Arts & Life

: Tim Riley; Posted On Sunday, 09 December 2018 01:29; 09 December 2018

‘Ralph’ wreaks cartoon Internet mayhem; ‘The Kids’ on TV

RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (Rated PG)

“Wreck-It Ralph” scored an animated hit in 2012 with its bad boy Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) as the villain in vintage video arcade games who improved his image when saving race car driver Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman).

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” is the sequel that brings Ralph and Vanellope, now best friends, working by day in Litwak’s Arcade and hanging out at night at Tapper’s drinking root beers.

Vanellope laments the fact that her video game duties are getting boring, and thus Ralph decides to amplify the excitement in Sugar Rush and since he’s known as Wreck-It Ralph his shenanigans trigger an unfortunate chain of events.

The accidental destruction of the steering wheel in Vanellope’s game causes Mr. Litwak (Ed O’Neill) to pull the plug on Sugar Rush when he learns that the replacement cost of the wheel would be an extravagant expense he cannot afford.

The part to fix the game could be found on eBay, a place on the internet that is unfamiliar to Ralph and Vanellope, but Litwak has installed a WiFi router so now the arcade is online for the first time.

Ralph and Vanellope venture forth into the unknown world of the internet in order to find the steering wheel and save Sugar Rush. But the internet is a loud, crazy and unpredictable place.

While Ralph is nervous and uncomfortable in this new environment, Vanellope is smitten with the surreal new world. Together they manage win the bid for the wheel but have to come up with the money to complete the purchase.

They end up in the online game Slaughter Race to steal a race car that belongs to Shank (Gal Gadot), which leads to an adventure that causes a rift in the relationship between Ralph and Vanellope.

Ralph’s heavy-handed manner manages to create problems, and things get worse when he fears that Vanellope’s infatuation with the internet will cause the loss of his best friend.

The internet offers a lot of product placement, from “Star Wars” and the Marvel Universe to Vanellope meeting all the Disney princesses and showing them the appeal of casual attire.

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” is a lively concoction that should mostly appeal to kids, but adults may find more appreciation of the Disney nostalgia.

‘THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT’ ON ABC

The ABC network has done well over the years with comedies about families steeped in the nostalgia of last century’s later decades, most recently with “The Goldbergs” and in the past with “The Wonder Years.”

“The Kids Are Alright” has a familiar feel in that it is narrated by the voice of an adult recalling his childhood. In this case, it’s show creator Tim Doyle drawing inspiration from his own upbringing.

The setting is early 1970’s working-class suburban southern California with a humorous look at a traditional Irish Catholic family in a large household of eight boys ranging in age from twenty down to an infant.

In the Cleary family, Mike (Michael Cudlitz) is a machinist in the aerospace industry, and Peggy (Mary McCormack) is a stay-at-home mom running a household that verges on testosterone-fueled mayhem.

In the first episode, the oldest son Lawrence (Sam Staley) returns from the seminary to announce during bingo night at the church that his decision is to no longer be a priest. His mission now is seemingly to be the political foil to his dad at family dinners.

Tim Doyle narrates the adult version of the precocious Timmy (Jack Gore), an aspiring actor who desperately wants to audition for a children’s theatrical production of the musical “Man of La Mancha.”

One of the older boys, Eddie (Caleb Foote), is hiding the secret of his new girlfriend until his brother Frank (Sawyer Barth) snitches, thus leading to shocked yet funny reactions from their mother.

Upon meeting the girl, Peggy tries to convince her that she would soon change her mind about dating Eddie once she knows him better, and then gratuitously says “I love Eddie. I love all my boys. I have to.”

As the sardonic mother, Mary McCormack hits all the right marks with her tough-love approach. She disparages the notion that her progeny are gifted when saying, “We do not have the wherewithal in this family for any of you kids to be special.”

For his part, Mike’s role of the patriarch allows him to be gruff with a soft center, but then often dismissive, such as when cuts off Eddie at the dinner table by calling him “fathead” when in the middle of arguing politics with Lawrence’s views about the Watergate scandal.

With eight kids in the picture, the youngest ones are almost overlooked, but Timmy, fitting for his ambitions as the needy middle child, remains in the spotlight to allow the show’s creator to narrate his perspective.

“The Kids Are Alright” is one of the bright spots in network comedies and definitely worth a look. You could binge a few episodes for a test run.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.