Ratchet & Clank (film)

Ratchet & Clank
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kevin Munroe
Written by	T.J. Fixman Kevin Munroe Gerry Swallow
Based on	Ratchet & Clank by Insomniac Games
Produced by	Kylie Ellis Brad Foxhoven Kim Dent Wilder David Wohl
Starring	Paul Giamatti John Goodman Bella Thorne Rosario Dawson James Arnold Taylor David Kaye Sylvester Stallone
Cinematography	Anthony Di Ninno
Edited by	Braden Oberson
Music by	Evan Wise
Production companies	Rainmaker Entertainment PlayStation Originals Blockade Entertainment CNHK Media China Cinema Management Group
Distributed by	Gramercy Pictures/Focus Features (United States) Lionsgate (International)
Release date	April 29, 2016 (2016-04-29)
Running time	94 minutes
Countries	United States Canada
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$14.4 million

Ratchet & Clank is a 2016 Canadian-American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Rainmaker Entertainment and distributed by Gramercy Pictures, based on Insomniac Games' video game series of the same name. Directed by Jericca Cleland and Kevin Munroe, the film stars the voices of Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Bella Thorne, Rosario Dawson and Sylvester Stallone. James Arnold Taylor and David Kaye reprise their roles as the titular characters alongside Jim Ward and Armin Shimerman.

The film features an original story loosely based on the 2002 video game Ratchet & Clank written by Munroe, Gerry Swallow, and former Insomniac senior writer T.J. Fixman, who began writing for the series with the Ratchet & Clank Future trilogy. Alongside several cast members from the games, Insomniac contributed to the film's production with character development, screenplay, and animation assets. Released on April 29, 2016, the film was a critical and commercial failure, grossing just $14 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.

Plot

In the Solana Galaxy, planet Tenemule is destroyed by Chairman Drek (Paul Giamatti) and his fellow Blarg using a laser-equipped space station, the Deplanetizer. Three other planets have disappeared mysteriously alongside Tenemule, prompting the peacekeeping Galactic Rangers to handle the situation. When the Rangers visit planet Veldin looking for recruits, a young spaceship mechanic named Ratchet (James Arnold Taylor) attempts to join, but Captain Qwark (Jim Ward) rebuffs him due to his small stature as well as his questionable history.

Later, Drek is overseeing production of warbots at his factory on the Blargian homeworld of Quartu alongside his lieutenant Victor Von Ion (Sylvester Stallone) and his devious chief scientist Dr. Nefarious (Armin Shimerman). A lightning-induced blackout hits the factory, causing the system to produce a defect, a small but intelligent robot (David Kaye). The defect learns of Drek's plans and attempts to escape to planet Kerwan to warn the Rangers. Victor damages the defect's ship as he takes off, forcing him to crash land on Veldin. Ratchet discovers the defect, takes him in, and names him Clank.

Ratchet and Clank fly to Kerwan, where they save the Rangers from an army of warbots led by Victor, who escapes. Under pressure from reporters, Qwark names Ratchet and Clank honorary Rangers, but grows jealous of their newfound fame. The Rangers discover that the Blarg are extracting portions of the destroyed planets that contain famous landmarks, and that they are planning to build a replacement homeworld—New Quartu—from the fragments, as Quartu has been polluted beyond surface habitation. Thanks to Ranger Cora Veralux (Bella Thorne), they learn that the next target is planet Novalis.

Qwark encounters Drek, who offers to help boost his image in spite of Ratchet and Clank's popularity. Qwark accepts so long as Drek agrees never to hurt the Rangers, but Drek has him disable the Rangers' weapons during an assault on the Deplanetizer. Victor boards the Rangers' flagship and attacks Clank, who subdues him by rusting him solid using a rainstorm-producing weapon. Ratchet boards the Deplanetizer, but is captured by Drek and notices Qwark standing by, realizing his treachery.

Drek destroys Novalis, appalling Qwark and causing Ratchet to exile himself to Veldin out of guilt. Qwark confronts Drek, but Nefarious appears and chides him for selling out the Rangers. Qwark is surprised at Nefarious' presence, having thought him killed during a prison break. After Qwark leaves, Nefarious turns Drek into a sheep with his Sheepinator and ejects him to New Quartu in an escape pod, taking control of the Deplanetizer for his own intentions. When Clank and the Rangers convince Ratchet to return, they learn Nefarious plans to destroy planet Umbris, which has a highly unstable core that would annihilate all other planets in the galaxy were it destroyed.

The Rangers attack the Deplanetizer again, but Qwark intercepts and battles Ratchet and Clank. Ratchet pleads with Qwark to stop, causing Qwark to realize he has been used, and the three confront Nefarious. Nefarious reveals he was once a Ranger before he left due to Qwark's mistreatment, and plans to destroy the galaxy in revenge. Nefarious fires the laser, but the Rangers move it off target from Umbris and toward New Quartu, killing Drek too. Nefarious tries to disintegrate Qwark, but is stopped short by Ratchet, causing Nefarious himself to be disintegrated as he falls into the Deplanetizer's laser chamber. Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark manage to escape through a teleporter as the Deplanitizer falls towards Umbris.

With Nefarious thwarted, the Rangers return to a hero's welcome on Kerwan, though Qwark is demoted to Private. Ratchet and Clank reunite on Veldin with Ratchet promising to rejoin the Rangers if he is needed.

In a mid-credits scene, Nefarious emerges from the Deplanetizer's wreckage on Umbris in his familiar robotic form.

In the post-credits, the Plumber reprimands the audience and tells them to go home.

Cast

• James Arnold Taylor as Ratchet, a young Lombax who dreams of being a Galactic Ranger. He was previously voiced by Mikey Kelley in the original video game version.
• David Kaye as Clank, an intelligent warbot defect who escapes and befriends Ratchet.
• Jim Ward as Captain Copernicus Qwark, the egocentric leader of the Galactic Rangers and a galaxy-wide celebrity.
• Paul Giamatti as Chairman Drek, the villainous, eccentric and charismatic leader of the Blarg. He was previously voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in the original game.
• Armin Shimerman as Doctor Nefarious, Drek's chief scientist who has a vendetta against Captain Qwark.
• John Goodman as Grimroth "Grim" Razz, a garage owner on Veldin who is Ratchet's adoptive father and mentor.
• Bella Thorne as Cora Veralux, a rigid Galactic Ranger.
• Rosario Dawson as Elaris, the Rangers' technical support officer.
• Sylvester Stallone as Victor Von Ion: Drek's robotic lieutenant. He was previously voiced by Neil Flynn in the original game.
• Vincent Tong as Brax Lectrus: a large, reptilian Galactic Ranger.
  • Vincent Tong also portrays a Solana Trooper
• Andrew Cownden as Zed, Drek's bumbling assistant whom the Rangers often interrogate.
  • Andrew Cownden also voices a Blarg.
• Don Briggs as the Starship Commander
• Ian James Corlett as Blarg
• Brian Dobson as Dallas Wannamaker, Announcer, Drek Computer
• Brian Drummond as Mr. Zurkon, Inspectobot, Warbot
• Cole Howard as Stanley: a Blarg troop that Drek and Victor Von Ion bust for texting.
• Alessandro Juliani as Solana Trooper
• Rebecca Shoichet as Stanley's Mom, Ship Computer
• Tabitha St. Germain as Juanita Alvaro
• Brad Swaile as Ollie, Superfan
• Lee Tockar as Mr. Micron, a Tharpod citizen of Veldin.

Production

Development

The film was produced at Rainmaker Entertainment's Vancouver, Canada studio and executive produced by president Michael Hefferon. Insomniac mentioned they were eager to produce a Ratchet & Clank film adaptation, remarking:

One of the biggest questions we've gotten in the last few years is 'When are you going to make a Ratchet & Clank movie?' The truth is, we've wanted to do a movie for a long time! Ratchet & Clank's action, humor and galaxy-spanning adventures have really been the basis for a fantastic game series, and we think it would translate perfectly to the big screen.

— James Stevenson, Insomniac Community Lead on the PlayStation Blog

Release

Theatrical

The film was released theatrically in the United States via Gramercy Pictures on April 29, 2016., while it was released internationally by Lionsgate and Cinema Management Group. Insomniac developed a "re-imagined" version of the original Ratchet & Clank to tie in with the film, which was released two weeks earlier on April 12 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.

Reception

Box office

Ratchet & Clank grossed $8.8 million in North America and $5.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $14.4 million, against a production budget of $20 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, 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. Rainmaker lost around $5 million on the film, which made $15 million.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 21%, based on 80 reviews, with an average rating of 4.20/10. 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."

External links

• Ratchet & Clank at IMDb
• Ratchet & Clank at Box Office Mojo