Warning, possible spoilers ahead.
I'm normally not a big fan of movie sequels, particularly those for Disney films, as they usually seem to fall short of the original movie they're based on. A large part of this is because the original stories have enough of a legacy that it is hard enough to create a compelling enough story to follow them up with. Going into Ralph Breaks the Internet, I had the assumption that I would feel the same way with this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised.
The title itself is an astute play on words, with Ralph both breaking the internet in a figurative sense, with his popular "Buzztube" videos, and in the literal sense, as he eventually releases a virus which threatens to destroy the whole internet.
While the original movie, Wreck-it-Ralph, revolved around the lives of old video game characters, its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet takes a more modern approach and deals with the journey of Ralph and Vanellope, the main characters of the first movie, into the internet to find and buy a missing part for Vanellope's game Sugar Rush.
The movie portrays the internet as a major metropolitan city, with human users represented as robotic characters walking around. It is both great writing and world building, as major websites on the internet such as Google and Youtube are anthropomorphized and represented in a funny and original way. The humor provides a good amount of comic relief without being over the top and without taking away from the parts of the story which are meant to be poignant and thought-provoking. It does well presenting the two-sided nature of the internet. While it is shown as diverse and resourceful, there are also spam bots and vicious internet comments which Ralph is subjected to during his bid to become famous with videos and make money for Vanellope.
The main characters, Ralph and Vanellope, are also convincing and well developed. I would say I found Vanellope's character to be a little bit more likable than Ralph's, as she was pretty relatable throughout the film. She wants to follow her dreams, but is conflicted about leaving her friend behind. Ralph, though he makes a turn for the better later on, exhibits surprisingly selfish and short-sighted behavior, inadvertently endangering his friend's life. In the end, she and Ralph take different paths but still manage to keep in touch in a way that rings true with long distance friendships or relationships today, through technology and video calls. The movie's a nice commentary on how people can take different paths in life and still remain close with one another.
Is it better than the first movie? I would say at times I felt like there was a little too much product placement, especially during the Disney scene, but overall, it's a good movie that lives up to what was expected from it.
