Note: Check out our review for the game based on the movie here.
Look, I get it. Normally, when you hear that a film adaptation of a video game is on its way, you can hear the collective eye roll of the gaming community. At this point, there’s a laundry list of failed attempts, most of which suffer from Hollywood ignoring the spirit of the source material, expecting the name to sell tickets on its own. Yet, when Sony announced that they were dipping their toes in the waters of making their popular PlayStation games into feature films under the brand new PlayStation Originals banner, I was strangely optimistic. Not only because Sony was directly involved, but because one of my favorite platforming franchises, Ratchet & Clank
Loosely based on the first game, Ratchet & Clank serves as an origin story for the legendary duo, as they get dragged into a fight to save the galaxy from the evil Chairman Drek, (voiced by Paul Giamatti,) who is attempting to create a new planet from the pieces of the worlds he is destroying. Ratchet, (voiced by his video game actor, James Arnold Taylor,) a Lombax with a penchant for all things mechanical, dreams of leaving his life as a mechanic to become a Galactic Ranger like his hero, Captain Qwark. When a defective Warbot escapes Drek’s factory and crash lands on Ratchet’s planet to warn the Rangers of the chairman’s evil plans, Ratchet comes across his ship and decides to take the miniature bot to his idols. Now named Clank, (brought to life by David Kaye, who’s voiced the character since his debut in 2002,) the new team embark on a quest to alert the Rangers while making their own mark on the galaxy in the process.
Unfortunately, this sequence in the beginning is one of the few instances that we actually see the two together. For a film about the team of Ratchet and Clank, a pair that are literally attached to each other for 90% of every game, they hardly share any screen time. In fact, the divide between them makes up the bulk of the second and third acts of the movie, creating a jock vs. nerd mentality within the Rangers themselves. As Ratchet attempts to become closer to Qwark, (despite his growing jealousy towards the Ranger to be,) and his film exclusive teammates in the form of the no nonsense Cora, (voiced by Bella Thorne,) and the trigger happy Brax, (voiced by Vincent Tong,) Clank is relegated to a support role alongside the tech savvy Elaris, (voiced by Rosario Dawson). Most of the adventure involves the field team ignoring the command center’s advice, keeping Clank far away from his partner during most of the biggest action scenes of the film. When the conclusion rolls around, it makes it hard to believe that these two share such a strong bond when they barely interact with each other. I can only imagine how much of a reach this will feel like for families who visit the theater who have no familiarity with the source material.
Speaking of the new characters, I was excited about the idea of expanding Qwark’s team to add an extra dynamic to his development. Sadly, this doesn’t pan out, because each one ends up feeling more like a walking trope than their own character, Ironically, the game based on the movie does a better job establishing Cora than the film does, where the only development, or establishment for that matter, comes from her unwelcoming comments towards Ratchet through the majority of the movie. The less said about Brax the better, since his personality begins and ends with wanting to blow stuff up. Elaris is the only one who has a semblance of a character, as the sympathetic brains behind the operation who’s good advice is ignored for her “shoot first, ask questions later,” team.
Oddly enough, the characters who have been established through 14 years of source material are the ones who are developed the most. As mentioned above, Clank spends most of the movie on his own, but he becomes capable in his own right as he squares off with Drek’s right hand machine, Victor Von Ion, (voiced by Sylvester Stallone). Ratchet loses the bad attitude of the original game for the better, and is further explored as a somewhat lonely orphan finding to find his place in the world. New to the film, his father figure, Grimroth, (voiced by our favorite TV father, John Goodman,) shines in his few scenes as someone who encourages Ratchet when no one else does, while being legitimately concerned about his foster son wanting to give up his life as a mechanic to essentially become a super hero.
Much like the games however, Qwark steals the show in almost every scene he’s in. His gradual shift from being the arrogant, yet well meaning hero to a jealous, insecure shell as Ratchet becomes more famous is much more satisfying than the original game, where his defining purpose in the plot just kind of happened. What does worry me about Qwark however, is that the way his story wraps up in a way that’s drastically different from the games, closing off his role in the sequels. Does this mean that this movie will be one and done, or does it disregard the sequel altogether? Considering one of the goals with this movie was to help the first game, (which was largely disconnected from the rest of the series,) tie in closer to the sequels, this was a confusing choice to settle on.
Making things even more interesting, is the introduction of Dr. Nefarious, (voiced by Armin Shimerman,) who originally didn’t appear until the third game. As Qwark’s arch nemesis, his inclusion into this origin story ends up serving as somewhat of an origin for the Dr. as well, diving deeper into why he develops a hatred for Ratchet and Clank. Plus, we get an interesting after credits scene that ties into the game that I won’t spoil here, but fans of the PlayStation series will want to stick around.
While the characters and story are hit or miss, (which isn’t helped by the writing, with jokes that fall flat more often than not,) that’s not to say Ratchet & Clank doesn’t shine in other areas. The animation is gorgeous, feeling like a video game brought to life. From the large cities to the crazy gunfights, the film never fails to wow us with its visuals when the movie calls for its more extravagant sequences. Staying true to the games, a variety of weapons spanning the entire series make appearances throughout the film, from fan favorites like Mr. Zurkon, to my personal favorite, the Tornado Launcher from Tools of Destruction. It may be true that some of the charm is lost in translation due to the iffy writing, but Taylor, Kaye, and Qwark’s Jim Ward have jut enough of it to make their scenes the highlight of the movie. Even Ion, Nefarious and Grimroth add some much needed depth to an otherwise thin plot, making the film more enjoyable in the process.
So while Ratchet & Clank is a far cry from what I would consider to be a great video game movie, it does right by the series just enough for me to want to see more of what these PlayStation Originals can do going forward. If we actually had more time to develop the partnership between the titular characters, (which is the core of what works about the series,) instead of feeling like their friendship was forced, we would be much better off. With the new cast feeling mostly paper thin aside from a few standout and a spotty script, these problems are somewhat balanced out by its crowd pleasing weapons, development of the established characters, and some interesting surprises for game fans and non-fans alike. Is Ratchet & Clank the perfect video game adaptation? No. But with so much development and charm left to uncover, I’m hoping we get to visit the Lombax and his robot pal again down the road.
Final Score: 3/5