Starring the voices of: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot

Directed by Rich Moore, Phil Johnston

Disney, out now

Best buddies Ralph and Vanellope live an idyllic life inside a video game arcade until one of the machines is broken and threatens the home of its occupants. A replacement steering wheel will fix the problem but requires a journey to the uncharted realm of the Internet.

Six years after the Disney hit Wreck-It Ralph smashed onto our screens, the original cast return for a belated sequel in a patchy but generally fun romp. The greatest draw is still the combination of great lug Ralph (John C Reilly) and cute but feisty racing car driver Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), but the jokes are not quite as fast and furious as you’d expect.

Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious and Wonder Woman) plays new character Shank, lead driver in a Grand Theft Auto-style game that Vanellope relocates to, and there’s some really sweet messages about friendship and insecurities across the movie. But the central conceit about our heroes discovering the Wild West of the Web just feels a little… late. It would have been old news when the first movie came out, and now  the pop culture references feel a bit passé, joking about eBay, YouTube, viruses and pop-up ads.

My favourites scenes are those featuring the Disney Princesses, each trading on their USPs in a hilarious and insightful way. We even get a satirical new Alan Menken song and some fine animation in the form of a giant Ralph created from thousands of little Ralphs, but it all just feels a little under-nourished.

Verdict: If you’re going to take six years to return you’d better have something special up your pixel-packed sleeves. Sadly, Ralph 2 is not a patch on the original, lacking in the originality of the first story and relying on sight gags, some of which just don’t land. The morals and friendship come from the heart, and kids will enjoy the multicoloured fantasy environment, but Princesses aside this is nothing special. The post-credits scenes are fun though. 6/10

Nick Joy