Ralph Breaks The Internet (PG.)
Directed by Rich Moore, Phil Johnston.
Starring John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Jane Lynch and Alan Tudyk. 112 mins.
I bet there were meetings about the title. At some point an executive came up with the market research that the franchise had sufficient audience awareness that it wouldn't be necessary to include the verb “wreck" to identify that this was Wreck-It Ralph 2. This time the arcade game character Ralph (Reilly) goes into the internet to try and save the game of his best friend Vanellope (Silverman) and the result is much funnier and smarter than the original.
Between the Ralphs, directors Moore and Johnson combined on Disney's anthropomorphic classic Zootropolis, about a land where animals run everything. Here, they do something similar, giving form to cyberspace. For example the search engine becomes Mr KnowMore (Tudyk), a rather smug schoolmaster figure who is always trying to finish everybody's sentences.
It's also full of other Disney characters. There is an already famous scene gathering together all of their Princesses, from Snow White to Moana, but all of their recent acquisitions, Marvel and Star Wars, are represented as well.
Ralph Breaks The Internet demonstrates Disney's ability to elevate Having Your Cake and Eating It to a zen level. The Mouse has many faces, but they all seem to be able to look at you simulatneously. For example, a theme of the film is that the net is full of nastiness and things that make life worse. But their vision of the internet is a landscape that is product placements made flesh. All the big names get plugs. The film pokes subversive fun at Disney's legacy while being an intimidating display of their corporate might, a march past of all the weapons they have at their disposal.
Directed by Rich Moore, Phil Johnston.
Starring John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Jane Lynch and Alan Tudyk. 112 mins.
I bet there were meetings about the title. At some point an executive came up with the market research that the franchise had sufficient audience awareness that it wouldn't be necessary to include the verb “wreck" to identify that this was Wreck-It Ralph 2. This time the arcade game character Ralph (Reilly) goes into the internet to try and save the game of his best friend Vanellope (Silverman) and the result is much funnier and smarter than the original.
Between the Ralphs, directors Moore and Johnson combined on Disney's anthropomorphic classic Zootropolis, about a land where animals run everything. Here, they do something similar, giving form to cyberspace. For example the search engine becomes Mr KnowMore (Tudyk), a rather smug schoolmaster figure who is always trying to finish everybody's sentences.
It's also full of other Disney characters. There is an already famous scene gathering together all of their Princesses, from Snow White to Moana, but all of their recent acquisitions, Marvel and Star Wars, are represented as well.
Ralph Breaks The Internet demonstrates Disney's ability to elevate Having Your Cake and Eating It to a zen level. The Mouse has many faces, but they all seem to be able to look at you simulatneously. For example, a theme of the film is that the net is full of nastiness and things that make life worse. But their vision of the internet is a landscape that is product placements made flesh. All the big names get plugs. The film pokes subversive fun at Disney's legacy while being an intimidating display of their corporate might, a march past of all the weapons they have at their disposal.
