In recent times, a family member encouraged me to use the last of our free cinema tickets before they expired. After some consideration, I took the opportunity to watch 'Ratchet & Clank', in order to see what the movie industry could do with recreating a single game, rather than a movie about games overall...

 

Before I begin, I ought to clarify something important: I've never played or experienced a Ratchet & Clank game.

You are probably thinking "Ben, seriously? You are doing a self-acclaimed 'review' about a series that you know nothing about?* I banish thee to the dark damp cave from which you came!" (or something like that), which is why I will not be pointing out anything I find bugging for the sake of not being called out for blaming the game about content only in the movie.

* - Except the names and identities of the two title characters

 

 

So was waiting around in the cinema for an hour to watch a movie recreation of a game worth it? Let's see the list of things that stand out...

 

 

--THEME--

"Ratchet & Clank" (the movie) is your everyday typical family film, with a 'Hero's journey' style story, following Ratchet's successes and failure(s) on the road to reaching his dreams as a member of a group of heroes, a story which also functions as a morale for the younger viewers.

 

Admittedly, the film does use character or story cliches usually for humorous effect or to add towards it's message, so if you're not a fan of cliches then you ought to buckle up.

 

 

--VISUALS--

If there is one thing I must give the Ratchet & Clank movie praise for, is it's visuals.

Despite the character designs and objects being stylised, everything from the lighting to the individual strands of fur(?) on Ratchet's face to the soft metallic reflections on Clank's body are absolutely stunning to behold and, personally, is one of the highlights of the movie (unless, of course, you don't care if the film is visually appealing).

 

In scenes where the film wants us to focus on a single character, or a group of characters, there are few elements to distract the audience meaning we can easily focus on the talking. As for the action sequences they were a good balance of 'clusterf***' and 'fast paced' without leaving the audience disorientated or lost among the action.

There were little touches in the background of some scenes that were fun to spot and satisfied most cases where I felt like looking for small details people would catch on their second or third viewing.

 

 

--COMEDY--

A lot of the jokes in the film are tailor-made for younger audiences but don't go as far as 'fart jokes', making them bearable for older audiences. Although to balance it out there are some silly little gimmicks for all ages as well as a little reference to other games that older viewers who were around in the PlayStation era will get a good chuckle out of.

The film does contain a continuous gag with the villan's hencemen(?) about modern generations constantly messaging on their smart phones. It's a small touch, but it only adds to the comedy.

 

Are there Ratchet & Clank references in this film? Possibly, but since I know nothing about the original game series I can't detect such hidden content.

 

 

 

--RECCOMENDATIONS (as in wether this film is for you)--

Personally, I'd recommend this film to anyone looking for good visuals, a decent morale or anyone who wants to see the result of porting a popular game to the big screen (like me), just as long as they can get over it being a family movie.

If you are a fan of the game series, I am in no position to state wether this movie is a good or bad omen for the duo, so I'm afraid you'll have to decide for yourself wether it is worth it or not.

 

As for me, to repeat the question, was waiting in a cinema and spending 90 minutes of my life watching the film worth it?

Apart from the visual quality and some of the small details, the Ratchet & Clank film did slightly entertain me but didn't leave a big lasting mark on me, but if I had played the original game(s) I'd probably be more interested or amused.

So...   ...no, but that doesn't mean everyone else hates it, right?

 

 

 

 

--Ben24x7--