Honestly, the Ratchet and Clank 2016 movie is a weird piece of history. It’s a movie based on a game that was being remade based on the movie that was based on the original 2002 game. Confused? You should be. It’s a circular logic nightmare that somehow resulted in one of the most visually stunning yet narratively hollow animated films of the mid-2010s.
Most people remember the game—the PS4 "reimagining"—more fondly than the film itself. That’s because the game felt like a celebration, while the movie often felt like a ninety-minute commercial. But if you look closer, there's a lot to dissect regarding why Rainmaker Entertainment and PlayStation Originals couldn’t quite capture the magic that Insomniac Games had been cultivating for over a decade.
The Origin Story Nobody Asked to Change
The Ratchet and Clank 2016 movie attempts to retell how a fuzzy Lombax mechanic and a defective "warbot" became the galaxy's greatest heroes. In the original 2002 vision, Ratchet was kind of a jerk. He was selfish. He wanted to leave his backwater planet of Veldin to see the stars, and he didn't really care about being a hero until he was forced into it.
The movie scrubs all that away.
In this version, Ratchet is a wide-eyed dreamer who just wants to join the Galactic Rangers. He's a "nice guy" from frame one. While that makes him more "likable" for a PG audience, it kills the character arc. You lose the friction between him and Clank. In the original games, they didn't even like each other for the first half of the story. That tension made their eventual friendship feel earned. The film replaces that growth with a standard "believe in yourself" trope that feels a bit thin if you grew up with the sharper edge of the early 2000s titles.
Why the Visuals Outshined the Script
You can’t talk about the Ratchet and Clank 2016 movie without mentioning the look. It looks incredible. For a film produced on a budget of roughly $20 million—which is peanuts compared to a $150 million Pixar or DreamWorks project—the talent at Rainmaker punched way above their weight class.
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The environments are lush. Metropolis on Planet Kerwan feels alive, bustling with flying cars and neon lights. The fur tech on Ratchet is top-tier.
But then the characters start talking.
While the animation is fluid, the writing feels trapped between two worlds. It wants to be a kids' movie, but it also tries to wink at the adult fans who have been playing the series since the PlayStation 2 era. The result is a lot of "meta" humor that doesn't always land. There’s a gag about a "Phone Ranger" and several jokes about internet culture that felt dated the moment the movie hit theaters. It lacks the satirical bite of the games, which used to mock consumerism and corporate greed with a level of cynicism that the movie is clearly afraid of.
The Voice Cast Dilemma
One of the biggest wins for fans was the return of the core voice cast. James Arnold Taylor (Ratchet), David Kaye (Clank), and Jim Ward (Captain Qwark) are icons in the gaming world. Hearing them on the big screen was a treat. However, the studio felt the need to pad the roster with "big names" to sell tickets.
- Paul Giamatti as Chairman Drek.
- John Goodman as Grimroth.
- Sylvester Stallone as Victor Von Ion.
- Rosario Dawson as Elaris.
Giamatti is actually great. He brings a frantic, nasally energy to Drek that fits perfectly. Stallone, however, feels like he’s in a different movie entirely. His character, Victor, is a robotic enforcer who exists mostly to give Clank an action beat, but he’s eventually dispatched in a way that feels incredibly anticlimactic. It’s a classic case of "Hollywood-itis"—hiring stars for marketing rather than necessity.
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The "Game-Movie-Game" Loophole
Here is where things get really messy. The Ratchet and Clank 2016 movie was developed alongside the PS4 game. They shared assets. Insomniac Games literally took the cinematic files from the movie and stuffed them into the game as cutscenes.
This created a bizarre experience for players.
If you played the game first, you had already seen about 20 minutes of the movie. When you finally sat down in the theater, you realized the game actually told the story better. The game had more room to breathe, more planets to explore, and more time for the characters to interact. The movie felt like a "Greatest Hits" montage of the game you just finished.
Critics weren't kind. The film holds a fairly low score on Rotten Tomatoes, often cited for its "blandness." It grossed about $14 million worldwide, which, against its $20 million budget (plus marketing), made it a box office bomb. This effectively killed the chances of a cinematic sequel or the rumored Sly Cooper movie that was supposed to follow it.
Captain Qwark: The Only One Who Got It Right
If there is a saving grace in the Ratchet and Clank 2016 movie, it is Captain Qwark.
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Jim Ward's performance is flawless. The movie understands Qwark better than any other character. He is an ego-driven, insecure, bumbling fraud who genuinely wants to be loved but keeps making the wrong choices. The subplot where Qwark becomes jealous of Ratchet’s rising fame and eventually betrays the Rangers to join Drek is the only part of the movie with real emotional stakes.
It’s funny. It’s pathetic. It’s classic Ratchet and Clank.
The Legacy of the 2016 Reimagining
Despite its flaws, the film served a purpose. It introduced a new generation to the franchise. Without the 2016 push, we might not have received Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on the PS5, which is arguably one of the best games in the entire series.
The movie proved that the look of a video game could translate perfectly to cinema. It just failed to prove that the soul could do the same without a stronger script. It remains a fascinating artifact of an era where Sony was trying to figure out how to turn their gaming IPs into "PlayStation Productions" long before The Last of Us or Uncharted became hits.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans
If you're looking to revisit this universe, don't just stop at the movie. To get the full picture, you need to engage with the media in a specific order to avoid burnout.
- Watch the movie first: If you haven't seen it, watch it as a standalone piece. It's a fun, lighthearted space adventure if you aren't comparing it to the deeper lore of the games.
- Play the 2016 PS4 Game: Notice the differences. Pay attention to how the game handles the relationship between the duo compared to the film. You’ll find the gameplay makes the "origin story" feel much more rewarding.
- Read the Ratchet and Clank Manga/Comics: For those who felt the movie script was too "safe," the older Wildstorm comics offer a bit more of that classic snark and edge that the 2016 film lacked.
- Compare the Drek: Look up the original Chairman Drek from 2002 on YouTube. You'll see a villain who was a terrifying commentary on corporate pollution, a sharp contrast to the more comedic version in the 2016 film.
The Ratchet and Clank 2016 movie isn't a masterpiece, but it isn't a disaster either. It’s a beautifully animated, somewhat safe entry point into a galaxy that usually has a lot more teeth. It stands as a reminder that even the best graphics can't replace the need for a protagonist who has a little bit of a rough edge to smooth out.