Movie Review: Ratchet and Clank – At Least With Results this Bad, We Won’t be Subjected to a Sequel

After being thoroughly delighted by Keanu, who would have thought my movie going experience would take such a terrible turn? But it did, when some Hollywood producers broke the golden rule of adaptations. Never adapt a movie from a game. Yes, you can do it in the other direction, but as far as I’m concerned, to date no one has given me a convincing movie adaptation of a video game or board game I played. Clue, Mortal Kombat, Wing Commander and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider all have one thing in common. They could never live up to the experience of actually playing the game.

Anyway, in this film, two unlikely heroes (some kind of robot, and a fox thing) team up to fight an evil alien overlord intent on universal destruction. The team then teams up with another team (I know, right?), made of seizure inducing bright colors known as The Galactic Rangers, to save the day.

Again, not nearly as fun as playing the 2002 version of the game. They didn’t even try to deviate from the game story. The storyline is pulled right from it and they changed nothing at all. It’s some pretty damn lazy storytelling, if you ask me.

The animation is good for a video game…but terrible for a movie. I don’t want to go to the movies and feel like I’ve been sent back to 1991, watching my brother hog the Nintendo. I was bored when it happened then, and I was bored in the theater watching this.

You know what it feels like? It feels like someone recorded them beating the game on their PlayStation and expects us to buy it as a movie…even without Pew Die Pie making nonsensical, but weirdly delightful noises in the background. Well I ain’t buying it.

This was a lazy, phoned in effort that cashes in on the nostalgia of aging Millennials while trying to do as little work as possible. You don’t get any more information here than you do in the video game, which leads me to wonder, why watch the movie? I mean, I liked Ratchet and Clank the video game, but not so much that I really cared enough to see them on the big screen.

Also, 94 minutes for a recycled story is a bit excessive. With most movies topping out at 80, it’s a bit stupid to add and additional ten onto the industry standard. Maybe it took the ‘animator’ a bit longer to beat the game.

Whatever, I can’t call this worth the watch and audiences aren’t either. This didn’t even come within a whisper of the top five at the box office and earned a paltry $5 million to date. At least with results this bad, we won’t be subjected to a sequel. If you’re feeling nostalgic, just go play the game.

We Gave it: 1 Star: Official Movie Trailer and Movie Poster Below