Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please Read with Caution.

Six years have passed since the first movie graced the big screen. I enjoyed the first movie immensely. The friendship of Ralph and Vanellope was the strongest component. The same friendship is challenged in this sequel and carries the plot throughout their adventure in the Internet. The arcade is left behind early on with Felix, Sonic, and friends getting minimal screentime.

When Felix was worried about adopting 15 children, I got concerned that the movie would potentially cover this similar to the first movie, but luckily, this was not developed and was pushed to the literal end. We didn’t need to see Felix and his wife Calhoun try to become effective parents. The joke about the secret to parenting was funnier than it needed to be.

Ralph and Vanellope travel to the Internet to retrieve a new steering wheel for her game. They encounter viruses, pop-up ads, other users, and toxic masculinity. Yes, that last part exists on the Internet and in the main characters’ bond. Ralph wishes for everything to be the same in their small world, but Vanellope has other ideas and dreams.

Her character arc gradually unfolds as their adventure continues and made evident when the duo arrives in Slaughter Race. Vanellope bonds with the main character Shank (Gal Gadot) and secretly wants to stay without hurting Ralph’s feelings. The best of both worlds.

Vanellope feels trapped in Ralph’s toxic friendship and clingy-ness, something the two aren’t aware is happening. It takes Ralph until the climax of the movie to realize his mistakes and to let go of his insecurities, which also shuts down the virus breaking the Internet. The separation enforces how strong their friendship really is, and how being together all the time wasn’t the healthiest thing for them.

For Vanellope, when she travels to Disney and gets chased by the Star Wars Storm troopers for being a pop-up ad, she encounters the Disney Princesses and learns about the power of song. An iconic scene that stormed the web for months before the movie even premiered. It was a necessary one too for Vanellope to discover what she really wants out of life—even if it means losing her best friend.

The musical number was spot-on. Vanellope singing about her place being at Slaughter Race was amusing, cute, and incredibly violent. I enjoyed every second of the madness. The chasing car scene was action-packed too. Then the goodbye scene had me going: “I love you so much” was an important line to remind us that their friendship means everything to her, but she has to move forward.

The Internet was displayed almost perfectly in this movie. The millions of users were portrayed accurately, making us—the audience feel more in sync with the faceless users than our main characters at weird times. The random moments in the movie when the WI-FI connection is lost or the bidding wars we engage in on eBay.

There were a lot of kid jokes that had to be included, but I went along with the “duty” of it all. Wreck-It Ralph movies love their poop jokes, but there were a lot less of them in the sequel compared to the first movie.

I’d recommend Ralph Breaks the Internet if you loved the first movie. I don’t think there should be a third movie. It’d ruin the message this movie sent out about toxic friendships and how the Internet is a bad place. They don’t have sunsets. What is that about?

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