Sony’s animated Ratchet & Clank movie comes to theaters today, April 29. To help you decide if taking a trip to the theater to see the video game movie is worth your time and money, we’ve collected a series of reviews. Scroll down to see what the critics had to say about Ratchet & Clank.
The main characters are voiced by James Arnold Taylor (Ratchet) and David Kaye (Clank), who also bring the characters to life in the games. Other actors whose voices are heard in the movie include Paul Giamatti, Rosario Dawson, John Goodman, Sylvester Stallone, and Bella Thorne.
Ratchet & Clank was directed by Kevin Munroe (TMNT) and Jericca Cleland (Space Chimps), with a story written by game series scribe TJ Fixman.
For more on the critical reception to Ratchet & Clank, which tells an origin story like the newly released PlayStation 4 game (read our review here), head to GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
- Film: Ratchet & Clank
- Distributor: Focus
- Release Date: April 29
- Rating: PG
GameSpot
“Ratchet and 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.” — Mike Mahardy [Full review]
IndieWire
“So profoundly bad that it represents the worst of two entirely different mediums, Ratchet & Clank doesn’t blur the line between movies and video games so much as it flushes them both in a toilet and forces us to watch as they swirl together down the drain.” — David Ehrlick [Full review]
The New York Times
“It comes as no surprise that Ratchet & Clank is built around a PlayStation video game series that first appeared in 2002. But of course. It has little story to tell and few ideas to offer. Just a great deal of product to sell.” — Andy Webster [Full review]
The Los Angeles Times
“Ratchet & Clank feels like watching four episodes of a Saturday morning cartoon mashed into a feature-length film. The basic dramatic score underlines this sense as well as the flat character design, overly busy editing and run-of-the-mill story. No need to rush the family to the theater this weekend, you can wait for this one to hit the small screen.” — Katie Walsh [Full review]
Variety
“Whether or not they’re familiar with the source property, kids are unlikely to be deterred: There’s just enough blaring sound and color to this knowingly silly tale of interplanetary derring-do to adequately offset its impersonal corporate sheen.” — Guy Lodge [Full review]
The Globe and Mail
“The story is old and the budget, as far as big-screen animated films go, is modest. But the film makes up for any shortcomings with witty writing and vivid, brightly colored set pieces. Children will be entertained, and parents won’t regret tagging along.” — Andrew Parker [Full review]