Ratchet & Clank (2015)

 

So here we have a film based on a game and this film led to a game of the film. Talk about being meta. But at the end of the day, what we are left with is an okay videogame animation that is sure to please little kids, yet is nothing special.

The game is a lot of fun, though.

The plot is bog standard as can be: Ratchet wants to be a Space Ranger as he considers them the best heroes in the galaxy. Meanwhile, evil Chairman Drek is destroying planets in order to build his own perfect idea of a planet. In his factory, something goes wrong with the assembly line of his battle droids and out comes Clank, who has a conscience and wants to warn the Rangers. Clank crashes on the planet where Ratchet is, and together they manage to save another city. But the plot starts to thicken because the leader of the Ranger (Captain Qwark) is starting to get jealous of all the attention Ratchet is getting. 

Oh, and of course the evil scientist (who is too much on the nose named Dr Nefarious) is plotting behind the back of Chairman Drek, because evil is as evil does, I suppose.

That's it. That's the film. 

Sure, it gets some laughs and some of the action scenes are fine, but you constantly get the feeling this would work better as a game - which it does. The plot threads are minimal at best and the characters aren't really that engaging to begin with. The voice acting is fine, and some big names like Paul Giamatti, John Goodman and Sylvester Stallone do the best with what they're given, but you could have swapped them out for unknown actors and it wouldn't have made any difference. 

Like I said at the beginning: young kids will probably love this and if you want to switch your brain to "Off" it's passable, but don't expect anything else.