Wreck-It Ralph – 4/5 Movie Reviews by Ry!
Wreck-It Ralph – 4/5 – Disney films; what can you say about them. They are, as much as I hate to say it, too many of them out there. Bombarded in the mass of child’s play and fairy tales; Disney does tends to etch its own style and flavor to this part of the market A lot of Disney movies are decent to watch, but don’t always hit at the heart all the time. For all the ‘Lion King’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ films, you have unwanted sequels, and stale money grabs like the Lion King Sequels and re-released 3-D films. For the most part, Disney has done a decent job. For this movie, they do more than just create an appeal for childhood memories; they create a film that hits at the heart of all ages, young and old. What they have created here is a wonderful mix of fun, flattery and a little nod to video game geekdom.
In the world of arcades, lives a lively hood of many characters. Along with these characters lives a video game character by the name of Wreck-It Ralph (voice by John C. Reilly). For 30 years, he has been the bad guy in the video game. All through those years, he longs to be beloved as his good guy companion, Fix-It Felix (Voiced by Jack McBrayer). The problem is, no one loves the bad guy. Ralph wants to change that, and begins to game jump between the games. When a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice by Jane Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game to win a medal, but ends up wrecking everything. He accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph’s only hope is another character from a candy racing game, by the name of Vanellope von Schweetz (voice by Sarah Silverman). She is a young troublemaking “glitch”. When it comes to animation, the acting is almost aligned with how well the animation is along with the voicing for the characters. I am glad to say the voice acting is done really well Reilly brings his slap stick mantra to the role of Ralph. He is a bumbling idiot, but someone who is pure at heart. He wants to prove his worth, and must learn a sense of humility to really see what it means to be a ‘good’ guy. Outside of him, the stand outs are the other main characters of Fix-it Felix and Vanellope von Schweetz. Felix is the typical down to heart, affluent and lovable character. He is charming and witty. You feel good that Ralph has him as his friend. Ms. Schweetz is also a lovable, charming little girl character. She is very sassy, brutish and somewhat annoying. Most of the annoyance is because of how Silverman voices the character. After a while, you get use to it and the annoyance helps add to the innocence of the little girl she is. Outside of the main characters, there is many references to old and new school gaming. A lot of characters are recognize, like Bowser and Sonic to good old Pac-man and Qubert. All of this adds to the level of flavor to the movie, as well as gives nods to all the video gamer geeks at heart.
The direction of the film is, outside of the lovable characters and realistic notes, pretty straight forward for a Disney film. You see that it follows the trend of a character who must learn the error of his ways, along with saving the ‘arcade’ world from utter destruction. You have your typical outlandish villain to fight Ralph, and many nods to Disney flavors with down to heart moments, like the ones that happen between the little girl and Ralph. For the most, the strong themes carry strong from beginning to end. Even for this simple motion, it does add a lot of unique flavor with the usage of a ‘toy story’ meets ‘arcade’ kind of feel.
When it comes to the cinematography, it is stupendous. The world of the arcade characters is so vivid, that you feel like it’s a place that really exists. You actually want to run down the street to your local arcade and play some Pac-man. From the Wreck-Ralph world to the candy land style racing game, you see strong built, colorful worlds with of lot of texture. The atmosphere is strong and alive, and you feel the purity when the movie goes along.
Overall, this is a strong addition to the world of Disney. A very vivid world with a strong theme of finding who you really are, you feel as if it was a worthy journey for Wreck-it Ralph. There is strong voice acting for some lovable characters, as well as a charming story for the typical simple direction of any Disney film. You can’t go wrong with paying to see this movie. It is a good family outing for anyone who has kids as well and is a big fan of video games.