With the set up of the story and the comedic voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, and Jack McBrayer, it was really awesome to see it set inside the world of an arcade with video game characters from Street Fighter to Sonic. It created a great film for kids and an even greater film to the nostalgic adults who grew up with these arcade games.
The story is as basic as the title says. Ralph no longer wants to be the villain of his game due to the lack of appreciation while his colleague, Fix-It Felix Jr, is praised greatly. Frustrated and jealous, Ralph leaves his game in search of glory so he can be revered as a hero. Upon leaving his game, he encounters colorful characters like Sergeant Calhoun from a first-person shooter game, Hero's Duty, and a hyperactive glitchy girl name Vanellope Von Schweetz from the racing game, Sugar Rush. Unfortunately, one event leads to another and Ralph not only risks having his game unplugged due to his absence, but risks the whole arcade of disaster. But that's as much as I can reveal without spoilers.
The main characters:
- John C. Reilly is truly up there as one of the most comedic actors, and he doesn't disappoint as Ralph. I almost forgot that he can pull off as a serious character while still able to get out humor. That's what Ralph is. He's a nice guy, but knows when to be serious. Can be timid and a big goofball, but is easy to snap and make frustrated. He starts off as greedy and unacceptable of who he is, but forgets his greed to save those he truly cares about.
- When I saw Sarah Silverman as Vanellope, I thought she was going to portray an incredibly annoying kid. She starts off as kinda annoying but Vanellope proved to be a sweet and funny girl with a huge drive and passion to become a racer no matter what everyone else thinks of her.
- I remember seeing Jack McBrayer as the one awkward kid from Talladega Nights and I saw a lot of that geeky and awkward personality in Felix. He's not the strongest guy but he's still so determined to save his game no matter what it takes to bring back Ralph. He's just an overall goofy guy full of determination.
- Sergeant Calhoun is a bit more of a minor character, but Jane Lynch's name is shown on posters and stuff so might as well have her. Lynch is often type-casted as a very sarcastic character who really doesn't care what comes out of her mouth. Not that it's a bad thing because she's always hilarious in that weird way. Calhoun's a big no-nonsense soldier in that very humorous way, yet is programmed with a tragic past, so you do feel pretty bad for her.
As animation goes for Disney, it follows the formula of bright and colorful with dark and scary. It takes advantage of taking place in the world of arcade games and not just including old games like Q*bert and Pac-man, but taking advantage of pure creativity with their original worlds of Fix-It Felix Jr., Hero's Duty, and Sugar Rush, though mostly Sugar Rush. I swear just looking at that part of the movie instantly gave me a cavity with an entire world made of candy. And it also takes advantages of maybe one too many puns but they're hilarious. There will be about a billion references not just to old video games but modern day stuff to, so if that's a pet peeve of yours, you may not enjoy this movie, but that doesn't destroy the film in any way. I also liked how some of the characters movements were very "8-bit". Very blocky and it suited very well for such a world.
The story/message:
While having a ton of comedic moments, the story does take time to be serious and really do make some tear-jerking moments. Yeah, I'm a bit of a baby. Again, it mixes bright and colorful to dark and near depressing. I really liked how it was about stereotyping and labeling, and this story went with a great route and told really nicely. It gave a nice blend of humor, drama, light, dark, and great animation. One of the best family films of the year.
I also should point out the animated short shown before Wreck-It Ralph because it's truly groundbreaking in animation. The short is called Paperman, and it's about a man in 40s NYC trying to get the attention of a girl he met in a chance encounter by paper airplanes. It's silent and black and white but it's a very sweet and cute romantic story, including some great music. But good god the animation! By far Disney's finest. You can find a couple videos online about it, but the animation is a combination of 3D animation overlapped by traditional 2D hand-drawn animation. I almost thought I was watching a 2D short. It is so creative and it looks like a piece of art. The short unfortunately isn't fully available online yet, but you can find featurettes about the short online until the short is available but just.. Agh! It's the best artwork I've seen out of Disney since Brave and its short, La Luna. Go see it!!
I also should point out the animated short shown before Wreck-It Ralph because it's truly groundbreaking in animation. The short is called Paperman, and it's about a man in 40s NYC trying to get the attention of a girl he met in a chance encounter by paper airplanes. It's silent and black and white but it's a very sweet and cute romantic story, including some great music. But good god the animation! By far Disney's finest. You can find a couple videos online about it, but the animation is a combination of 3D animation overlapped by traditional 2D hand-drawn animation. I almost thought I was watching a 2D short. It is so creative and it looks like a piece of art. The short unfortunately isn't fully available online yet, but you can find featurettes about the short online until the short is available but just.. Agh! It's the best artwork I've seen out of Disney since Brave and its short, La Luna. Go see it!!
