Breaking the Internet

Sequel of old retro style arcade characters go online

Cody Bennett, Assistant Striv Producer

Wreck It Ralph was one of my favorite movies of all of 2012. A “bad guy” trying to be good and prove he isn’t really bad was a good, non-cliche form of plot in animation. The animation, plot and voice acting made it on my top three list of movies.

I wish the sequel made it on my list.

The directors of the movie, Rich Moore and Phil Johnson start the movie off with a message. This movie is dedicated to everything they love about the internet. Whether it’s the easy ability to shop online and buy things with a couple clicks, comments on videos and the availability to communicate with people across the globe, Moore and Johnson try to bring out everything they love in a two hour runtime.

The movie opens with Ralph and Vanellope fully recovered from the massive outbreak of the Cy-Bugs born in Hero’s Duty. Vanellope thinks her game is now boring because she wins all the time on the same exact track, setting up for the plot, Ralph creates a detour on the racetrack that, out of the players control, she turns in to. The little girl playing the game turns violently to get back on the track and brakes the steering wheel clear off the console.

In order for the game not to shut down, Ralph looks on from his game and eavesdrops that on ebay there is a steering wheel being sold from an old Candy Crush game. Since the wheel costs more money than the arcade can afford, the game is unplugged. Everyone flees the game as they look for new homes in other games.

The owner of the arcade conveniently puts in an internet router, Ralph and Vanellope go exploring on the internet for the replacement wheel. They are involved in a bidding war and for a sense of comedy run up the price 300 times the amount that it should be paid for.

Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) then go exploring for “Easter eggs” for money for the sake of the plot. Vanellope then discovers an online racing game, Slaughter Race, that she “belongs” in.

Ralph then realizes that she is starting to like the game and the internet more than him and life back home. He becomes angry and a virus of him spreads throughout the internet. Vanellope then helps him realize that she’s not going to be his friend forever, which helps him realize he’s been a bad friend and lets her off to what really makes her happy.

This movie had a very developed and hidden meaning between everything.

Even if you aren’t happy with how things turned out, you should always be supportive of your friends with the decisions that they make, even if they don’t involve you.

The voice actors did great as always, John C. Reilly as Ralph and Sarah Silverman as Vanellope did an astounding job. They display emotions through voice very well all throughout the movie. Anger, sadness and jealousy were just some of the emotions I felt from everyone’s acting.

The directors did a splendid job of displaying the internet. At one point, Ralph created his own knockoff YouTube channel and showing a ton of trends in 2018,

Fortnite dances, of course, as well as unboxings and memes.

I feel the creators also nailed it with real world similarities to the internet. ebay, online games, even pop up ads and viruses control the internet. Just some to re-route you to a different website or to catch your attention for a new product.

Even with some downsides, this movie will still be a fan favorite among some.

The entire internet topic is a huge shift from the first movie which involved retro and arcade-style games. It was overwhelming at first with a semi-weak plot to back it up. I feel if they slowed down the progression of the movie without moving so fast in an environment brand new to us it would make for a lot better plot.

It was also a lot to follow, going from one place back to another with multiple main plot points to follow in the wide arrange of topics.

It started to make more sense as the plot progressed, and with the hidden message, made it much clearer on which way this movie was headed.

For a second one to come out six years after the first, and how the second movie ended, I can safely say that there will be a third installment with more messages for kids and gaming Easter eggs.