The sequel to the Disney hit “Wreck it Ralph” smashed into theaters around the country over Thanksgiving break, and also into the hearts of the viewers. “Ralph Breaks the Internet” teaches the children watching important lessons about friendship and empowerment.

The movie manages to develop returning characters while introducing new ones that enhance the story and showcase the flaws in the main characters that must be overcome. While the majority of the movie takes place in the internet, it manages to connect both the wonders and dangers of modern technology to very real emotions that apply to both children and adults.

While the movie was packed-full of product placement in a way reminiscent of the much-deplored “Emoji Movie,” it focused not on the websites it highlighted, but on the characters’ experiences with them. This made the showcased websites less commercial-based and more for the audience’s benefit; Ralph and Vanellope’s interactions with these known sites elicited many laughs, and they all fit into the narrative nicely.

Though the movie was flashy with many moving parts, ultimately, the theme boiled down to friendship, like the first, and in particular, the ways in which friendships can change; this made the seemingly complicated plot rather simplistic, and increased the enjoyability of the movie as a whole. By staging the plot on the Internet, the traits of the characters are exaggerated to the point at which they cannot be ignored, and the characters receive the same awareness of their actions that the audience had throughout the movie. This allows the clinginess of Ralph to show very clearly while Vanellope’s dreams of racing threaten to pull them apart.

Overall, “Ralph Breaks the Internet” is chock-full of fun moments between new characters and old, along with extremely touching moments that focus on real problems the audience of children may be facing. Because of its flashy setting, some plot points are lost in the noise, contrary to the original, with its simplistic and nostalgic feel, but most points come through clearly, and some parts that drown out others are delightful and deserved even more time.

Perhaps Disney tried to put too many things in one movie, or they allowed their more subtle themes to become too tangible, but this movie is not as good as the original. That being said, it is a delightful, enjoyable, and purely fun movie that is still better than many other films currently in theaters.