EL CUCO
Member
Both my 8 and 6 year olds loved it. My wife and I were bored to tears.
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Ratchet and Clank [Film] Reviews Thread
- Thread starter Warxard
- Start date
alfredofroylan
Member
Well, it can only go up from this point, right?
well, maybe it only cost 1 million to make.
BodiesWithoutOrgans
Member
What was the budget for the movie?
Apparently $20-25 mil
TimeEffect
Member
...why
Source?
HanzSnubSnub
Member
It's not looking good for this movie...
I don't have one, I was just going off what had been posted in this thread already. Wikipedia and Rotten tomatoes both have $20mil listed as the budget. Sounds about right. Considering licensing, the cast, the amount of time saved in the previs stage, and such.
If worse animated movies with no recognizable characters and no marketing can still manage to make their budget back at about this same amount and a profit, I'd be very surprised if this didn't manage to do at least that in the end. And even if it doesn't, joint productions like this tend to make a considerable chunk back with digital distribution/streaming rights and home video. Dat HK money.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
Please don't kill the franshise.
The movie was extremely faithful it was just meh level. The video games are still good. The movie did what it was intended to do, introduce kids back into the franchise because most fans are adults now. Even if this movie was extremely bad it would still help the franchise nonetheless.
Well, movies are made to make money, which this one doesn't seem to be doing, so it's a legitimate concern.
They are making money. The movie is advertising the game to get kids hooked on other Ratchet and Clank games. Think of it as an investment.
Claude Augario
Member
Hard to introduce kids to the franchise when no one is showing up to see it.
The game is doing a better job at that.
sindbadthesailor
Member
The game has seemingly sold well enough to guarantee a sequel, and possibly even a bigger budget for a proper, full length game. And I'll take that over a sequel to a terrible film every single time.
The movie doing poorly, which shouldn't be a surprise really, just means there's a better chance Ratchet and Clank get some semblance of their personalities, or grooves if you will, back in the next game.
The movie doing poorly, which shouldn't be a surprise really, just means there's a better chance Ratchet and Clank get some semblance of their personalities, or grooves if you will, back in the next game.
Lol it's a dud. The game itself is doing all the work.
Rapscallion
Member
Just came from seeing the film. There was a handful of people in the audience, with only about 2 families in the whole theater. Not a great sign for this making back its budget.
I have more to say about the film, but I'll write more when I have a chance since I'm doing this on my phone.
The film doesn't deserve the backlash from critics it's receiving. It's not a great film, but there's nothing offensive or terrible about the film. If you had no prior experience with the series I could understand thinking it was a bit generic or uninspired, but it's a definitely a watchable film that's fans of the franchise and kids will find enjoyment in. It definitely has its flaws and critics citing that there's no emotional weight behind the character and plot are absolutely correct. With some proper rewrites, the plot could of had a lot more depth to it. The biggest missed opportunity if having a more dynamic relationship with its main stars, Ratchet and Clank. Even If the plot included
would have made for a more interesting plot element.
I have more to say about the film, but I'll write more when I have a chance since I'm doing this on my phone.
The film doesn't deserve the backlash from critics it's receiving. It's not a great film, but there's nothing offensive or terrible about the film. If you had no prior experience with the series I could understand thinking it was a bit generic or uninspired, but it's a definitely a watchable film that's fans of the franchise and kids will find enjoyment in. It definitely has its flaws and critics citing that there's no emotional weight behind the character and plot are absolutely correct. With some proper rewrites, the plot could of had a lot more depth to it. The biggest missed opportunity if having a more dynamic relationship with its main stars, Ratchet and Clank. Even If the plot included
something like Clank discovering Qwarks betrayal and Ratchet believing in his idol over his friend
Icyflamez96
Member
I don't get the faithful thing. Faithful in the sense of keeping some locations and weapons and whatnot, but in writing/tone/story? Not really. Not when it comes to the original game's story/narrative.
I hope they just go back to the old continuity at this point. Keep this as a one off thing. And do a new story in the old timeline that's self contained. (preferably in the Bogon galaxy)
I saw this on Friday night. The theater was completely deserted with only one other family behind us.
I give it a 7, maybe an 8 in places. The pacing at the beginning is a bit weird, and the wipes and fades and stuff are SUPER cheesy... and you can REALLY tell when something is written by TJ Fixman and when something was changed up by the other guys. Some of the humor on the "meanwhile" texts that show up are really bad, but overall, it was decent and I liked it.
But for the love of god, I hope the franchise doesn't get axed because of this.
I give it a 7, maybe an 8 in places. The pacing at the beginning is a bit weird, and the wipes and fades and stuff are SUPER cheesy... and you can REALLY tell when something is written by TJ Fixman and when something was changed up by the other guys. Some of the humor on the "meanwhile" texts that show up are really bad, but overall, it was decent and I liked it.
But for the love of god, I hope the franchise doesn't get axed because of this.
I doubt Sony really care much about the film to be honest. This movie stuff seems to be a side-business to them at best, and from what I've read they didn't actually have much involvement with the Ratchet film anyway, either creatively or financially.
What does Zod's snapped neck think about it though?
Hexa
Member
Dangansona
Member
I actually read somewhere the budget was only 12 million.
I mean, this is the fastest selling game in Ratchet history right? And Sony needs games to appeal to a younger demographic. Plus, Ratchet the game was well received by fans and by critics. So it hits on the checkpoints in needs to make a sequel, doesn't it?
Good sales
Good reviews
Good user base experience
katsubento
Member
I really thought this was going to do pretty well. I will probably still go see it anyways.
DangerMouse
Member
Yeah, I think we'll get a sequel. The game seemingly did amazingly well.
Same, I should be seeing it this week. I thought it would do way better.
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
I'm a fair way through the game at the minute and I notice sharing is barred during most CG cutscenes. I assume they're movie clips?
Because I've been skipping them. Do they basically add up to the whole movie (give or take)
Because I've been skipping them. Do they basically add up to the whole movie (give or take)
HamsterExAstris
Member
The number I've seen is about 10-15 minutes, which seems about right. Most of the clips they used aren't even full scenes from the film, they're generally shortened. (Not always seamlessly - there's at least one reference that goes unexplained in the game because an earlier line from the movie got cut.)
Sometimes they were shortened in the game where the few extra seconds of exposition cut out could have helped to know what was going on in the scene. For example, when Ratchet
bailed out of his space ship
Vampire On Titus
Member
Saw it the other day and it's pretty awful. Really an incredibly boring film. The Ratchet & Clank super-fan in me enjoyed some moments but even saying that is kind of a reach. The characterization is so massively fumbled. The movie never settles on a point of view long enough to invest you in any of the characters or plot threads. It's especially bad at the very beginning when most crucial. Drek is dull and there's way too much of him. Quark is decent but crap compared to the games; his motivation
is under-developed even for a comedy. The rest of the galactic rangers all suck and have no memorable moments. Save for the possible exception of the intelligence lady who's alright. Outside of Ratchet & Clank, Nefarious is the best character. He is, however, bogged down from having to share screen time with Drek. Ratchet & Clank don't spend nearly enough time together so it's really weird when the movie tries to force moments that are the culmination of bonding that never happened.
There's also some head scratching moments that just come across as lazy writing. Like Ratchet's
It's really clumsy.
Outside of a few mild chuckles the movie isn't funny. A far cry from the innuendo laden humor of the video games. Most of the comedy is just stock, forced clever style jokes. With characters offering up snarky but wholly interchangeable rejoinders poking at sci-fi and animated comedy conventions. Like Drek asking his henchmen if he's having home troubles because he's yelling like a henchman. Others are awkwardly timed too or seem to be riffing off character traits only barely established. Like the singing robot dude.
It boils down to being an Action/Comedy film where the jokes aren't funny and the fights aren't exciting or suspenseful. I saw it with 3 other people, 2 of which big R&C fans, and nobody liked it. The middle 3rd of the film was so boring I was genuinely shocked. My friends had to tell me how
because I had briefly tuned out. Consumed with thoughts of errands I'd yet run and also literally anything else in life. Despite everything I still got a kick out of seeing robot Nefarious at the end and left the theater rooting for a better sequel. Kind of a shame it looks like that won't be happening.
I just hope Sly is better.
for betrayal
There's also some head scratching moments that just come across as lazy writing. Like Ratchet's
final confrontation with Quark. At the start of the scene Ratchet yells "You used to be my hero! Now you're just like Nefarious to me!" Then all of three seconds later he's running around and tells Quark "You're nothing like Nefarious! Is this how you want to be remembered?"
Outside of a few mild chuckles the movie isn't funny. A far cry from the innuendo laden humor of the video games. Most of the comedy is just stock, forced clever style jokes. With characters offering up snarky but wholly interchangeable rejoinders poking at sci-fi and animated comedy conventions. Like Drek asking his henchmen if he's having home troubles because he's yelling like a henchman. Others are awkwardly timed too or seem to be riffing off character traits only barely established. Like the singing robot dude.
It boils down to being an Action/Comedy film where the jokes aren't funny and the fights aren't exciting or suspenseful. I saw it with 3 other people, 2 of which big R&C fans, and nobody liked it. The middle 3rd of the film was so boring I was genuinely shocked. My friends had to tell me how
Ratchet escaped Drek's capture after the first infiltration
I just hope Sly is better.
Just kill the movie franchise.
robotoboy20
Banned
Like I legit loved it. Don't get me wrong, it was a generic mess on a base level... and the humor wasn't top level like the games... but all the nods to the games, the guns, Nefarious being insane, etc. It was entertaining and I enjoyed the flick. Me and my fiance laughed a lot during the movie.
It was definately made with a conflicting basis. It was obviously toned down to introduce kids to the series - but it also has a lot of nods to the older games and such... The pop culture references are there... it was just really weird. I knew it was a bad movie when I was watching it, but I enjoyed it the whole time... I personally don't think I could objectively review this flick... however I can see how a total newcomer to the series and film aficionado would see this movie as a pile of crap. I liked it thought, and for me that's all I wanted.
It was definately made with a conflicting basis. It was obviously toned down to introduce kids to the series - but it also has a lot of nods to the older games and such... The pop culture references are there... it was just really weird. I knew it was a bad movie when I was watching it, but I enjoyed it the whole time... I personally don't think I could objectively review this flick... however I can see how a total newcomer to the series and film aficionado would see this movie as a pile of crap. I liked it thought, and for me that's all I wanted.
If no one's seeing the movie then the game's not being advertised. If Sony wanted to advertise their games they'd have more luck making a deal with Disney to have PS characters featured in Wreck-It-Ralph 2. Plus I saw more advertising for the game than the movie. Anecdotal I know but still.
harrisk954
Member
Saw it over the weekend with my 12 year old son. Terrible! It was basically a bunch of cut scenes from the game (or the game had scenes from the movie --either way, it was ludicrous) strung together with a loose story. Honestly, I couldn't believe how much of this was in the game! Even my 12 year old who loves R&C did not like it. He couldn't stop talking about how bad it was for hours... I actually could barely keep my eyes open. I had already seen the movie... When I played the game. And the game was amazing!
Unknown?
Member
This is one of those times I'm glad I didn't listen to the critics! The movie wasn't a masterpiece, it wasn't even great, but I found it enjoyable. I'm no Ratchet super fan that has been with the series from the start either. I saw nothing wrong with it, just nothing amazing either. It was pretty harmless. Most of the complaints I have been seeing just seem overly critical.
Don't get your hopes up about that Sly movie. With this film doing so bad, that thing's dead in the water.
Wife and I took the kids to see it (Sunday morning, had a fairly large theater all to ourselves. It was surreal)... They liked it a lot, but man... What a trainwreck I thought. It was like someone has stitched cutscenes together, all plot& action all the time with little or no exposition or character development.
Humor fell flat, some things happened with little or no sense, and motivations were mind-blowingly thin to inexistent.
R&C deserved better in my opinion, and it's really like Sony and Insomniac just lent out the property to Grammercy and Focus (NBC Universal) without paying attention to what was being done to it, just thinking that the synergy Game/ Film would be enough to carry it, both in reducing the budget (the game cutscenes are literally the film... or is it the film which is literally the cutscenes?) and with the cross marketing.
Bad call I think, at least for the movie.
Humor fell flat, some things happened with little or no sense, and motivations were mind-blowingly thin to inexistent.
R&C deserved better in my opinion, and it's really like Sony and Insomniac just lent out the property to Grammercy and Focus (NBC Universal) without paying attention to what was being done to it, just thinking that the synergy Game/ Film would be enough to carry it, both in reducing the budget (the game cutscenes are literally the film... or is it the film which is literally the cutscenes?) and with the cross marketing.
Bad call I think, at least for the movie.
HamsterExAstris
Member
The game uses 10-15 minutes of the movie as cutscenes. But since there's substantial parts of the game that aren't in the movie (they only visit, what, four planets/areas?), the game has a large number of custom cutscenes too.
WooHooAlex
Member
Hopefully they can at least break even after WW box office and blu-ray sales.
Saw this one coming. I don't recall seeing a single commercial or ad for this movie.
Saw this one coming. I don't recall seeing a single commercial or ad for this movie.
I'm genuinely surprised at the amount of people who are confused that there are movie clips in the game, or that believe that the game's cutscenes are in the movie as some reviews have claimed. (Like the Angry Joe review below). Insomniac both showed and explained that SOME cutscenes would be direct clips from the movie as early as E3 last year.
And as far as animated adaptations in games go, that's pretty much standard to include heavily edited clips from the film in the respective game. That's been happening since the N64. It's not difficult to tell the movie clips apart from the game's own cutscenes, despite one or two relatively seamless transitions. The lighting is totally different, the models are less detailed, and aliasing is present. Also the film clips have a bit of a stutter to them.
And as far as animated adaptations in games go, that's pretty much standard to include heavily edited clips from the film in the respective game. That's been happening since the N64. It's not difficult to tell the movie clips apart from the game's own cutscenes, despite one or two relatively seamless transitions. The lighting is totally different, the models are less detailed, and aliasing is present. Also the film clips have a bit of a stutter to them.
Icyflamez96
Member
Angry Joe's Review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMURTQ9zfkY
PanicFreak
Member
Deserves a new thread IMO ;-)
Icyflamez96
Member
You think so or is that a joke going over my head
I'm down for a thread when he does the game review though.
I'm down for a thread when he does the game review though.
I think a thread for both reviews in one makes sense. Especially since the game and film seem to be intended as a package that compliments each other.