THE DARKEST MINDS (12)
FAR FROM WRECKING THINGS, THIS HEART-WARMING SEQUEL IS A DEEPLY SATISFYING FOLLOW-UP
WHEN it comes to a sequel, go bigger or go home. Rich Moore and Phil Johnston’s imaginative and deeply satisfying follow-up to the 2013 feel-good computer animation Wreck-It Ralph achieves the former without straying far from the latter by propelling its coin-operated arcade game characters into the mind-boggling realms of the World Wide Web.
Ralph Breaks The Internet expands its bewildering array of visual targets to include social media behemoths, video sharing portals and online shopping brands plus those irritating advertising pop-ups which multiply like a virulent fungus.
The naiveté of candy-
ignominy in Kiev, haunted by defeat. In search of redemption, he trains his only son Viktor (real-life German boxer Florian Munteanu), into a fearsome contender for the heavyweight championship belt held by Rocky’s protégé, Adonis Creed (Michael B Jordan).
Adonis arrogantly believes he can overcome Drago junior without the backing of his mentor and corner man. He prepares to defend his title with fiancée Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and his mother (Phylicia Rashad) in his corner.
coloured characters in their new home is mined for a steady stream of laughs.
“We know where to go if we need a pair of goggles,” chirps Ralph (voiced by John C Reilly) as he misreads the name of one search engine and an inaugural visit to an auction website leads to Ralph and best friend Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) merrily bidding against one another.
A savvy, warm-hearted script credited to co-director Johnston and Pamela Ribon is punctuated by cautionary notes about viruses, the dark web and trolls. ★★★★★
DYSTOPIAN drama. Sixteen-year-old Ruby Daly (Amandla Stenberg) is a survivor of a pathogen which has killed 98% of the children’s population. Youngsters who are resistant are colour-coded: Green, Blue and Yellow are permitted to live under armed guard, while Orange and Red are eliminated via lethal injection. Ruby is an Orange but she lives under the radar as a Green in Thurmond rehabilitation camp. Medic Dr Cate Connor (Mandy Moore) risks her life to smuggle Ruby out of the facility to join the fight against US President Gray (Bradley Whitford) as part of the Children’s League.
■ Download/stream and available on DVD/ Blu-ray from December 3.
“First rule of the internet: Don’t read the comments!” observes one guardian of the digital realm.
Film-makers responsible for Ralph Breaks The Internet can ignore these sage words: Comments for their briskly paced adventure should be overwhelmingly positive.
Vanellope von Schweetz hurriedly abandons her Sugar Rush game when a girl accidentally sheers off the steering wheel during a race.
A replacement part is too costly for arcade owner Mr Litwak (Ed O’Neill) and he turns off the machine.
“I haven’t seen this many homeless characters since Space Invaders went down!” laments security guard Surge Protector (Phil Johnston).
While the denizens of Sugar Rush are rehoused in other games, Ralph and Vanellope find a steering wheel on an