Ratchet & Clank (film)


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 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 attempts to join, but Captain Qwark 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 and his devious chief scientist Dr. Nefarious. A lightning-induced blackout hits the factory, causing the system to produce a defect, a small but intelligent robot. 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, 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

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:

Release

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.

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 and Mother's Day. 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, finishing 9th at the box office. Rainmaker lost around $5 million on the film, which made $15 million.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 21%, based on 80 reviews, with an average rating of 4.17/10. 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."

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.