The latest in a long line of unwanted video games turned into movies is the Playstation extravanganza ‘Ratchet & Clank’ (no, me neither) about some furry creature who works as a mechanic (hence the name, Ratchet) but dreams of being a space ranger unlike our Editor who dreams of being competent (‘You’re fired’ – Ed) and ends up meeting and befriending a little robot (hence the name, Clank).
With Harold Pinter not having been approached to write the script possibly because he died in 2008 and Shakespeare not returning any phone calls because, again, he too is dead, although we didn’t even know he’d been ill (‘You’re an idiot’ – Ed) it’s been left to the writers involved in the video game to cobble together the story which involves the pair joining up with a group of said space rangers to save the universe (Isn’t it always the case? They never have to rescue a community centre or the local pub from closing down and turning into a Tesco’s). Behind the dastardly plan is a tyrannical space captain, a be-suited slick ponytailed baddie that is something of an 80’s throwback and a mad alien scientist who’s a little too close to Spiderman’s nemesis the Green Goblin.
With Pixar and Disney upping the ante so much over the years it leaves ‘Ratchet & Clank’ far behind and this will be of primary interest to tweenie boys as there’s little here for adults. In fact this is probably one film that would benefit from being in 3D as this is little better than an extended Saturday morning Kids TV cartoon and is inevitably where its destined to be enjoyed most.
Here’s the trailer:
