Ani-MAY-tion: Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018)

It has been a number of years since I saw, and enjoyed, Wreck-It Ralph, the tale of a videogame baddie (Ralph, played by John C. Reilly) who tried to give himself a different role in life while befriending the a glitching racer girl named Vanellope (Sarah Silverman).

This gets going quickly enough, and the main theme this time is friendship, and how to always be there as a friend by knowing when to step back. There are other things in the mix, but that is the main element, and it's underscored by the grand finale.

Story-wise, the Sugar Rush arcade game ends up breaking a steering wheel. As it is an old machine, the arcade owner isn't sure if it will be fixed or just removed from the arcade, which would leave Vanellope without a home. Luckily, she and Ralph have just learned about the internet, which has just been installed. So they head off to ebay, bid far too much for a replacement steering wheel, and then have to figure out how to earn enough money to pay for it before their allotted time runs out. This involves a bit of treasure hunting for special game treats and, eventually, Ralph trying to become a viral hit.

The voice cast, both the returning performers and the newcomers, are all doing great work here (everyone fitting their characters as well as they did the first time around). Reilly and Silverman make a very cute central pairing, Gal Gadot and Taraji P. Henson are two female characters who are very powerful in differing ways, and there are great little turns from Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, and Bill Hader.

Directors Phil Johnston and Rich Moore (both involved with the first movie, which was directed solely by Moore) do a great job throughout. They're helped hugely by the animation team, and the animation is gorgeous and fun throughout (there are SO many details to look out for on rewatched), and the script, co-written by Johnston and Pamela Ribon, with the help of many others, is smart and very funny, while also largely keeping things cute and aimed very much at the child audience.

The fact that Disney now own almost everything in the world means that you also get a world in which Disney princesses feature alongside Star Wars characters, as well as Pixar stars, and familiar Marvel faces (well, at least one). And you once again get a fun mix of well-known videogame characters interacting with one another.

Visually lush, emotionally resonant (especially for children who make friends so easily but may then have to adjust to the normal status quo of friendships ebbing and flowing), and featuring a finale with one of the best, funniest, rescue sequences I have seen in the past couple of decades, Ralph Breaks The Internet is even slightly better than the original film, which I enjoyed a lot. Highly recommended.

9/10

You can buy the disc here.
Americans can get it here.

Abominable Christmas (2012)

Despite the fact that I've given this Christmas animation a low score, I can honestly say that I still think I've been quite generous. I can also honestly say that the few other comments I've seen on the film are even more generous. This piece of rubbish currently has a rating of 6/10 on IMDb, for goodness sake. People seem to forgive a lot when something is aimed at kids, but that's no excuse for the minimal effort put on display here.

The story revolved around two little snow creatures, Abby (Ariel Winter) and Adam (Nolan Gould). They are warned by their father, listed as Abominable Dad (Ray Liotta) to avoid humans, and to especially avoid being spotted by a scientist named Margaret Knowhow (Jane Lynch), so they play around for a while and end up being spotted, dashing off to hide in the house of Mr. Winterbottom (Emilio Estevez) and his son (Drake Bell) and daughter (Isabella Acres). Abominable Dad searches for his kids, while also trying to avoid the attention of a local dog catcher (Matthew Lillard).

The best thing I can say about Abominable Christmas is that it's brief. It runs for just over 40 minutes, which makes it slightly easier to bear. Being aimed at very young viewers, it has nothing complicated in the mix. In fact, most of the little lessons throughout the script, written by Michael and Samantha Shear, are just fine for little ones to learn.

The cast all do okay, but they're not exactly stretched in any of the roles.

Director Chad Van De Keere does the least amount possible, providing viewers with visuals that I can honestly say look worse than the Monsters, Inc. game that I used to play on the Playstation One. It makes for a frustrating experience. Yes, children may be more easily entertained, and may actually prefer the simpler designs, but I suspect that a fair few of them will be just as disappointed as any adults having to watch the thing.

It's unfair to expect Pixar levels of quality from every animated movie, but it's also unfair to fob viewers off with something that looks like it could have been made on a Commodore 64.

3/10

http://www.amazon.com/Abominable-Christmas-Emilio-Estevez/dp/B00CSW0706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387282530&sr=8-1&keywords=abominable+christmas

Fifty Pills (2006)

A decent, if unspectacular, comedy that ends up feeling like some extended episode of “Undeclared” thanks to the cast of fresh faces and the number of quirky characters, Fifty Pills tries hard to be likeable and just manages it.

Lou Taylor Pucci is Darren, a young man who has just lost his college scholarship thanks to a party that was thrown by his roommate (drug-dealing Coleman, played by John Hensley). This is despite the fact that Darren wasn’t even there at the time. He is given a little bit of time by a sympathetic housing manager and Coleman gives him fifty pills, hence the title, that he should be able to sell at $20 each to earn the money he desperately needs to be able to stay on in college. And so Darren sets off on a quest to sell the pills, make the money and keep his life on track.

Director Theo Avgerinos and writer Matthews Perniciaro seem to be aiming for a hip, fun vibe but don’t get enough in the mix to make Fifty Pills anything more than a passable attempt to belatedly rife the coat-tails of Go. The script isn’t all that sharp and the direction isn’t all that stylish but, thankfully, the cast and characters do a lot to raise the whole thing up to a rating of just-above-average.

Pucci is okay, if a bit bland, in the main role, Hensley is as good as he so often is and the potential love interest comes in the form of a young Kristen Bell. Nora Zehetner is fun for her limited time onscreen, Eddie Kaye Thomas is hilarious, Michael Pena provides a few laughs and Monica Keena gets to have a lot of fun. The gorgeous Diora Baird is onscreen for less than a minute (sigh) and we get a few moments of magnificent scene-stealing from Jane Lynch and John Kapelos as Darren’s parents.

 

It moves along briskly enough, and tries hard to please, but Fifty Pills is certainly not a movie that would be deemed unmissable. It is, however, worth 90 minutes of your time if it comes on and you have nothing else scheduled. 

6/10.

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