When we left Ralph in the first movie, he had grown from being a scared and overly self-conscious bad guy with a good heart to a good-hearted bad guy.

He wasn’t really bad.  Rather, he was just played that way.
The movie ended on a good note.  Ralph stopped obsessing about what people thought about him and branched out to be the hero that he always knew he could be.  <insert cliche here>

In Ralph Breaks the Internet, our ham-fisted buddy has not continued to discover himself or interact with other people.  Rather, he replaced his obsession of what everyone thought about him with another obsession – Vanellope.

Honestly, Ralph wants control, although he goes about it in a good-guy type of way.  He sets up specific times during the day when they have to be together.  His invites to Tapper seem more like veiled commands.  Essentially, if she isn’t in her game, he absolutely has to know where she is and be with her if at all possible.

He undertakes physical hardship — as much physical pain as a video game character can endure — embarrassment, and public humiliation while thinking of Vanellope… but he’s not really doing all of these things for her.  Rather, he continues to attempt to prove how great of a friend he is without taking her thoughts, needs, and independence in mind.

Through her, Ralph is proving to himself that he’s great.

If she didn’t think he was great, Ralph became a bundle of insecurities, angry, and depressed.   This is shown when Ralph is grotesquely created by duplicated insecurity Ralphs.  Through the insecurity’s hive mind, they were perfectly willing to crush Ralph – their originator – and take Vanellope as a hostage to…  I don’t know….  make her a cake decoration?  Put her on a cake pedestal?  Who knows, but it’s G rated.   That’s for sure.   This is Disney.

Going forward….  Vanellope wanted change and she got it.
She went from an easy colorful life as the queen of Sugar Rush to an extra in Slaughter Race.

I can’t help but wonder at the duality here.
In Sugar Rush, Vanellope won race after race almost effortlessly.  She was the envy of her peers.   A person that everyone wanted to be or to know.  Sure, that’s a lonely life, but she had Ralph choreographing her every moment outside of the game.   Essentially, she was the ‘prized possession’ of Ralph and her game.   She could do no wrong, no matter what she said or how hard she tried.

Maybe that’s not a good recipe for personal growth and exploration.  But, the movie mentions multiple times that Slaughter Race is violent and unpredictable.   Sure, Shank emphasizes that her group is more like a family despite their environment and how they are portrayed.

But, still, I have to wonder if Vanellope felt comfortable moving into a no-hold-bar environment because of her close connection to Ralph or does she crave it to avoid being smothered.

I guess what was really disappointing was the reversal of Ralph’s psyche and mental condition.   At the end of the first movie, he acted like he was really coming into his own in accepting who he is.   Vanellope discovered who she is.  Each of then discovered that they are not outsiders, but rather vital video game characters who games depended upon them for their existence.

In Ralph Breaks the Internet, each backslides to create their own little world that only had them in it until, eventually, there could be only one — Ralph.

In the six years or whatever between movies… they did nothing.
Not a thing.

Hey, even Calhoun and Felix marry and adopt children.
They’re lives are moving forward.  I think it’s safe to say that Tapper and everyone else kept going on.

I have to ask if the movie’s script wasn’t heavily tainted by the MeToo movement.  The Disney princesses scenes would have still fit.  We could still see Ralph in Snow White’s gown.

But, there really wasn’t a need to make Ralph seem so pathetic, moronic, and uninteresting.  He didn’t have a thought in his head that was not related to Vanellope in some way, shape, or form.  It undercuts the entire theme of the first movie.

Yes, the movie was pretty funny.   The visuals where great.  I definitely can’t complain about the voice acting.    Disney even makes fun of itself a bit, which is always a treat.

I particularly liked the scene where there was a long line to ask Groot a question.. which was answered with “I am Groot” and everyone seemed to absolutely 110% understand although they really didn’t have a clue.

That didn’t stop people from wasting their hours to hear three little words and nod knowingly to something they certainly didn’t comprehend.

Yes, people can be stupid, but apparently, it works for Disney.  So much so that they’ll poke fun at their customer base.

We all know there’s going to be a Wreck-It-Ralph 3.
Yeah, sure, but I’d really rather see how the married life is going for Calhoun and Felix.  Felix can never be considered a ‘big strong man,’ so the MeToo movement may not come into play.   From what I saw of Calhoun in the first movie, I thought she was a pretty fascinating character.   I especially like how she expresses herself.

I would like to know more about how the hard-as-nails Calhoun calmed her disciplinary personality to marry the innocent good-guy Felix.   It would also be interesting to see how his goody personality weathers and calms Calhoun’s rants and concerns.

Somehow, this developed into a healthy relationship.

Anyways…
If you haven’t seen it yet, I’d wait for it to go on Netflix or something.  It’s a cute movie, but definitely not a must-see.