I really enjoyed the original Wreck It Ralph. The successful immersion of the world and a strong message of recognizing and accepting yourself for who you are were done with enough imagination and simplicity that children of all ages could understand and learn from it.
I can honestly say the same for this film, but in a few different ways. The way I see it, this film has a lot more to it than meets the eye, and deserves some discussion.
First, the film accurately illustrates a semi-raw, yet kid friendly internet. While the film does explore ideas such as the Dark Web and Pop-up scammers, they are simplified and treated with respect. To fully comprehend it, let's compare the Dark Web from Wreck It Ralph to the Piracy App from the Emoji Movie (Yes, I have watched it). The Emoji Movie, quite tragically, reduces issues of viruses and illegal activity to mere comedy moments, even going so far as to say the worst thing to come from illegal downloads is internet trolls. By comparison, Wreck It Ralph emphasizes that shady sites rarely give you what you want, but can also be extremely dangerous, and thus should be avoided. In this way, Wreck It Ralph 2 serves as an effective, yet simple, introduction to the internet, but also how to be responsible online.
This idea is further explored in the main action of the story. Ralph wants to help get the steering wheel to fix Sugar Rush, and the only way to get it is through Ebay. However, Ralph thinks it is merely a numbers game where you say the biggest number and win. However, they soon learn that they actually were bidding to pay for the item, thus resulting in having to raise 27,001 dollars in order to buy the game. Additionally, the world of Buzztube, a commentary on the desire to trend online and get rich quick, points out that online earning isn't that easy, as several million likes only equates to a few dollars, thus resulting in an all-out ad assault to get people to view their videos.
However, despite all this technical education, the film still follows through on the emotional impact that a Disney film should have. We see that wanting a friend is okay, but becoming too obsessed can actually ruin a friendship, as can not being open and honest with one another. While Ralph wants Venelope to be happy, he also doesn't want to lose his best friend. Ralph gives into the desire for the latter, leading to a massive virus infecting the internet, forcing both Venelope and Ralph to talk through their feelings in order to save the day. Their relationship is also perfectly captured in the medal from the first film. While it is initially broken when Ralph and Venelope fight, it is this broken form that creates a friendship charm that each can carry to remember the other. In this way, the symbolism and emotional journey the characters embark on is one that everyone can relate to.
While it is a more mature film that its predecessor, the film still serves as a strong introduction for children to learn about the internet, as well as how to be safe online.
It's really no wonder this film has Wrecked the box office two weekends in a row. This is one film that truly deserves to go viral.
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