Ratchet and Clank Review

Apr 26

Preview

PG: Action and Rude Humor

Gramercy Pictures, Rainmaker Entertainment, Blockade Entertainment, Insomniac Games

1 hr and 34 MInutes

Voice Cast: James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Jim Ward, Paul Giamatti, Rosario Dawson, Bella Thorne, Armin Shimerman, John Goodman, with Vincent Tong, and Sylvester Stallone [How?!]

Ratchet and Clank tells the story of two unlikely heroes as they struggle to stop a vile alien named Chairman Drek from destroying every planet in the Solana Galaxy. When the two stumble upon a dangerous weapon capable of destroying entire planets, they must join forces with a team of colorful heroes called The Galactic Rangers in order to save the galaxy. Along the way they'll learn about heroism, friendship, and the importance of discovering one's own identity.

REVIEW: It was back in 2013 shortly after Rainmaker Entertainment’s 1st theatrical feature film Escape From Planet Earth was released that they announced a Ratchet and Clank movie. At first fans of the game were off the wall excited but fans of game and fans of film [more specifically me] questioned why. At first since there wasn’t any real updates on the film since E3 2014, I thought this film was dead in the water. Than last year it got a distributer and a trailer and then got a new reboot game to accompany the film. So when the game got really great reviews [since it was released 3 weeks beforehand] I put all prejudice aside was extremely excited for this film. I should’ve put all prejudice in the forefront.

THE GOOD: With Rainmaker Entertainment’s second feature film it is safe to say that their animation is really outstanding. They’re able to not only create worlds but also add great detail in their worlds. The set pieces in the movie are quite beautiful. The characters are animated well too with good detailing that you don’t see in third party animated companies. The film is very fearless to take some risks from being your average family film. There are some dark deaths in there and it is very uncomfortable to sit through as a child, but ballsy to see as an adult. Its also good to see the voice actors of the games since 2002 reprise their roles in this film such as James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Jim Ward, and Armin Shimerman. There are some really funny moments that come in small doses and clever references to other Playstation games.

THE BAD: The thing I hate about video games turned into movies is that you don’t ever have the controller. With video games you have an interactive experience but with movies all the interactive enjoyment is stripped away. With Ratchet and Clank you have everything you loved about the video game franchise stripped down to a point you feel ashamed you’re watching it. For a movie named Ratchet and Clank, you barely get any Ratchet and Clank. You don’t really get any scenes of them together but most of them separate. Because of this you don’t feel for their friendship for it is just forced in. It’s sad, because truly the movie is focused on the villainous Chairman Drek and Dr. Nefarious and Captain Quark who they just turn into a complete obnoxious asshole with no redeeming qualities until the script needs him to be. Its sad because I remember Quark being an obnoxious idiot with a little bit charm to him, but seeing how bad they made him here is sort of heartbreaking.

As a matter of fact, every character in this film is written poorly which makes the story pretty stale which makes the movie pretty boring. It’s just there like eye candy to feed your kids if you were tired of watching Zootopia. But you know what at least Zootopia has great characters and fantastic messages to feed your kids, so be a good parent, shut your mouth, and take your kids to see Zootopia than this bad excuse for a family film. The film has its moments with it being a meta movie (but not in the clever way as Deadpool) with its humor. But then it just derails the story at hand just to tell a joke which usually comes off being extremely unfunny and rather obnoxious.

Like for example there is a scene where Captain Quark is uploading a status update using hashtags, but he’s doing it on a flip phone. Oh yeah that’s how bad the humor is. Plus the film doesn’t feel cinematic. Even the transitions are very TV shows that you just wonder why are you’re in a theater when I could wait to see it on Cartoon Network. The film is too full of itself that it gives itself an after credit sequence to set up a sequel.

THE RENDY: At first after leaving the movie I felt hurt so I looked to the reviews of the Ratchet and Clank reboot game and saw how positive they were. So I spent two hours watching the gameplay and the cutscenes and wow…screw this movie and I really want the game. It’s unusual that a game based on a movie is much better than the movie itself. It looks fun to play and the gameplay is amazing. They even have cutscenes from the movie integrate into the game which makes more sense in context for the game from the film itself. So yeah Insomiac Games keep making those games, because you’re providing more entertainment than this movie ever will. So the real lesson of the film is to let video games only be video games nothing more, nothing less. It doesn’t work for Live Action and unfortunately it doesn’t work for animated films either. Unless the Sly Cooper changes everything [Rainmaker you better not mess that up for me too!].

LAST STATEMENT: An embarrassment for fans of the game and a bore for families the Ratchet and Clank movie is a disservice for the popular video game franchise which should only be a video game franchise.

Rating: 1/5 | 24%