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Ratchet & Clank is a computer-animated movie based on the original Ratchet & Clank game released in 2002, which ties in directly with the 2016 Ratchet & Clank game. It was produced by Rainmaker Entertainment with some assistance from Insomniac Games and Sony Computer Entertainment. It was the first movie released in the Ratchet & Clank series, and directed by Kevin Munroe, who wrote the film along with Gerry Swallow and series writer T.J. Fixman. The movie is a re-imagining of the original Ratchet & Clank, and retells the origin story of Ratchet and Clank, as they join Captain Qwark and the Galactic Rangers to try to stop Chairman Drek from destroying the Solana Galaxy.

The movie was first teased on April 23, 2013, with the release announced for 2015.[3][4] The script writer was originally TJ Fixman, with Jericca Cleland as the director,[4] though the final film was written and directed by Kevin Munroe. It was announced on May 13, 2015 that the release date would be April 29, 2016.[5] The film released in theaters on that exact date, distributed by Gramercy Pictures, just over two weeks after the release of the 2016 game. Unlike the game, the film received unfavorable reviews from critics, and performed poorly at the box office.

Along with the game, two novels based off the film were also released, Ratchet & Clank: The Movie Novel and Ratchet & Clank: Hero Time.

Synopsis[]

Setting[]

The movie's story and setting are very similar to the original Ratchet & Clank game, with a few differences and as a result of this its place in canon has remained ambiguous.

One notable theory is that the movie is an in-universe holo-film, based on a statement by Qwark in the 2016 game[6] this theory has been acknowledged by Insomniac Games, who have noted that this is a possibility, though they themselves do not have any official stance on it,[7] however the 2016 game's beginning and ending where Qwark is an inmate are not fictional in-universe and yet line up with what occurred in these re-imaginings rather than the original game, indicating that the re-imagined version of events did indeed happen, additionally events and lore exclusive to the 2016 re-imagining are later referenced in Rift Apart as part of actual history. In the 2016 game, the in-universe holo-film is also said to feature events that differ from those of 2016 film and game.[8]

In-universe a movie named Ratchet & Clank: The Motion Picture was released after the events of the first game.[9]

The story is set in the Solana Galaxy, populated by a variety of alien races and sentient robots. Ratchet is a young spaceship mechanic who lives in a garage owned by Grimroth Razz on the backwater planet Veldin, while Clank is created in a Drek Industries robot factory on Quartu, a world once home to the blarg before it became too polluted to be inhabitable. The Rangers also visit Kerwan, an urban planet with the enormous Aleero City.

The galaxy is home to Drek Industries, a blarg corporation owned by Chairman Alonzo Drek, whose army of warbots created by Dr. Nefarious and led by Victor Von Ion is destroying its planets with a Deplanetizer. Meanwhile, President Phyronix commissions the Galactic Rangers, led by Captain Qwark, to find a new recruit and help stop Drek. Reporters Dallas Wanamaker and Juanita Alvaro also appear and provide commentary.

Plot[]

Hovering ominously above the planet, Tenemule, is the highly destructively equipped space station called The Deplanetizer, built by the ruthless and greedy lord and master of Drek Industries, Chairman Alonzo Drek. On this station, Chairman Drek addresses his fellow blarg and they watch as the Deplanetizer fires upon the planet with its namesake laser cannon and blows it to space pebbles in a matter of seconds.

On Planet Veldin, a 15-year old Lombax mechanic named Ratchet is working out to his favorite show when he learns of Tenemule’s destruction from a news report by Dallas Wanamaker. He states that this is in fact the fourth unpopulated planet to be mysteriously destroyed. In response, the President has requested the Galactic Rangers, whom Ratchet idolizes, add a new recruit to their roster to help with the investigation. Ratchet sees an opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dream when he hears the Rangers will be stopping on Veldin to begin tryouts. But before that, he just barely manages to satisfy Mr. Micron when he shows up for his ship and is sent barreling down the canyon due to all of the unnecessary upgrades Ratchet made to the ship. Namely, a dangerously powerful mag-booster.

Later, Chairman Drek informs his lieutenant, Victor Von Ion, of the next planet he plans to blow up. When Victor expresses his concern over the heavy patrol from the Galactic Rangers in that region, Drek tells him that they’re going to strike hard at the rangers first to eliminate their threat. He’s already working on a plan to assemble forces that will eliminate them in 2 days time and he will be able to complete his “Masterpiece”.

Back at the Garage, Grimroth Razz, Ratchet’s boss, mentor, and adoptive father, has to be the one to explain his reckless and impulsive tendencies when Ratchet fishes Mr. Micron’s ship out of the ditch. While Ratchet is indeed a talented mechanic, Grim tells him he can’t keep acting out while he has a shop to run. While he finishes the repairs himself, Ratchet explains to him that his carelessness is because he wants to be a Galactic Ranger and do great things like Captain Quark. To avoid being a dreamcrusher, Grim reluctantly agrees to one hour away at the space port for the Ranger Tryouts.

Ratchet arrives at the spaceport and joins the rest of the cheering crowd as they welcome the rangers: The tough-as-nails trigger happy Cora Veralux, the muscle-headed reptilian brute Brax Lectrus, and finally, the overachieving and idiotic egomaniac Captain Quark. After their flamboyant showcase, Ratchet is turned down for even a chance as a Ranger because he not only lacks experience as a warrior, but also because of his many legal citations, such as possessing an illegal gravity repulsor, operating a black-market accelerator, and willful disruption of the space time continuum.

On Quartu, Drek, Victor, and Zed, Drek’s assistant bot, oversee Drek’s chief scientist, Dr. Nefarious, hard at work on the forces for the assassination; 300 heavily-armed sentient war bots, armed to the teeth with the best armor and weapons as well as knowledge of all of the Galactic Rangers' offensive tactics. All of a sudden, a lightning bolt strikes the factory antennae and knocks out all the power. When the factory is reactivated, a momentary glitch from the blackout makes the system produce a defect, a small but intelligent robot. This defect learns of Drek's plans from being uploaded with the same tactical data and Ranger information as all the other warbots and escapes the assembly line with Victor in hot pursuit. He blasts off in a shuttle and attempts to escape to Kerwan to warn the Rangers, but not before Victor damages it with a rocket launcher.

As Grim continues the ship’s repairs, Ratchet returns crestfallen at his dreams being dashed and retreats to his bedroom. While stargazing outside contemplating at the realization he'll never be a ranger, the war bot defect’s ship crash lands in the left canyon. Ratchet recovers him from the ship just before it explodes and when he awakens, Ratchet agrees to see to his repairs and names him Clank. Back at the Garage, Ratchet successfully repairs Clank and Clank explains as to why he must get to Aleero City ASAP; Chairmen Drek has built an army of war bots for an attack he will launch on the Galactic Rangers tomorrow. Seeing this as a chance to impress the Rangers, Ratchet eagerly offers his assistance, but Clank refuses his offer to keep him out of danger. However, Ratchet convinces him anyway when he lies saying the Rangers are his friends and shows him the perfect ship for their quest (Mr. Micron’s still being repaired ship) and they set sail.

The next morning at the Hall of Heroes on Kerwin, Captain Quark is expressing his doubts of finding a suitable new recruit for their team when an enemy warship arrives and deploys the war bots. As Ratchet and Clank approach Kerman, Clank tells Ratchet that he can't identify his species and Ratchet explains he is the last of his kind who crash-landed on Veldin during infancy with no genealogy ties. Something the two of them have in common. They arrive at Aleero City and behold the battlefield between the war bots and the Rangers.

They try joining in on the fight, but Ratchet's unprepared equipment combined with Clank's lack of piloting skills almost wind up getting both of them killed. However, just when it looks like the war bots may triumph, Ratchet and Clank's combined resourcefulness with the mag booster prevails when they magnetize all the war bots, drag them through the air behind them, and send them crashing into the warship, destroying them and it along with them. Victor makes his escape when Ratchet and Clank land and the two of them are swarmed by cheering citizens (who run right past Quark). After reporters put Qwark on the spot, he recruits Ratchet and Clank to the Rangers, with Ratchet joining Brax Lectrus and Cora Veralux as a field operative while Clank is assigned to mission support with Elaris. Ratchet stumbles through his accelerated training course trying to get the hang of his new arsenal, and Qwark begins to grow jealous of Ratchet's newfound fame as a hero. Clank and Elaris discuss Elaris' situation as tactical support, in which she is mostly ignored by the others and given a low budget. Elaris tells Clank about the previous tactical support, Dr. Nefarious, who turned evil after conditions drove him mad, something she swears won't happen to her. Elaris then shares with Clank a strange pattern she's deciphered with all the planets Drek has blown up; each one is missing one of its significant fragments that contain famous landmasses. Clank hypothesizes the missing pieces may still be out in space and decide it's worth sharing with the rest of the Rangers. They try taking it up with Captain Quark, but he blatantly ignores them by goofing around with Ratchet while teaching him how to use a jet pack.

After mission briefing, which is really nothing but a childish wish-list relayed through a slideshow by Quark instead of an actual plan, the Rangers infiltrate Quartu's warbot factory, and fight an army of Mr. Zurkons. Qwark encounters Drek, who convinces him to join Drek's side in order to boost his image in spite of Ratchet and Clank's popularity, which Qwark accepts so long as Drek agrees not to hurt the Rangers. When Ratchet, Clank, and Cora arrive in Nefarious's computer lab, Clank hacks into the computer to discover the Deplanetizer plans. He also learns that Drek has been blowing up planets so he can harvest one of the landmass shards left behind by each planet in the wake of their destruction. His ultimate endgame is to build the perfect planet by collecting enough landmasses that he can reassemble into a proper planet, named New Quartu, as Quartu has been polluted beyond surface habitation. Interrogating Zed, Drek's assistant, they learn the next target is Novalis, a planet populated by millions, and the Rangers resolve to attack the Deplanetizer and stop it.

As the Rangers assault the Deplanetizer, Qwark deactivates the Rangers' weapons at the behest of Drek, as he heads into the Deplanetizer claiming to the Rangers' confusion that he will try to "reason with" Drek. Victor, seeing an opportunity to destroy Clank, boards the Rangers' flagship. Victor proves a formidable opponent, but he proves no match for Clank's resourcefulness, who defeats him by using the downpour from a cloud deployed from a thundersmack to reduce him to a rusted wreck. As the other Rangers withdraw, Ratchet boards the station alone, with his ship destroyed on the way in. Just as Ratchet arrives at the deplanetizer's control console, he is captured by Drek's Mag-Net Launcher, who directs him to a shuttle off the station saying he wants Ratchet to live to see his failures. On the way, Ratchet spots Qwark standing by making conversation with one of the Blarg guards, realizing his treachery. Drek then tosses Ratchet into one of the escape shuttles and him along with the rest of the Rangers can do nothing except watch Novalis getting deplanetized. The planet is totally obliterated, Drek deploys harvester drones that teleports a significant landmass away (just like he's done with all the previous planets he's taken), and Ratchet takes full responsibility for the destruction of homes of Novalis's inhabitants.

Back on Veldin, Ratchet has returned to Grim's garage in self-imposed exile and disposes of all his Galactic Rangers memorabilia. Grim tries to comfort him and tells him about the voice messages left on his proto-suit from the other Rangers telling him to come back to the fold. Grim then gets fond memories of the first time they met when he sees a photo on Ratchet's wall. When he was a kid, he took Grim's rocket sled for a joyride and it took 3 police bots to chase him down and teach him how to stop. Ratchet then confides in Grim that he wanted to be a somebody for once by doing something big like Captain Quark used to. Grim then admits that he's always been lousy with advice but does have one nugget that proves optimal: "You don't have to do big things to be a hero. You just have to do the right things."

Qwark confronts Drek for going back on his word, while Dr. Nefarious appears and mocks him for selling out the Rangers. Qwark expresses surprise at Nefarious' presence, having though he had died in a prison breakout, but Nefarious ushers him out. After leaving, Nefarious then uses the Sheepinator to morph Drek into a sheep, then throws him onto an escape pod and ejects him to New Quartu, so he can take over the Deplanetizer. Meanwhile, Clank and the Rangers find Ratchet on Veldin and eventually convince him to return. They then learn from Zed that Umbris is the next target, and discover that Nefarious intends to destroy it due to its unstable core that would annihilate other nearby planets were it destroyed, so that he can exact revenge on the Rangers by destroying planets under their watch.

With Ratchet suggesting they listen to Elaris, the Rangers attack the Deplanetizer, with Ratchet and Clank using the Hologuise to disguise as Qwark and infiltrate, while the other Rangers prepare to use Mag Boosters to move it off target. Ratchet and Clank are intercepted by Qwark on their way to the Deplanetizer's core, and a battle ensues. Ratchet pleads with Qwark to stop, and Qwark eventually realizes he has been used. Nefarious then appears and bemoans them, telling them that Qwark's mistreatment caused him to leave the Rangers, and he plans to destroy the solar system to exact revenge. Refusing to accept defeat, Quark personally turns over his title as Captain over to Ratchet and they take on Nefarious. The Deplanetizer fires, though the Rangers successfully moved the Deplanetizer off course to hit New Quartu instead, destroying Drek as he is still on the planet. With his plan ruined, Nefarious decides to destroy Quark personally with his RYNO, but Ratchet charges to the rescue with his OmniWrench. Nefarious then falls into the chamber of the Deplanetizer's laser below, seemingly disintegrating. Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark barely escape through a teleporter as the station falls to Umbris and burns up in reentry.

The Rangers return to Kerwan to a hero's welcome. The demoted Private Qwark promoting his apology tour and releasing an autobiography, Listen, I Said I Was Sorry, Alright?, telling reporter Juanita to prepare to be blown away by his "epic humility". Ratchet meanwhile returned to Veldin to work for Grim, while Clank arrives, and Ratchet promises to rejoin the Rangers if he is needed.

In a mid-credits scene, Nefarious emerges from the Deplanetizer's wreckage on Umbris in a robotic form, after repair bots had converted him. After the credits, the Plumber breaks the fourth wall by scolding the audience for not leaving the theater yet.

Cast[]

The film features several voice actors from the series reprising their respective roles, along with new cast members and characters. The plan from the beginning was to feature the original voice cast with talks to feature a celebrity cast, many of whom were fans of the games.[4]

Production[]

Development[]

Insomniac Games had believed that the Ratchet & Clank series was suitable for a movie for a long time.[12][13] After the rights had been sought after by various producers of the years, a deal with Rainmaker and Blockade made the movie a reality.[12]

TJ Fixman wrote the original draft for the script.[4][14] The rest of Insomniac played a role in the film's production early on, guiding the film's creative vision, helping with marketing, and providing consultation on animation and design. The in-game models served as a reference point, and were used during pre-visualization.[4]

Four locations of the main story were established: planet Veldin, Aleero City on planet Kerwan, Drek's warbot factory on planet Quartu, and Drek's Deplanetizer.[13]

The teaser trailer was released on the 23rd of April 2013 by Sony Computer Entertainment to announce the Ratchet & Clank movie.[3][4] The teaser is a short two minute teaser written by series writer TJ Fixman,[15] which features Qwark reading a promotional statement, before complaining to Ratchet and Clank about the lack of 3D, CG explosions, and dubstep, and finally incurring the wrath of the animators. It was the number one trending video on YouTube following its release.[16] The following day, TJ Fixman expanded more on the writing in his blog, announcing that he had written the movie.[14]

Writing[]

TJ Fixman wrote the original draft for the script.[4][14] He also wrote scripts for two following Ratchet & Clank movies.[17] As some point, writer-director Kevin Munroe took charge of the script, and after TJ Fixman's original draft had been handed down to him, it had been dramatically altered and would change at multiple points.[18]

In TJ Fixman's draft, the Biobliterator would be mentioned in the story, as its nanobots would be used to repair Brax Lectrus' arm to a robotic arm.[19] TJ Fixman also revealed another piece of the draft, featuring Drek, Zed, and Victor, which barely resembled the final film.[20]

Though TJ Fixman had enjoyed working with Insomniac and Sony, he called the writing experience for the film "stressful", and claimed that he would not go back into the same situation again.[21]

Production[]

All assets, rigs, models, and elements necessary to create the film were created from scratch, using the original in-game models from scratch. Using existing art allowed the producers to lower the cost during this stage of development.[4] Insomniac concept artists Greg Baldwin and Dave Guertin were visual designers for both the game and the film.[13]

Rainmaker employees Tom Tanaka and Oliver Wade, the head of story and animation producer respectively, had coincidentally both worked on the original Ratchet & Clank in 2002, with Tom developing some of the first development visuals, and Oliver as the lead animation director for the game.[22]

Throughout production, Rainmaker and Insomniac had a healthy partnership to retain creative vision between the two, and film assets were usable for the 2016 game.[13]

Release[]

The film was delayed from a 2015 release to a 2016 release, due to release windows and market competitiveness.[13] The film released theatrically in North America on April 29, 2016, distributed by Gramercy Pictures, a division of Focus Features, while it was released internationally by Lionsgate and Cinema Management Group.

The film was released in home media by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on Digital HD on August 2, 2016, and on Blu-ray and DVD on August 23, 2016.[23]

Reception[]

Box office[]

Ratchet & Clank grossed $8.8 million in North America and $4.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $13 million.[2]

Pre-release tracking suggested the film would gross $8–10 million from 2,891 theaters in its opening weekend, trailing Keanu (with a $10–14 million projection) and Mother's Day (with a $11 million projection).[24] The film finished at 7th at the box office and grossed just $4.9 million in its opening weekend.[25] Following this, Rainmaker announced an impairment charge on their $10 million investment. The film's producer Michael Hefferon stated that the "huge success of The Jungle Book, and continued strength of Zootopia, represented a loss of a large portion of the family market". He went on to say "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."[26] In its second weekend, the film grossed just $1.5 million (a drop of 70%), finishing 9th at the box office.[27]

The movie caused Rainmaker Entertainment to lose around $10 million.[14]

Critical response[]

The Ratchet & Clank film was poorly received by critics. 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, 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. it offers little to truly recommend."[28] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 29/100, based on 19 reviews.[29]

James Stevenson noted that Insomniac Games considered the film a success from their standpoint, saying that the core fans had "really loved the movie overall".[30]

References[]

  1. Kevin Munroe Talks ‘Ratchet & Clank’. Animation World Network. Accessed April 29, 2016.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Ratchet & Clank (2016). Box Office Mojo - Summary. Accessed June 10, 2017.
    Ratchet & Clank (2016) - Foreign. Box Office Mojo. Accessed July 4, 2017.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Ratchet & Clank Movie Announcement - Teaser published by PlayStation on April 23, 2013 on YouTube. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Ratchet and Clank Animated Movie Headed to Theaters. IGN. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  5. Ratchet & Clank Movie Releases April 29, 2016 in US. IGN. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  6. Ratchet & Clank (2016 game), Captain Qwark: They're making a game based on a holo-film based on my life?
  7. Ratchet & Clank Wiki 2018 interview with James Stevenson
  8. Ratchet & Clank (2016 game), Shiv Helix: "In the holofilm Ratchet ended up drifting in deep space for like weeks until he finally managed to assemble a gravity drive using an old ham radio and a banana."
    Qwark: "Never happened. In reality, he just went home"
  9. Ratchet & Clank (2002 game), Goodies § "Epilogue gallery", contains a poster for Ratchet & Clank: The Motion Picture
  10. Sneak peek: 'Ratchet & Clank' takes buddy comedy to space. USA Today. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  11. 20 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About "Ratchet & Clank" from Director Kevin Munroe. IndieWire. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  12. 12.0 12.1 ‘Ratchet & Clank’ Games Get Film Treatment (EXCLUSIVE). Variety. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 ​Ratchet & Clank (2016) postmortem. Gamasutra. Accessed January 21, 2018.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 At Long Last: Ratchet & Clank, The Movie!. Wordpress (tjfixman). Accessed September 1, 2018. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "tjfixman blog announce" defined multiple times with different content
  15. Twitter logo Tweet by @TJFixman on Twitter.
  16. Twitter logo Tweet by @TJFixman on Twitter.
  17. 15 Years of Ratchet & Clank: A Lombax Story (@47:45) published by GDC on June 26, 2018 on YouTube. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  18. Twitter logo Tweet by @TJFixman on Twitter.
  19. Twitter logo Tweet by @TJFixman on Twitter.
  20. Twitter logo Tweet by @TJFixman on Twitter.
  21. ​20 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About “Ratchet & Clank” from Director Kevin Munroe. IndieWire. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  22. RATCHET & CLANK Hits Digital HD 8/9 and Blu-ray & DVD 8/23. Pre-Order It Today!. Ramascreen. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  23. Disney’s ‘The Jungle Book’ to Lead Third Weekend in a Row Ahead of ‘Keanu’. TheWrap. Accessed April 26, 2016.
  24. "Jungle Book" Still Hot In Third Weekend With $35M-$36M; "Mother's Day" Has Edge Over "Keanu". Deadline Hollywood. Accessed {{{access-date}}}.
  25. Rainmaker Entertainment Provides Financial Update With Respect to Ratchet & Clank Domestic Release. Marketwired. Accessed May 8, 2016.
  26. Disney’s Spoils Of "Civil War": $61M+ Saturday As ‘Captain America’ Heads To $181.8M. Deadline Hollywood. Accessed May 8, 2016.
  27. Ratchet & Clank (2016). Rotten Tomatoes. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  28. Ratchet & Clank reviews. Metacritic. Accessed September 1, 2018.
  29. ​Insomniac Games Talks Ratchet & Clank – Movie, Sequel and Remasters. PlayStation LifeStyle. Accessed January 21, 2018.
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