Ratchet & Clank (2016) Movie Review

After three years of waiting since the teaser trailer, the Ratchet & Clank movie is finally out in theaters. As one of the biggest fans of the video games, I was eagerly awaiting to see it. There was a lot riding on this one. The filmmakers were closely working with Insomniac Games during development; it had TJ Fixman, the writer of the PS3 games, co-writing the screenplay; and it even featured most of the original voice cast to reprise their respective roles.

With this kind of collaboration, Ratchet & Clank might have been the game changer for game-to-movie adaptations. These kind of movies have a really bad track record, with only a few gems like Silent Hill, Ace Attorney, and Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, yeah, the critics panned this movie, with only a few positive reviews. This seriously surprised me, even more so with the negative reception of Batman v Superman last month.

With this in mind, I was very worried upon seeing it and thought it might break the Ratchet & Clank fan inside me. Luckily, after viewing it, it turned out all right, but I'm speaking as a fan of the series. I'm going to try very hard not to be biased and actually judge it as a film first. I may, however, bring up some things related to the video games that could be relevant in this review.

Ratchet & Clank is an adaptation of the first game on the PlayStation 2, which recently had a re-imagining on the PS4, which tied into this film. It follows the titular characters, a Lombax mechanic named Ratchet and a diminutive, intelligent robot named Clank, as they join the Galactic Rangers, led by Captain Qwark, the series equivalent to Zapp Brannigan from Futurama. They join to stop an evil dictator from destroying planets. It turns out that the movie's antagonist, Chairman Drek, is assembling parts of different planets to create the perfect, artificially-made world for his race, the Blarg.

From the start, I like that most of the regular voice cast are in this movie like James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Jim Ward, and Armin Shimerman (as Dr. Nefarious). They all do great with what they are given. They could have easily been replaced with celebrity voice actors just to add another famous name on the poster, but the movie remains true to its roots, thankfully. Actually, most of the celebrity voices went to other characters like Paul Giamatti as Drek (replacing Kevin Michael Richardson in the original game), Bella Thorne as Cora, Rosario Dawson as Elaris, John Goodman as Grimroth, and Sylvester Stallone as Victor von Ion.

To give credit where credit is due, I have to applaud Paul Giamatti for his performance as Drek. Maybe it's because I'm not too familiar with the actor, having only seen him in Big Fat Liar and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but this is a pretty versatile role and I don't think any casual movie goer will recognize him right away until the end credits say so. I also enjoyed Sly Stallone's performance as Victor and I couldn't quite recognize his voice right away, which is saying something. I guess it's because I'm too used to the Rocky films or whatever.

Let's face it, the story is nothing special, especially since story has never been one of the series' biggest strengths. However, all that was made up for it with some good character interactions and really funny jokes, some of which are present here. When it came to the games, they felt pretty episodic, like it was another day at the office for Ratchet and Clank.

That all changed when the series made its leap on the PS3. Games like Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time were bold new directions that further explored the duo's backstories and even challenged their friendship more. Plus, their bromance was more evident there than in previous titles. They never forgot to be funny, but they also featured some good drama that was worthy of an Oscar if they were movies. Even the six-part comic book series (which is in the game's canon) remained that way.

That's where the movie dropped the ball. The script needed a lot of work. Things went by too fast, with character development between our heroes not being present. I will repeat what I said when I reviewed the movie tie-in game. There is no conflict between the two main characters, or even a chance for them to bond. Whatever potential thing that could have challenged their friendship is quickly thrown away just to meet the requirement of making a 90-minute movie so as not to bore children.

In addition, the supporting cast are very flat and forgettable. Can anyone name three personality traits from characters like Cora, Elaris, or Brax? Also, John Goodman plays Grimroth, Ratchet's adoptive father. The film could have done something to make a genuinely touching relationship, but it is severely lacking. Seriously, the movie tie-in game is more fleshed out than this, and I criticized it for its weak story and the characters from the movie being forgettable at best.

The villains could have been a lot better. While I did enjoy the large ham performances of Drek and Dr. Nefarious, a lot more was left to be desired. It could have gone the Spaceballs route in making some of the most hilariously well-written villains that could work off of each other nicely, which I feel is huge missed opportunity. There was even this one scene featuring Nefarious that actually would have struck comic gold like the doll scene in Spaceballs, but it's not very well-done.

With that said, Dr. Nefarious was quite the show-stealer. Sure, this time he's not a robot who plays a soap opera clip when he short circuits, but he still left quite an impression. While I did complain about the film not having enough character development, he was probably the most fleshed-out of the cast. He's insane, he's hammy, and has a decent backstory, which is more than I can say for other characters. You can't go wrong when Dr. Nefarious is in something. He was such a great villain in the series, that I was glad he wasn't ruined in this movie.

The series is known for its tongue-in-cheek humor that pretty much remained in every game in the series. The humor in the movie, however, is a mixed bag for me. Some of the jokes actually worked, featuring some good Easter Eggs and in-jokes that fans like myself will recognize and even a well-timed gag concerning the Wilhelm Scream, which you'll have to witness for yourself. Also, don't forget to stay after the credits. The short scene probably rivals the stinger in Deadpool. You know what I'm talking about.

With that said, though, there are some jokes that did not work. There are modern day references to texting and social media, even using the term "hashtag" in one scene, which I feel is kind of cringe-worthy and pretty dated. The Ratchet & Clank games did have their share of pop-cultural references (like a Britney Spears parody in Up Your Arsenal), but they were never "in your face" about them, though Full Frontal Assault went too far with its internet slang. Can animated movies just stop with the pop-cultural references? Let them be their own thing, rather than pandering to the lowest common denominator.

It also falls victim to some forced humor seen in a lot of generic animated family films where some characters get hurt or make a small whoopsie just to make the kiddies laugh. I never recall the games stooping to this level, to which I find this kind of humor pretty desperate.

The action scenes are pretty decent. Nothing jaw-dropping, but they get the job done. The main selling point of the games were always the weapons. They featured some standard guns, only with a sci-fi twist, but they also had some over the top weapons, not limited to a burping frog, a trash-talking attack robot, and a giant missile launcher that plays Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. I'm not making these up. Fans will be delighted to see a lot of familiar weapons from the previous games, like the Combuster, Buzz Blades, and the Sheepinator.

Overall, I think Ratchet & Clank is passable. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece in film making, but a decent representation of the series. It's not as bad as the critics were making it out to be. Sure, a lot was left to be desired when it came to the script and the pacing could have been a lot better, but it was still enjoyable to watch. The voice acting is top-notch, the animation is nice, the action scenes were okay, and I had some good laughs. I enjoyed it just fine that I wouldn't mind adding it to my Blu-Ray collection on the first day of its home video release.

The movie's biggest problem, I think, is that this will mainly appeal to fans. Fans have been tweeting good things about the movie, but what about casual movie goers who have never played or even heard of the games? They will probably just view it as a generic "kid's movie" that is largely derivative, taking other things from better sci-fi franchises like Star Wars. That is why it earns my rating of...

THINK FOR YOURSELF

Is it worth seeing in theaters? I guess so, as long as you know what you're getting into. To the fans of the series, be cautious and don't be blinded by high expectations. You'll enjoy the movie better that way.

I appreciate the effort made into trying to make a good game-to-movie adaptation, and it's one of the better ones. That's actually a good way to describe it: they tried, which is better than not giving a darn about the product. Can you imagine someone like Uwe Boll making this movie? There would be riots and petitions. I guess this wasn't the revolutionary, stand-alone video game movie that many were anticipating. I'm worried about the Sly Cooper movie now since it's being made by the same staff.

So I guess that's strike one for video game movies this year. And thus, the quest for that one great video game movie continues. Can Warcraft or Assassin's Creed break that boundary? We'll have to see.