretty high bar.
It's certainly true that the "branding" that is present all over the film is a bit overdone, but ultimately that's just window dressing. Almost none of it is actually important to the film. What is important is Ralph and Vanellope and the ultimate message the movie is trying to convey. When that message takes center stage, Ralph Breaks the Internet is as good as the original, as good as Zootopia, as good as anytime Disney has had something important to say. However, Ralph Breaks the Internet feels like a movie of two halves, and the first half is a zany road movie that takes a bit too long to get to its ultimate goal, which is the second half with the important things to say.
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Also, while the fourth wall adjacent portion of the movie that sends Vanellope among Disney's Princesses has been part of the marketing, there's luckily a lot more than has been shown in the trailers, and it's all hilarious. It's also not simply there for strictly punchline reasons, as the film takes a serious look at its own legacy and takes its licks where necessary regarding the parts of Disney history that maybe haven't aged well.
In the end, it feels like most of just arguing over exactly what degree of quality Ralph Breaks the Internet actually has. Nobody is calling it a bad movie. It seems likely that most everybody will enjoy the time they spent with it. In the end, the only question will be whether you like it or love it.
CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis. Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.