Ratchet & Clank (film)

Ratchet & Clank is a 2016 3D computer-animated science fiction film based on the video game series of the same name. The film stars the voices of James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Bella Thorne, Rosario Dawson, and Sylvester Stallone.

Series creators Insomniac Games helped with the film's production, screenplay, character development and animation. The film was directed by Jericca Cleland and Kevin Munroe, featuring an original story written by Munroe, Gerry Swallow and former Insomniac Games Senior Writer T.J. Fixman, who started writing for the series with the Future saga. Several cast members from the games reprised their respective voice roles, and assets from the video games were utilized in the film. The film was released on April 29, 2016, by Gramercy Pictures. The film received unfavorable reviews from critics and grossed just $12 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.

Plot
Above planet Tenemule in the Solana Galaxy, Chairman Drek and his fellow Blarg stand poised aboard the Deplanetizer, a space station with the capability to destroy entire planets. The Deplanetizer fires on Tenemule, completely destroying it. A news report later states that three other planets have disappeared mysteriously along with Tenemule. On planet Veldin, a young spaceship mechanic named Ratchet learns that the peacekeeping Galactic Rangers are being dispatched to deal with the situation, and will be visiting Veldin in search of recruits. Ratchet attempts to join, only to be rejected moments later by their leader, Captain Qwark.

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 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. Ratchet joins Brax Lectrus and Cora Veralux in the field, while Clank is assigned to the Rangers' mission support with Elaris, whom Qwark routinely ignores. Studying the destroyed planets, Clank and Elaris discover the Blarg have been extracting portions containing famous landmarks from each. After briefing and weapons training, the Rangers infiltrate the factory on Quartu. They discover the Blarg are planning to build a replacement planet, named New Quartu, from the other worlds' fragments, since Quartu has been polluted beyond surface habitation. Interrogating Drek's assistant Zed, they learn the next target is Cora's homeworld, Novalis. Qwark, meanwhile, 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 his Rangers.

As the Rangers assault the Deplanetizer, Drek forces Qwark to deactivate the Rangers' weapons. Seeing an opportunity, Victor boards the Rangers' flagship and attacks Clank, who subdues him by using a rainstorm-producing weapon and causing him to rust. Ratchet manages to board the station, but Drek captures him. Ratchet notices Qwark standing by and realizes his treachery, and the Rangers can only watch as Novalis is destroyed. Appalled at Drek going back on his word, Qwark goes to confront him, but Nefarious also appears and chides him for selling out the Rangers. Qwark is surprised at Nefarious' presence, having thought him killed during a prison breakout. After Qwark leaves, Nefarious turns Drek into a sheep and ejects him to New Quartu in an escape pod. With Drek gone, Nefarious takes control of the Deplanetizer for his own intentions.

Ratchet exiles himself back to Veldin out of guilt for the loss of Novalis, but Clank and the Rangers find him and convince him to return. They learn the Deplanetizer's next target is planet Umbris, which has a highly unstable core that would annihilate all other planets in the galaxy were it destroyed. Interrogating Zed again, they discover the intent is Nefarious'.

The Rangers attack the Deplanetizer once more. Ratchet and Clank are intercepted by Qwark, and a brief battle ensues. Ratchet pleads with Qwark to stop, causing Qwark to realize he has been used. Qwark repents and apologizes, and the three confront Nefarious at the Deplanetizer's controls. Nefarious reveals he was once a Ranger himself before he left due to Qwark's mistreatment, and planned to destroy the galaxy in revenge. Nefarious fires the Deplanetizer, but the Rangers are able to move it off target from Umbris. It instead hits New Quartu, destroying the composite planet and killing Drek, who has just landed. Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark barely escape through a teleporter as the station falls toward Umbris, while Nefarious falls into the chamber of the Deplanetizer's laser and seemingly disintegrates as the result of a failed attempt to use a disintegration weapon on Qwark.

With Nefarious thwarted, the Rangers return to a hero's welcome on Kerwan, with a now-demoted Private Qwark trying to promote his apologetic autobiography about the crisis. 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, now in his familiar robotic form having been forcibly converted into one by one of his drones. After the credits, the Plumber reprimands the audience and tells them to go home.

Cast
The film features several voice actors from the video game series reprising their respective roles, along with new cast members and characters.


 * 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 game.
 * David Kaye as Clank, an escaped warbot defect who befriends Ratchet.
 * Jim Ward as Captain Copernicus Qwark, the leader of the Galactic Rangers and a galaxy-wide celebrity.
 * Paul Giamatti as Chairman Drek, the villainous leader of the Blarg. He was previously voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in the original game.
 * John Goodman as Grimroth "Grim" Razz, Ratchet's adoptive father and mentor.
 * Bella Thorne as Cora Veralux, a Galactic Ranger.
 * Rosario Dawson as Elaris, who serves as tactical support for the Galactic Rangers.
 * Sylvester Stallone as Lieutenant Victor Von Ion, Drek's robotic lieutenant. His original counterpart was previously voiced by Neil Flynn.
 * Armin Shimerman as Doctor Nefarious, Drek's chief scientist with a vendetta against Captain Qwark.
 * Vincent Tong as Brax Lectrus, a reptilian Galactic Ranger who is the strongest of the group. Tong also voices one of the Ranger troopers.
 * Andrew Cownden as Zed, Drek's bumbling robotic assistant. Cownden also provides additional voices for the Blarg.
 * Don Briggs as 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
The film was produced at Rainmaker Entertainment's Vancouver studio in Canada and executive produced by president Michael Hefferon. 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.

Release
The film was released theatrically in the United States via Gramercy Pictures, a division of Focus Features, on April 29, 2016., while it was released internationally by Lionsgate and Cinema Management Group. Alongside the film, a "re-imagining" of the original Ratchet & Clank game, developed by Insomniac Games, was released on April 12, 2016, 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.

Box office
Ratchet & Clank grossed $8.8 million in North America and $4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $12.8 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, the film's producer Michael 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. The movie had an underwhelming box-office performance of $15 million causing Rainmaker Entertainment to lose around 5 million dollars.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 17%, based on 69 reviews, with an average rating of 4.1/10. 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."