When a video game is turned into a movie, it's usually done very poorly. Movies like Super Mario Bros., Resident Evil, Need for Speed, and others have been panned by critics for not being well translated to the silver screen. I don't know why that is, maybe it's because it doesn't have the same passion that the game has, or maybe it's because the makers of the film haven't even touched the game in their lives. I bring this up because the move I'm reviewing today, "Ratchet and Clank", is based on a very successful PlayStation platform-shooter. Critics have panned this movie for not being translated well to the big screen. Now having finally seen it, I'll say this. It's not as bad as what many critics have been saying, but it's certainly not a good movie and I mean by any means.
The story focuses on a Lombax named Ratchet (James Arnold Taylor). He's a spaceship mechanic and dreams of wanting to become a member of the Galactic Rangers led by the egotistical Captain Qwark (Jim Ward). One day, he bumps into a defect robot that he calls Clank (David Kaye) who warns of an impending invasion of robots into a populated city led by a robot lieutenant played by Sylvester Stallone. How was Clank created you ask? By a cliché lightning strike that happened when the villain's accomplice, a mad scientist, does his evil laugh. Yeah, just go with it. After defeating the army and earning praise from the city, Ratchet becomes a Galactic Ranger while poor Clank is pushed into a broom closet with the tactical supporter (Rosario Dawson). So it's up to Ratchet and the others to stop a planet destroyer built by a villain who I only remember because he was played by Paul Giamatti.
I knew I was in for trouble when I saw the movie had eight production companies. Yes, you read that right. Eight companies who obviously didn't review the film and just sent it into theaters. But let's not talk about the companies, let's talk about the film itself. The biggest problem with "Ratchet and Clank" is the editing and it's really, really bad. The movie is so rushed and just wants to get itself over with. It also would just randomly cut to the next scene not very properly and it just left me very confused. Some scenes made me think that they were cut scenes just taken from the new game itself, particularly a scene where Ratchet demonstrates some weapons. The story is also not very good. It's not awful, but it's just standard. We've seen some elements before and it does nothing really new with them. With that said though, there are a couple of funny jokes in this film. Not a lot, but some were funny enough to get a chuckle out of me. For example, a character that falls does the famous Wilhelm Scream and one of his buddies shouts "Wilhelm!" to him. I'll admit that was pretty clever. I just wish the rest of the film was like that. The characters, with the exception of the leads which I'll get to later, are pretty forgettable. I really don't remember their names or what personalities they had particularly the villains who I only remember based on what they look like. One character that I partially hated throughout the movie was Captain Quark. I can't stand egotistical characters and this character was so unlikable and just absorbed of himself that I really just wanted to punch him. The animation I'm pretty split about. Some times the characters models look like they're ready for a theatrical release while others looked like they were made for a direct-to-DVD movie. But by far, the best element of the movie is actually the main characters themselves, Ratchet and Clank. They both have likable personalities and have a friendship which is actually relatable. Now had the film focused more on the friendship focusing on the two of them, we probably would have a good movie. However, that was not the case.
"Ratchet and Clank" is a pretty unbalanced movie. It had promise, but in my opinion, it failed to deliver at parts. It's certainly not a bad video game movie as trust me there have been far worse movies, but it's definitely not a good one. To be honest, I think it's pretty forgettable. It's not a bad time waster for kids as it's pretty harmless, but to be honest I would just get them that new Ratchet and Clank game instead.
