Ratchet and Clank (film)
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Ratchet & Clank is a 2016 American-Canadian 3D computer-animated science-fiction action comedy film based on the video game series of the same name. The film stars the voices of James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Bella Thorne, Rosario Dawson, and Sylvester Stallone.
Contents
Series creators Insomniac Games helped with the film's production, screenplay, character development and animation. The film was directed by Jericca Cleland and Kevin Munroe, featuring an original story written by Munroe, Gerry Swallow and former Insomniac Games Senior Writer T.J. Fixman, who started writing for the series with the Future saga. Several cast members from the games reprised their respective voice roles, and assets from the video games were utilized in the film. The film was released on April 29, 2016, by Gramercy Pictures. The film received negative reviews from critics and failed at the box office, only grossing $13.4 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.
Plot
Above planet Tenemule in the Solana Galaxy, Chairman Drek (Paul Giamatti) stands poised with his fellow Blarg aboard the Deplanetizer, a space station with the power to destroy entire planets. The Blarg fire the Deplanetizer at Tenemule, completely destroying it.
On planet Veldin, a young spaceship mechanic named Ratchet (James Arnold Taylor) learns of the destruction of Tenemule along with three other planets, and the peacekeeping Galactic Rangers are being dispatched to address the situation. He also learns that their leader, the egocentric Captain Qwark (Jim Ward), plans to visit Veldin in search of a new recruit to the team. To the reluctance of his mentor Grimroth "Grim" Razz (John Goodman), Ratchet attempts to join, only to be rejected by Qwark moments later.
In a warbot factory on planet Quartu, a diminutive yet intelligent defective robot is created. Having acquired Drek's plans, he escapes Drek's lieutenant Victor Von Ion (Sylvester Stallone) and attempts to travel to planet Kerwan to warn the Rangers. The defect crash-lands on Veldin, where Ratchet takes him in and names him Clank (David Kaye). Learning of Drek's plot, Ratchet flies Clank to Kerwan, where the two are forced to help save the Galactic Rangers who Drek has already attacked. Victor barely escapes. Under pressure from reporters, Qwark makes Ratchet and Clank honorary Rangers. Meanwhile, Drek's devious chief scientist Dr. Nefarious (Armin Shimerman) gives him the idea of destroying the Rangers from within by turning Qwark against them. Ratchet joins Brax Lectrus (Vincent Tong) and Cora Veralux (Bella Thorne) in the field while Clank is assigned to the Rangers' support team with Elaris (Rosario Dawson), who is routinely ignored by Qwark. Studying the destroyed planets, they discover that the Blarg have been extracting portions containing famous landmarks from each.
After briefing, the Rangers infiltrate the warbot factory on Quartu. They discover that the Blarg are planning to build a replacement planet from the other worlds' fragments, their planet (Quartu) having been polluted beyond surface habitation. Qwark encounters Drek, who offers to help boost his image in spite of Ratchet's popularity. Qwark accepts so long as Drek agrees never to hurt his Rangers. The rangers capture Zed (Andrew Cownden), one of Drek's main assistants, who tells them the next target is Cora's homeworld of Novalis.
As the Rangers assault the Deplanetizer, Drek forces Qwark to deactivate the Rangers' weapons. Victor raids the starship Phoenix and goes after Clank, who smartly uses water to defeat him. Ratchet manages to successfully board the station and sacrifice his ship, but Drek captures him and the Rangers can only watch as Novalis is destroyed. Ratchet learns Qwark is a traitor.
Appalled, Qwark goes to confront Drek. However, he is also met by Dr. Nefarious whom Qwark thought was killed during a prison escape. After he chides Qwark for selling out the Rangers, Dr. Nefarious betrays Drek by turning him into a sheep and ejecting him to New Quartu in an escape pod and takes control of the Deplanetizer for his own intentions.
Ratchet exiles himself back to Veldin, guilt-ridden, but Clank and the Rangers find him and convince him to return. With Novalis gone, the Deplanetizer's next and last target is planet Umbris which has an unstable core that would annihilate the other planets in the entire galaxy if it is destroyed. Zed tells the group that Nefarious is the one behind all this.
They assault the Deplanetizer and Ratchet is forced to battle Qwark. After a long battle Ratchet pleads for Qwark to stop, asking him if the galaxy's destruction really is how he wants to be remembered. Qwark, now realizing that he had been used, finally does so and apologizes to Ratchet. They confront Dr. Nefarious, who reveals that he was once a Ranger himself before he left due to Qwark's mistreatment. Dr. Nefarious successfully activates the Deplanetizer barely escaping Qwark, but not before the other Rangers are able to move it off target from Umbris. The Deplanetizer instead fires on New Quartu, destroying the composite planet and killing Drek, still being a sheep who crash landed on it moments prior. Ratchet, Clank and Qwark barely escape as the now-vulnerable station falls toward Umbris, while Dr. Nefarious is seemingly disintegrated as the result of a failed attempt to use one of his own weapons (the RYNO) on Qwark.
Having thwarted Dr. Nefarious, the other Rangers return to a hero's welcome on Kerwan, with the now-demoted Private Qwark shamelessly attempting to promote his apologetic autobiography about the crisis. Ratchet and Clank reunite on Veldin, with Ratchet promising that he will rejoin the Rangers when he is needed.
In a mid-credits scene, Dr. Nefarious is found amongst the Deplanetizer's wreckage on Umbris, and forcibly converted by one of his drones into his iconic robot form.
In the post-credits, the Plumber appears and scolds the audience that they have still not left the movie yet.
Cast
The film features several voice actors from the video game series reprising their respective roles, along with new cast members and characters.
Crew
Production
The film was produced at Rainmaker Entertainment's Vancouver studio in Canada, and its executive producer is Michael Hefferon, President of Rainmaker Entertainment.
Release
The film was released theatrically in the United States via Gramercy Pictures, a division of Focus Features, on April 29, 2016., while it was released internationally by Lionsgate and Cinema Management Group. Alongside the film, a "re-imagining" of the original Ratchet & Clank game, developed by Insomniac Games, was released on April 12, 2016, in North America.
Home media
The film was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on Digital HD on August 2, 2016, and on Blu-ray and DVD on August 23, 2016.
Box office
Ratchet & Clank grossed $8.8 million in North America and $4.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $13 million.
In the United States and Canada, pre-release tracking suggested the film would gross $8–10 million from 2,891 theaters in its opening weekend, trailing fellow newcomers Keanu ($10–14 million projection) and Mother's Day ($11 million projection). The film went on to gross just $4.9 million in its opening weekend, finishing below expectations and 7th at the box office.
Following the domestic opening, Rainmaker announced an impairment charge on their $10 million investment in the film. Commenting on the movie's performance, the film's producer Michael Hefferon stated "We are obviously disappointed with the North American opening release results. The huge success of The Jungle Book, and continued strength of Zootopia, represented a loss of a large portion of the family market. Although support from the Ratchet & Clank fan base has been positive, the turnout for the film was not sufficient to overcome the highly competitive market place for the opening weekend of the film." In its second weekend, the film grossed just $1.5 million (a drop of 70%), finishing 9th at the box office. The movie had an underwhelming box-office performance of $15 million causing Rainmaker Entertainment to lose around 5 million dollars.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 17%, based on 69 reviews, with an average rating of 4.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Ratchet & Clank may satisfy very young viewers, but compared to the many superior options available to families and animation enthusiasts, it offers little to truly recommend." On Metacritic the film has a score of 29 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Bill Zwecker of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying, "I kept getting a sense we’ve all been here before—both in animated and live-action presentations." Kyle Smith of The New York Post gave the film one out of four stars, saying "Small fry will learn an important lesson taking in the recycled storyline of Ratchet & Clank: Like all recycling, it's garbage." IGN gave the film a 6/10, saying, "Ratchet & Clank is not a bad movie by any means, especially when compared to some of the downright-terrible video game adaptations of the past two decades. But given the humor, action and sense of adventure of the games, the movie is ultimately a competent, shallow, disappointing take on the adventures of the plucky Lombax and his robot buddy. My advice is to stick to the stellar PlayStation 4 game." GameSpot gave the film a mixed review, saying, "Ratchet & Clank pulls us across the universe at a breakneck pace, but it never seems to take us anywhere. The series may have found success in video games, but in the meantime, it's merely stumbled into film."