Video Game Movies Done Right: Ratchet and Clank Review

From a video game to the big screen, Ratchet and Clank finally makes its debut as a movie. Seen as the “Pixar of the video game world”—due to its uniquely animated atmosphere, with its character design and environment similar to Pixar’s style seen in movies such as UP and The Incredibles—fans constantly wondered whether or not Ratchet and Clank would ever be made into a movie.

Well the time has come and Ratchet and Clank is both faithful to the video game series and a blast to watch. One of the best aspects of the movie is the colorful cast of characters. Each character is a bundle of fun when they appear on screen, such as Captain Qwark, voiced by Jim Ward.

Throughout the movie, Ward gives a stellar performance as the animated hero with his comedic humor and his snob personality. Whenever he appears on screen he steals the spotlight. The other main cast members also give a great performance. Paul Giamatti plays the corporate bad guy, Charmian Drek, who is out to destroy planets for their natural resources and to make a quick profit. When he appears on screen he does his job. When he is supposed to be menacing, he is menacing, and when he is supposed to be funny, he is funny.

Ratchet, played by James Taylor, and Clank, played by David Kaye, were also amazing in their roles. In the video games, Ratchet is a light-hearted character who tries to become the hero he wants to be, and in the movie Taylor gives a good performance as the character. Clank, who is more technical and overall a geek, is portrayed as just that by Kaye. 

Though the voice acting is good, the plot is overall much simpler than its video game counterpart. In the video games the writing in both the humor and plot are in-depth and detailed, such as the interaction between Ratchet and Clank, and the other characters in the universe. But I understand the dilemma with issues such as these. There have been many different video games featuring Ratchet and Clank that offer hours of content, and there is only so much you can fit into an hour and a half movie. This also proved to be less of an issue since this movie is an introduction of the franchise and just introduces the characters. I’m sure if they ever make a sequel and expand upon the universe and these characters, the main gripe I had with the film will become less noticeable.

The reason why I liked the movie so much is due to the surprise it gave me. Video game movies have not done well as movies. For instance, there has been the Resident Evil series, and the disaster known as the Super Mario Bros movie that scored a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes due to the convoluted plot and questionable acting. Ratchet and Clank is the video game movie that has managed to avoid such scrutiny and has shined as one of the better video game movies that have so far been released. This movie, hopefully, will be viewed as a stepping-stone for future movies in the video game genre.

In the end, Ratchet and Clank is both a faithful adaption of the video game series and a fun animated movie. Despite issues I had with the simplistic writing of the movie, the acting alone helps support this movie. Viewers will be delighted to know that Ratchet and Clank is worth the time.