As for the plot itself, basically, it boils down to
Spoiler
Ralph indirectly causing the Sugar Rush wheel to break off the game cabinet. Conveniently, as Sugar Rush is an old game, there is only one replacement wheel available on the whole internet (on where else, eBay!), but it is too costly for Mr. Litwak (the owner of the arcade) who instead decides to have Sugar Rush removed. This spurs Vanellope and Ralph to go to the internet and win the wheel on eBay, with Ralph, not realizing money is involved, ignorantly raising the winning bid to $27,001. So the rest of the movie is about using the internet to make the money, and really, not too much else.
Of course, considering this (lack of) plot, it's tempting to say that there is one fairly easy way for a girl to make thousands of dollars on the internet fairly quickly, especially when that girl has a male freak-of-nature in tow (I mean, the game is called "Wreck-It" Ralph, right, Disney?), but shamefully, there was no reference to Pornhub in the film, either.
Obviously, I'm joking, although the film does have a pop-up say "Sassy Housewives Want To Meet You!", which I'm sure will make some parent(s) uncomfortable.
In seriousness, the real flaw in the film is obviously that Ralph and Vanellope never enlist their friends at the arcade to assist with donating and/or raising the funds. In fact, both (Fix-It) Felix and especially Jane Lynch's Sergeant Calhoun from the first film are relegated to cameo appearances. Instead, the film makes a kind of bizarre sojourn into an online game, which is like a PG-ish Grand Theft Auto. The idea here again is that the internet is a resource to make money, with the original intent of Ralph and Vanellope being to steal a "valuable" car from the game to pay for the Sugar Rush wheel. The only problem is, the car is (owned? stolen by?) Gal Gadot's new character Shank, who likes to drive, likes to dress slightly masculine while still retaining the broad look of an Israeli model, and who is super-friendly with Vanellope in a way that Out magazine would really enjoy, if both of these films did not make it very confusing as to whether Vanellope is still actually a "kid" (who just happens to have a job driving cars).
The film continues into a third act where Ralph learns to create and even advertise viral videos to make money (surprisingly, not on YouTube, which does rate a mention, but on an invented platform). While this is going on, Vanellope seems to be getting closer to Shank, and eventually decides she wants to stay in Shank's online game with her, thus abandoning everyone from the first film except Ralph, who will come and visit. In other words, I think there are some subtle (or perhaps not-so subtle) lesbian undertones going on here, which is honestly kind of adorable, but also, potentially creepy if Vanellope is perpetually a kid. Did I mention that Ralph raises enough money through viral videos to pay for the Sugar Rush wheel? Yes, I just did.
Of course, considering this (lack of) plot, it's tempting to say that there is one fairly easy way for a girl to make thousands of dollars on the internet fairly quickly, especially when that girl has a male freak-of-nature in tow (I mean, the game is called "Wreck-It" Ralph, right, Disney?), but shamefully, there was no reference to Pornhub in the film, either.
Obviously, I'm joking, although the film does have a pop-up say "Sassy Housewives Want To Meet You!", which I'm sure will make some parent(s) uncomfortable.
In seriousness, the real flaw in the film is obviously that Ralph and Vanellope never enlist their friends at the arcade to assist with donating and/or raising the funds. In fact, both (Fix-It) Felix and especially Jane Lynch's Sergeant Calhoun from the first film are relegated to cameo appearances. Instead, the film makes a kind of bizarre sojourn into an online game, which is like a PG-ish Grand Theft Auto. The idea here again is that the internet is a resource to make money, with the original intent of Ralph and Vanellope being to steal a "valuable" car from the game to pay for the Sugar Rush wheel. The only problem is, the car is (owned? stolen by?) Gal Gadot's new character Shank, who likes to drive, likes to dress slightly masculine while still retaining the broad look of an Israeli model, and who is super-friendly with Vanellope in a way that Out magazine would really enjoy, if both of these films did not make it very confusing as to whether Vanellope is still actually a "kid" (who just happens to have a job driving cars).
The film continues into a third act where Ralph learns to create and even advertise viral videos to make money (surprisingly, not on YouTube, which does rate a mention, but on an invented platform). While this is going on, Vanellope seems to be getting closer to Shank, and eventually decides she wants to stay in Shank's online game with her, thus abandoning everyone from the first film except Ralph, who will come and visit. In other words, I think there are some subtle (or perhaps not-so subtle) lesbian undertones going on here, which is honestly kind of adorable, but also, potentially creepy if Vanellope is perpetually a kid. Did I mention that Ralph raises enough money through viral videos to pay for the Sugar Rush wheel? Yes, I just did.
So overall, the film was about what I expected, but I was still a little surprised by the incredibly pro-internet stance the film took, especially glossing over any kind of danger the internet poses to kids and so strongly encouraging them to see it as a moneymaking machine. For that reason alone, I think this is one of Disney's weakest efforts, although admittedly, Riley and especially Silverman are in fine form as Ralph and Vanellope. It's a shame two fine performances were wasted on such a shallow and trite story.
EDIT: I originally thought this was a Pixar film, but it's been pointed out below that the film is actually from Walt Disney Animation Studios, which is a separate division of Disney.
