'Ralph Breaks the Internet' Review

I apologize for the delay on this review, as I saw Ralph Breaks the Internet over a week ago now, but I've been fairly busy with school work as the Fall semester is coming to a close. Thankfully, I now have a substantial influx of free time since I've just completed my final assignment and only have one more final left to worry about. Within the last week, I've filled a vast majority of my free time not dedicated to schoolwork with watching a few films in theaters which piqued my interest and I was concerned may soon leave theaters. Anyways, you can soon expect reviews for Green Book, A Private War, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Boy Erased, and The Hate U Give (I'll try to stick to a review or two a day). Otherwise, I've noticed that the first few weeks of December are relatively light regarding new releases, so I'm going to use that time to catch up on titles I missed from earlier in the year which are currently available via streaming or home media. Aside from that, I'm going to soon put much of my time and attention towards editing a video about Star Wars: The Last Jedi which I've been working on for the past three months. The plan is to release that on December 15th, so it's available on the year anniversary of The Last Jedi's theatrical release, and I'm going to write a corresponding blog post detailing my thought process behind it and any other interesting behind-the-scenes factoids I can piece together.

'Ralph Breaks the Internet' Review

Nominated For: Best Animated Feature.

Video game bad guy Ralph and fellow misfit Vanellope von Schweetz must risk it all by traveling to the World Wide Web in search of a replacement part to save Vanellope's video game, "Sugar Rush." In way over their heads, Ralph and Vanellope rely on the citizens of the internet to help navigate their way, including an entrepreneur named Yesss, who is the head algorithm and the heart and soul of trend-making sit BuzzzTube.

Ralph Breaks the Internet is co-directed by Phil Johnston and Rich Moore, features a screenplay penned by Johnston and Pamela Ribon, and credits its story to Johnston, Moore, Ribon, Jim Reardon, Josie Trinidad, and Kelly Younger. While that certainly sounds like a lot of credited names, it's understandable that a story exploring a world as vast as the Internet would require all hands on deck. Fortunately, all of the individuals mentioned above are in-studio talent who have previously worked on Wreck-It Ralph and Zootopia among other recent Disney animation. With plenty of easter eggs, gags, and background elements alluding to popular Internet and Disney IP, Ralph Breaks the Internet could have easily fallen into the same rut as The Emoji Movie and effectively been two hours of obnoxious product placement. Thankfully, that's not quite the case... Though I suppose the "Oh My Disney" site could potentially annoy some viewers.

Regardless, the filmmakers play on the inner-workings of the Internet in plenty of fresh, exciting ways. As a setting, the Internet is almost a character of its own considering how well it's been intricately detailed and fleshed out by the animators. The rules and logic laid out by this World Wide Web are also fairly consistent with our own, so the events shown felt like a valid visual representation of everything which transpires online. In fact, Ralph Breaks the Internet heavily leans into the realism to provide insightful, much-needed commentary about how we handle ourselves online. It's a sad truth, but the worst version of ourselves often manifest on the Internet, and this film does not shy away from that whatsoever by shining the spotlight on toxic male insecurity. I'll be honest in saying I didn't expect Ralph Breaks the Internet to explore such mature thematic material on account of the age of its target audience. While a fair share of animated films can invoke mature discussion amongst families, the trailers made Ralph Breaks the Internet seem light and breezy, so I, therefore, expected a fun, surface-level adventure through cyberspace. 

By poking fun at the digital landscape and focusing on the ramifications of putting our needs and desires before others, Ralph Breaks the Internet delivers the best of both worlds. The film's equal parts hilarious and heartfelt. The jokes pertaining to the web and Disney itself are genuinely funny while the dilemma facing Ralph and Vanellope's friendship might hit a little close to home for certain viewers. Before I continue though, I'd like to say I was very impressed with how relevant the subject matter of the Internet managed to be. Animation's a very lengthy process, so I'm surprised that the story stayed so current in spite of the Internet's tendency to quickly cycle through trends.

As one would expect, John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman recapture the delightful dynamic between Ralph and Vanellope instantaneously. Both banter and emotional beats are well conveyed by the two of them, but I'll say Silverman really stood out since she has a larger role this time. Otherwise, I was slightly surprised to see Jack Mc Brayer and Jane Lynch's Fix-It Felix and Sergeant Calhoun be mostly relegated to an off-screen B-plot considering their substantial involvement in the original (though there's an excellent payoff at the end which totally justifies it).

As for Wreck-It Ralph series newcomers, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, and Bill Hader each are impressionable as the tough-as-nails driver Shank, exuberant algorithm Yesss, and shifty click-baiter Spamley respectively. I was very impressed with Gal Gadot's voice work, in particular, considering this is her first voice role. She even sang a little bit and sounded pretty great, so hats off to her! Meanwhile, Alan Tudyk maintains his hot streak of voicing various characters for Walt Disney Animation Studios by portraying the feisty Internet browser KnowsMore.

And of course, I can't leave out the Disney Princesses... Just about all of the voice actresses who have voiced these characters in other mediums reprise their roles for a series of hilarious, engaging sequences. To tell you the truth, any scenes related to the Disney Princesses and the Oh My Disney site were highlights in my book! Their involvement directly corresponds to one particular musical number which had me laughing hysterically. With the proper context, "A Place Called Slaughter Race" warrants a Best Original Song nomination from the Academy.

Ralph Breaks the Internet may not be quite as focused or emotionally rich as the original, but it's a worthy sequel in every sense. At times, the plot proceedings seem a little scatter-brained and reminiscent of long-winded clickbait articles, but exceptional animation, phenomenal voice work, and a timely message regarding Internet behavior more than compensate for any sketchy online detours Ralph and Vanellope made along the way. Now, let's just hope audience members are able to get a strong reception and Disney's stance on Internet toxicity is successfully installed.

Film Assessment: A-

'Proud Mary' Review

Proud Mary sets its sights on Mary, a hit woman working for one of Boston's biggest crime families, as she crosses paths with a young boy after an assassination gone wrong. The encounter then changes the course of both their lives as Mary adopts Danny to protect him from Boston's most dangerous mob families.

Proud Mary was one of the new films released last weekend you may not have heard of before visiting this review, and trust me when I say it was for good reason... Screen Gems, a division of Sony Pictures, notoriously made the decision not to heavily market Proud Mary. You'll probably see this point brought up in almost any internet review for the film you choose to read, but I went to YouTube to demonstrate just how minimal the marketing was for Proud Mary. My findings were one trailer that came out five months ago and two vignettes released last week. That's it. When you consider that the studio also didn't hold any advanced screenings for critics and really restricted the number of theaters playing the film last Thursday night, things don't look good. Screen Gems was making absolutely no effort to promote this film.

Therefore, it should come at no surprise that this movie was a major melodramatic mess... Babak Najafi, the director best known for London Has Fallen, haphazardly helmed the flick which also features a lousy script from John Stuart Newman, Christian Swegal, and Steve Antin. Plot points weren't provided with proper set-up so the story was rather jumbled and I cannot stress to you enough how terrible all of the dialogue was, which the stilted line delivery from the phoned-in actors certainly didn't do any favors. From a technical standpoint, the edit's composed of plenty of quick cuts and the camerawork was rather pedestrian. Thankfully, there wasn't much shaky-cam... but the forced inclusion of numerous transition scenes showing Mary entering, exiting, or driving a vehicle were tedious to say the least.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of all though was Proud Mary's lack of energy or clear focus. This is supposed to be an action movie for goodness sake! However, there are maybe three action sequences total that all failed to impress me whatsoever and each one was horribly mismatched to an upbeat Motown song. The songs didn't really mesh well with the action occurring onscreen, so when they're incorporated, it's seemingly for the purposes of featuring a fun, peppy song in the background. I don't mind Najafi going for a '70s Motown style if he had committed to it, but that idea lasts all of about four minutes during the film's opening credits. It's almost entirely forgotten afterwards.

As for the cast, their lifeless performances and stale line delivery will probably go down among the worst of the year. Taraji P. Henson is an actress whom I know to be capable of delivering a solid performance (just look to Hidden Figures as evidence), and while she certainly elevates this flick when compared to her costars, she comes across as dull and dreary when all is said-and-done. She's trying to play a tough persona, but the character's actions suggest otherwise and so her character's personality is virtually non-existent and the audience is left looking at her vacant expression. I don't like to chide child actors, but Jahi Di'Allo Winston was noticeably inexperienced and his character was a bit annoying. Meanwhile, Billy Brown, Danny Glover, and Neal McDonough are hardly worth mentioning due to either how laughably abysmal their acting was or how little they had to do in their lacking screen-time. 

The title may tell us Mary is proud, but it's really no wonder that Screen Gems wasn't. Proud Mary is an excruciating watch that I can't in good conscious suggest anyone ever see. It's truly a shameful use of an hour and half.

Film Assessment: F

'Hidden Figures' Review

Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress; Octavia Spencer, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Hidden Figures is based on a book written by Margot Lee Shetterly that tells the true story of a trio of black women who worked at NASA and their contributions to the 1960s space race that have since been overlooked. I went into Hidden Figures somewhat concerned it would get too preachy with it's messages and wind up being a cliché bio-pic meant for television but thankfully it proved to be much more than that. 

Director Theodore Melfi is able to maintain a lighthearted tone while dealing with serious subject matter in regards to segregation and the screenplay Melfi pens alongside Allison Schroeder effectively incorporates the time period to convey the film's weightier messages. Hidden Figures finds itself juggling a lot with three major characters each getting a substantial arc, the various NASA missions, a romantic element, and a thing or two to say about segregation but the screenwriting duo don't allow the multitude of plot elements to ever overtake one another and strike a nice balance. 

The messages about discrimination are kept as a through line but never feel overbearing to the point where it entrenches on other story beats. The cinematography and editing were masterfully done by director of photography Mandy Walker and editor Peter Teschner and some other areas in which Hidden Figures shone was in the costuming and production design. 

The score composed by Benjamin Wallfisch, Pharrell Williams, and Hans Zimmer is incredibly fun and fitting for the time period with a '60s-'70s early pop vibe, however it feels like it was put together by the former and rarely felt Zimmer-esque. That's not to say I disliked the soundtrack but rather that when I listen to one of my favorite composers' pieces I'm typically able to recognize the artist who worked on it based on musical stylings. I can say that I would have never guessed that Zimmer worked on this since Zimmer's compositions are commonly epic and grandiose in nature. Contrasting that, Hidden Figures does have it's fair share of cliché moments that you will see coming from a mile away but they're few and far between and the material's elevated by the stellar cast. 

Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe, and Octavia Spencer are a terrific tightly-knit trio with charisma and standout moments aplenty. Henson demonstrates great range playing Katherine G. Johnson in a more reserved capacity as the shy, intelligent hard worker till she breaks and vents the characters' frustrations, an incredible scene that feels remarkably human and speaks to the struggles that accompany segregation. Monáe is the spunkiest of the group as Mary Jackson and Spencer is the wiser and older companion that's always thinking ahead.

Kevin Costner took what could have easily been a one dimensional caricature with the fictional NASA director Al Harrison (an amalgamation of NASA directors) and provides a more layered supporting portrayal. Costner actually delivers one of the best lines I've heard in recent memory when he says "Here at NASA we all pee the same color." Jim Parsons and Kirsten Dunst both play similar supporting roles in the narrative as prejudiced whites within NASA as Parsons' Paul Stafford comes across as a ridiculously mean Sheldon Cooper and Dunst's Vivian Mitchell evokes the stereotypical snobby superior.

Mahershala Ali dominated 2016 with screen-stealing work in both Marvel/Netflix's Luke Cage and critical darling Moonlight and his subdued role in Hidden Figures proved to be no exception (I'm considering Hidden Figures a 2016 release due to it's eligibility in last years awards race and the fact it had a limited release in late December, only recently expanding). Ali's screen time is limited but his presence is not as he plays the delightfully charming Colonel Jim Johnson with ease. 

Hidden Figures launched past my expectations thanks to a well-balanced script, capable direction, a fun soundtrack, and an incredible ensemble cast. Hidden Figures balances it's story arcs and solves it's problems with the precision of the most skilled mathematician resulting in a charming feature that uncovers a true story worth telling. 

Film Assessment: B+