Wreck-It Ralph
Wreck-It Ralph is surprisingly a fun Disney movie that has shades of Monster Inc in the story with some nostalgia to old school games to boot. Rich with some emotional scenes, I got a little teary eyed in a few moments in the film. The movie is both a tribute to those old school arcade games and to some earlier Disney movies. One character is a clear tribute to This is probably the closest you’re going to get to a Pixar movie without it being a Pixar movie. The movie has a lot of heart to it to make you care for the characters. I guess that’s something that Disney carried away from merging with Pixar.
To put it simply, Wreck-It (WR) is fun. The concept is similar to Toy Story. After the kids leave the arcade and it closes, the videogame characters break character and go about their normal lives. It is basically a job for them. They play good guys and bad guys. Ralph is tired of being the main villain in his game and decides he wants to be the one to get the “gold medal”. So, he leaves his game in search of a gold medal. Bad things happen because of this game-jumping (Going Turbo).
I wasn’t 100% on board with John C. Reilly being the voice of Ralph (AKA the villain in the arcade game), but the actual character won me over. He’s basically Donkey Kong without the body hair. He has very large hands that can cause great damage, bur he's a loveable loner. His videogame world is a cross between Rampage and Donkey Kong. On the other hand, the Good Guy character is clearly a take on Mario because he's a handyman like the plumber. His hammer can fix anything even outside his videogame world.
The realm of the arcade world isn’t as fully explored as the trailers hint at. Some people might have a problem with that. We don’t get the world-jumping story as much as the marketing people want you to believe. Actually, the story is more focused on the relationship between Ralph and a little VG girl named Vanellopein another game called Sugar Rush (Think Mario Cart and Crash Racing) . This is probably the strongest portion of the story, which is strange because the trailers don’t really touch upon this. There is a bit of these two being outsiders that makes them want to be friends, so there is a bond.
It is more of a character-based movie than a concept story. The concept is still interesting and does come back into play in the twist ending. Speaking of the twist, I have to give them credit for the way they hinted at it the throughout the game.
WR does a splendid job getting the feel of those hours hanging out at the arcades. The worlds inside the games well-constructed. At times, there are scenes that truly feel like videogame action scenes that we've come to play over the years. The Halo-like game is one of those moments. And, you truly feel immersed in the game worlds presented in this movie.
Probably the best performances have to go to two of the women in the cast. Sarah Silverman is just wonderful as the outsider character Vanellope. The character is a cutesy girl that is treated as a glitch, so people in her world hate her. Given that Ralph is an outsider, she and Ralph have good chemistry together. It is clearly a big brother and sister relationship, and the writers and director handle it very well. And, that's what the story is about. The other actress is Jane Lynch as she plays the “tough as nails” female space marine in a Halo type game. Lynch does such a good job in the convincing role. The character is in HD with a lot of polygons.
With stunning CGI animated graphics that real varied as they are interesting, Wreck-It Ralph is something to marvel. With a strong story, I found myself really enjoying the ride. It feels like a Pixar movie, and partly that has to do with one of producers being from that company. The throwback references are sweet, but not overwhelming. The VG worlds are believable and fun. The characters are people you can cheer for and the “twist” in the third act was a nice turn. I loved this movie a lot.
I'm going to wreck it!
Grade: A-
Note:
-Metal Gear Solid Reference: I laughed when I saw and heard this one. Only people that are fans of the series will catch it. What it implies is Snake visited this arcade world at some point.
Cross between Mass Effect-Alien-Halo.
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Q-bert: I was never a big fan of this game, but I remember the strange cartoon show which it was based on.
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