> Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018) - ***½
> Henry Jackman; add’l music by Jeff Morrow & Anthony Willis;
> orchestrated by Stephen Coleman, Andrew Kinney,
> Gernot Wolfgang, Ed Trybek, Henri Wilkinson & Jonathan Beard;
> orchestra conducted by Nick Glennie-Smith;
> choir conducted by Jasper Randall; score technicians Maverick Dugger,
> Felipe Pacheco & Gage Boozan;
> ‘A Place Called Slaughter Race’ by Alan Menken & Phil Johnston &
> Tom MacDougal

> Wreck-It Ralph was covered here:
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=113153

> The sequel to the beloved Wreck-It Ralph went through the same
> struggles that many films that try to comment on the latest tech trends do
> (they’re already behind the curve by the time they come out), and
> uncertainty about what film the team was making led to 10 different
> versions of the film being screened internally. The somewhat scattershot
> approach to the storytelling probably created a ceiling on how coherent
> Jackman’s work could be, even with it being the first case of him scoring
> a sequel for characters he’d created the initial musical concept for.
> Arguably, he had been the person to break the news about the sequel years
> earlier, though completely by accident. “It was an abstract
> conversation where I said I’d never done a sequel where I’d done the first
> one, and it would be an interesting experience. Three days later there
> were links saying “film composer Henry Jackman announces Wreck-It Ralph
> 2.” I didn’t! I had to smooth things over with Disney.”

> There’s fealty to his original themes, as well as the same balance between
> orchestra and retro beeps and boops, but it’s an all-over-the-place score
> trying to follow an all-over-the-place film, and unfortunately that makes
> it less enjoyable than the music for the first Ralph. “I
> remember thinking surely it won’t be hard because you have a Ralph theme!
> But 2m13 they get propelled to the internet, the 8-bit electronics are out
> the window, have fun with the princesses! It was sort of like doing a
> brand new movie.”

> Three clever moments are worth highlighting. A song about Sarah
> Silverman’s character Vanellope’s journey through a Slaughter Race game
> would be penned in part by Disney Renaissance hitmaker Alan Menken, not
> one of his more memorable bits but still appropriately goofy. One of the
> most creative tracks of the year occurs when Ralph falls off a building
> and is saved by an army of Disney princesses; Jackman would back their
> actions with each princess’ theme, cycling rapid-fire (yet fluidly)
> through famous melodies by Menken, Jerry Goldsmith, and others. And a
> brief midfilm quote of John Williams’ Imperial March as Vanellope
> is chased by Stormtroopers should put a smile on your face.

As the resident Ralph Breaks the Internet fanboy, I opine that the score is even better than the first and, alongside Ron's Gone Wrong, a beautiful culmination of Jackman's orchestral/synthetic animation music. The main Wreck-it Ralph theme is given an adventurous new variation for the sequel, and the little character motifs maintained throughout are intelligently applied. I especially like Jackman's decision to completely ditch the synths in the final act of the film and let the orchestra carry the urgency and emotions. Don't understand how this score is any more 'all-over-the-place' than other cartoon/parody scores; while the film does have a tendency to take LONG detours into its various worlds, the score maintains a strong narrative on the album nonetheless.

I also think the movie Ralph 2 is a fun time and not as wretched as the internet says it is; it's no masterpiece, but it's got some good laughs and a strong emotional core. IMO the first Ralph, while GOD-TIER in some aspects (world building, pacing), is vastly overrated in others, particularly in how it handles the 'bad guy' prejudice and an aggressively mean/dark tone. I actually prefer the messages about healthy/toxic friendships in the sequel more than the original's weirdly judgmental and confused messaging about accepting your shitty lot in life.