On the planet Veldin, a young Lombax named Ratchet works as a mechanic, all the while dreaming that he’s destined for something more. Meanwhile, the villainous Chairman Drek has started blowing up planets across the Solana Galaxy, forcing the heroic Galactic Rangers to take up arms against him and his army of bad guys. But the Galactic Rangers could really use a new recruit to round out their numbers – could this be the opportunity Ratchet has been looking for?
A loose retelling of the very first Ratchet and Clank game, the Ratchet and Clank movie propels our heroes to the big screen. Movie adaptations of video games are largely a hit-and-miss affair, and sadly, this outing is no different.
When Ratchet made his videogame debut back in 2002, he was introduced to us as earnest young mechanic, toiling away to build his own spaceship and visit the stars. Although he definitely had spells of making bad decisions or acting immaturely, he was still largely a sympathetic character, and one who grew up significantly by the end of the game.
In contrast, it’s actually quite hard to like the Ratchet of this movie. We’re first introduced to him as a junior mechanic with ambitions beyond his current ability. Instead of a simple dream to go to the stars, Ratchet is convinced he is destined for something more – specifically, joining the Galactic Rangers. This too proves to be beyond him – at least at first – with Captain Quark summarily rejecting his application. Even at this point, with the background music and the framing of the scene going all out to make me feel sorry for Ratchet, I couldn’t quite summon any pity for him.
Naturally, Ratchet does ultimately make it into the Rangers, alongside his newfound companion – the undersized robot Clank. When one of Ratchet’s ideas manages to save a planet from Drek’s evil forces, they are both recruited on the spot, and their induction begins. While Ratchet hangs out with the musclehead component of the Rangers and learns how to use all manner of weapons, Clank immediately bonds with Elaris, the team’s nerdy technician. Predictably, while Clank and Elaris are the most competent of the team, and the ones with the most clue about what’s going on, Qwark and the others are too busy firing oversized weapons to listen.
What follows is a battle between good and evil, with a wide variety of gadgets in play, and more than little incompetence on both sides. Series fans will no doubt appreciate all the little references to the games that have been peppered throughout, including appearances from many of the weapons that have turned up in Ratchet’s arsenal over the years. Unfortunately, this really is the highlight of the movie, as the story itself and the new characters it introduces are hardly anything to write home about.
Visually, the movie’s animation is smooth and consistent with the look of the more recent games, whilst all the familiar voice actors for returning characters are present and correct.
Final Thoughts
While spotting the references to the original games is fun, the Ratchet and Clank movie is less than stellar in the story department, even managing to make its titular characters less likeable and interesting. Watch for completeness if you must, or as something to distract the kids, but don’t expect to get a lot out of it beyond that.
