Full disclosure: I went into the screening of “Ralph Breaks the Internet” blind. I hadn’t watched the trailer. I hadn’t read a bunch of reviews in advance. I just knew I’d enjoyed the first film and was looking forward to an outing with my almost 10 year old son. I’m not a harsh critic. I either like a movie or I don’t. I wear my mom goggles and can tell you if I think things are inappropriate or not. But that’s it. So if that’s what you are looking for, here are one mom’s thoughts on Ralph Breaks the Internet.
It was so cute!
It really was. I laughed out loud several times. I even teared up a little at one scene, much to my son’s dismay. (Um, WHY are you doing that? Make it stop.)
The sequel to Wreck It Ralph takes place six years after the first movie. Video game bad guy Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) and fellow misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman) are in search of a replacement part to save Vanellope’s game, Sugar Rush, and to find it, they have to leave the arcade and go to the World Wide Web. Once they get there, Vanellope realizes there may be more to life than the arcade and the rest of the movie shows how their friendship deals with this development.
The movie opens up some fantastic discussion points for conversations with your kids around both the Internet and friendships. It gives a great visal to just how vast the Internet is and shows there are both good and bad aspects to it. (There is a scene about the comment section on a YouTube like site that really hit home for me as a blogger myself.)
My son, who turns 10 next months, enjoyed it as well. He said that it was really funny and he liked that it had plenty of action. When prompted, he said he thought the main message was that you need to be careful on the Internet. (Score! Thanks Disney!) He thought it was appropriate for all ages, but as a mom, I think that some of the movie could go a bit over the heads of the preschool set. Nothing particular scary stands out, but there are a few segments from the Darknet that could be potentially troublesome for the wee ones. There is also plenty of potty humor and yes, a few “duty” jokes.
My favorite parts of the movie featured all the Disney princesses. Some of the scenes were apparently in the trailer, which I hadn’t watched, so that was a bonus for me! My friend actually said that she thought some of the best moments were in the trailer, so now I’m doubly glad I never saw it!
Is it as good as the first film? I don’t think so, but sequels rarely are. I was entertained throughout and so was my kid; that’s enough for me.
So who’s going to see it over the Thanksgiving holidays? The movie opens Wednesday, November 21 and is rated PG. It has a run time of 1 hr and 52 minutes.
