Movie Reviews

Ratchet & Clank - 5/7/16

Ratchet & Clank - one of Playstation's 3 greatest platforming franchises, right up there with the Jak & Daxter series and the Sly Cooper series. Ask any gamer whose owned a Playstation 2 or 3 what were some of the cornerstones of their gaming lives, and odds are, one of the titles in this franchise has come up. And why not? With memorable characters, fun stories, and many, many creative ways to blow up enemy aliens, there are few who would say that they can't acknowledge Ratchet & Clank's place in gaming history. So, it was inevitable that some company decided, 'Hey, let's make a MOVIE outta this!' Shame those companies were Rainmaker Entertainment and Insomniac Games, that actual creator of the franchise. Why? Because, once again, A VIDEO GAME BECAME A BAD MOVIE-ADAPTATION!!

I know, as a reviewer, that I should be impartial, but I myself cannot ignore how much BETTER this movie should have been. And I wanted to like this movie. I did! But, I am getting ahead of myself. Does the curse of video game adaptations strike again, or am I letting my love for the franchise set the bar a little to high? Well...

The Plot: Ratchet, a Lombax, dreams of being a Galactic Ranger and fighting alongside his hero, Captain Qwark. Clank, a defective robot, seeks to stop Chairman Drek, a vicious businessman, from destroying planets for his mysterious goal. Destiny brings the two together, where they must fight hoards  of robots, overcome the ego of a certain big-headed moron, and thwart the machinations of villains both obvious and...nefarious. (Yes, that was an attempt at a pun, tomatoes for throwing will be supplied at the end of the review.) 

The plot is...nothing special. If I'm being honest, the plot is just a retelling of the first game, just with much better graphics. Two conflicting personalities learn to work together and try to uncover the mystery of the villain's goals. That should have been it. Instead, we got the old 'I'm a hero' plot as well with Ratchet constantly trying to prove himself to the other Galactic Rangers and trying to fit in with them. This is the perfect opportunity for many tried tropes to come worming their way in. Bottom line, 'Cliche' or 'average' are words that will end up popping up in your head a lot during this movie.

The Characters: As a fan of the 'Ratchet and Clank' Series, I was so happy to see my favorite lombax and diminutive robot his the big screen. They had the original voice actors and they looked great...sadly, that wasn't enough. Like with the plot, the main protagonists of the movie fall victim to a lot of easily mapped-out character tropes. If this movie came out years back, and I mean turn of the century, I would let these tropes slide. But today? Nope. It was hard rooting for Ratchet when, to emphasize once again, he fell victim to overused character arcs. I wasn't seeing Ratchet on the screen, I was watching Ratchet playing someone he's not. Clank was fine, and the supporting class was entertaining, but aside from Qwark, Chairmen Drex, and Dr. Nefarious, you could get rid of the supporting class almost entirely. They shoved in characters that are very close to being simple archetypes. To recap, the good stuff is good, but it doesn't outshine the bad stuff, which is GLARING.

The Animation: The animation is probably one of the few things in the movie that I have little issue with. While it's not the best animation ever, it does do a significant job of bringing the game characters to life; it looks like you're watching a polished a video game. Some might say this is a good or bad thing, but I am indifferent. If this movie were to lead to a series, as long as they polished the graphics, I wouldn't have much issue with it. Other than that, I have nothing else to remark.

Final Verdict: I wish I liked this movie better. I really did. But there are too many things that pop up in this movie that show me what this film could have been. Each little problem is a little roadblock to prevent this film from reaching its potential. If 'Ratchet & Clank' wasn't as big a franchise as it is, or if the very company that created it didn't have a hand in this movie's creation, maybe I would be a little lenient. But, again, too many cliches and tropes in a film that could have been fantastic if it followed what it was based on a little more closely. At this point, the only film based on a video game that's good would be 'Wreck-It-Ralph'.

Score: 6/10