As a big fan of the original video game series, I was probably more excited than most to see a film adaptation of Ratchet & Clank.
The story of an excitable animal mechanic, Ratchet’s (James Arnold Taylor) solar system comes under threat from an evil, criminal mastermind but the local superhero group, the Galactic Ragners, fall short. Making friends with a quirky little robot, Clank (David Kaye), the duo find themselves inadvertently in the middle the action, and after somewhat accidentally saving the Rangers, they join the heroes to take down supervillain, Drek (Paul Giamatti), for good.
Part of the fun of the game was exploring the many strange alien planets where the levels are set, and that carries over to the film. The strange creatives and quirky environments have lots of little oddities to catch your eye, but unfortunately there isn’t as much going on beneath the surface.
As you follow Ratchet and Clank from zeros to heroes, their character development is very flat, and fails to go beyond a very generic arc. There isn’t any depth to their personalities, and instead of character driving the film forward, it uses a script so overloaded with zingy one-liners, it feels like a barrage that very rarely sticks.
Heavy on slapstick, Ratchet & Clank plays quite young, but a lot of children in the audience grew restless long before the end, and I have to say I lost patience in the stuttery second act too. At just 94 minutes, it isn’t a long film, but it feels it.
Not to be too down on the film, there are some good moments but the whole thing feels underbaked. Ratchet & Clank the movie is not as fun or rewarding as the game, and though the ending sets the story up for a sequel, it’s very optimistic th ere’ll be more in the franchise. With the original game re-mastered for PS4 to co-incide with the movie, you’d probably be better served picking that up, than hitting the cinema.