Wreck-It Ralph (11/8/12)
Movie Two Hundred Fifty Three
A video game villain wants to be treated like a hero and jumps into other games to win a medal in Wreck-It Ralph.
The game Fix-It Felix, Jr. is home to game villain Wreck-It Ralph aka Ralph (John C. Reilly) who, after 30 years of service in the same arcade, decides he is tired of always being the villain and wants the recognition of a hero. When the in-game building residents throw Fix-It Felix, Jr. (Jack McBrayer) a 30th anniversary party without inviting Ralph, Ralph crashes the party and smashes the cake. Ralph then decides he needs to win a medal to prove his worth as a good guy. Ralph learns that the new neighboring game called Hero's Duty gives out medals to the winner so Ralph decides to leave his game in search of a medal. After taking a medal and accidentally launching a spacecraft, Ralph and the cy-bug enemy from Hero's Duty are launched to a neighboring racing game called Sugar Rush where Ralph must retrieve his medal from Venellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman)by helping her win the race.
Wreck-It Ralph may very well be the perfect movie for me, a video game loving movie nerd. It combines my great love of video games, hits big on nostalgia for retro gaming and arcades, and also has that great Disney touch. There are so many sly nods to video games over the past three decades that it's easy to miss most of them. Wreck-It Ralph is to video games as Toy Story is to toys and that is perhaps the best way I can describe the movie. While Wreck-It Ralph relies on knowledge of some video games, it is really only for the setup of the film, once Ralph leaves his game he is in the video game worlds created for the movie in Hero's Duty and Sugar Rush, though both of these games are heavily influenced by actual video games.
I do not usually defend 3D in movies as I find it superfluous in nearly all instances, but Disney treats 3D with a sense of care. There are no gags in Wreck-It Ralph with random stuff flying at the screen just for the sake of 3D, the 3D is mostly used just to give scenes a particular depth to them. While I still could do without 3D, I would rather have it benefit the movie rather than be obnoxious.
One comparison Wreck-It Ralph is destined for is how it fares against Pixar animated movies. While Wreck-It Ralph may lack that extreme level of polish, I would be surprised if people could really tell this wasn't a Pixar movie. The story gets a bit bogged down towards the end, but the pacing never plods along. Even young kids with no real knowledge of older video games will not have the setup go over their heads. For example, there are several Q*Bert jokes that should work for all audiences, regardless of if you remember Q*Bert.
Disney has a winner with Wreck-It Ralph and I hope that its a movie that remains high on people's favorites for the studio. I think it has the potential to be a classic, though once the video game references start getting old, they will either be the good type of nostalgic or archaic. Hopefully the former, but I'm already in love with Wreck-It Ralph and can't wait to watch it again.
I give it 5 awesome official websites out of 5.
This entry was posted in Months, November, Theater and tagged 3d, disney, fix-it felix jr, jack mcbrayer, john c reilly, movies, sarah silverman, theater, wreck-it ralph. Bookmark the permalink.
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44 responses to "Wreck-It Ralph (11/8/12)"
Fogs' Movie Reviews says:
Its definitely worthy of high praise. I gave it a really good grade as well…
The characters are fun, and the story is too. Plus, as you say, Andy, if you're a video game nerd there are so many allusions to classic characters and things like that. Very very enjoyable flick! 😀
Definitely! I knew I would enjoy it, but I think Disney did a really great job with it. Most of the criticism I've seen is along the lines of it being on par with Pixar's worst films, which is an unfair comparison to me.
A Dog With Fleas says:
I am not usually a fan of animation movies, you made me want to see this with your review. As a fan of the nostalgic video games, I think it is something I would enjoy. Not knowing much about this movie, is it one for kids as well? My nephews are huge gamers, and know they would enjoy this.
Yeah, I think the goal was to hook our generation with the classic arcade game stuff and then get younger kids in with just about everything else. Definitely would recommend for young gamers as well as older.
P.S. – My nephews are between the ages of 6 through 14 and they all love video games.
The 14 year old might be around the age where he thinks the film is too kiddy, but I think I still would have loved it as a 14 year old.
Thanks….he's a big movie fan too so will probably enjoy it. Thanks for the recommendation.
Sure thing, let me know what you (and they) think!
RogueTheGirl says:
Oh I was glad to see you review this – was debating whether to go and see it or not, but it looks well worthwhile… Also not a fan of 3D, I find the images often annoying rather than adding something nice to the film and the fact that I paid extra for it just increases my annoyance. Will check this out though!
I actually don't think we paid more to see it in 3D, or the difference was negligible. It's probably not one you need to bust yourself getting to see in theaters, but it's definitely worth your time at some point.
themarknight says:
So glad you liked this. I completely agree with this review and I loved this movie. While it doesn't rank up there as an instant Disney classic, it is certainly close.
Yeah, it may not live down as a classic but it's going to be one of my favorites for quite some time, I think
wordschat says:
3D is often wasted on those fly at the screen scenes like you mentioned. Oddly here with the pixelated old tech characters the 3D works. I also found it works well in concert movies like Glee (yes I'm a Gleek). Did you get your souvenier Wreck-it Ralph cup with your popcorn? For Q-Bert fans like us look up Q-Boyd for your Android phone. It is "virtually" the same which as Tony the Tiger said
".. is G-r-r-r-e-a-t".
A cup?!?! NO!!! I'm going to Disney World next week so I'll stock up on souvenirs there 😉
Ha, that makes me wish I had an Android phone
mandarox says:
I've been really interested in seeing this film, and now I definitely will. I can't wait to see all the nostalgic game references 🙂
I had a huge grin on my face for the first 30+ minutes
The Heretic says:
I want to see this!
Aw, I was going to avoid this because it just seemed kind of boring but you've totally talked it up here and now I want to give it a go!
That's so much pressure! What if you still find it boring after you watch it?!?!
Then I'll have to yell at you, Andy… ;-p
Noooo!!!
ianthecool says:
What is the sappy cuteness of the girl character like? Because that is what is honestly holding me back, is seeing those scenes with her in the trailers.
As for your 3D comment, I used to agree with you on the gimmick vs. depth debate, but the depth so rarely ever works well I kind of wonder, whats the point? I may as well have stuff thrown at the screen so I can at least tell its in 3D. But that's just where my jadedness has brought me I guess.
The whole Sugar Rush game is meant to be kind of sappy, but the character never really bothered me. I mean, it's Sarah Silverman doing the voice so there's kind of an edge to all her lines, even though her voice is sped up to be higher.
My biggest thing with 3D is that if I stop noticing it, I consider it a success. It should be the type of thing that is seamless to the movie experience. I think Disney in general does a good job of this, but it's not necessarily worth more to the ticket price.
I'm a big video game nerd so can't wait for this to hit next year. Even the trailers had be pointing at all the different references, I wonder if I'll pay attention to the story at all!
Too bad you have to wait!
They kind of force you into paying attention to the story once Ralph ends up in the Sugar Rush game but then they throw some more references at you near the end.
Any mention of Frogger in this movie? Nice review.
He has a quick cameo. I'm sure there are tons of cameos I didn't even notice and I was looking hard.
I knew this movie was something special when they dusted off Q-Bert.
Q-Bert is in several scenes, actually. Kind of obscure in the most awesome way possible.
Have you seen the retro Atari system they are selling in stores? It looks pretty neat.
I've been tempted to pick it up but I think I would rather dust off my old Atari and play the real thing
Mark Hobin says:
The second half of the film felt more like a riff on the board game Candy Land than a tribute to video games. It made me more want to visit a bakery than break out my old Atari 2600. Still, it's cutesy fun for kids.
The second half does lose the "nostalgia factor" that makes the first half so enjoyable, but I was caught up in the story by that point so I was OK with it.
i loved q-bert. i wonder if they have that for my phone.
There's a flash version if nothing else!
http://www.1980-games.com/us/action-games/remake/q-bert.php
See also my comment on Nov 19.
Nice review. Glad you enjoyed this one so much. Still haven't seen it because every theater here insists on showing it dubbed.
Ew, why? Is that a Disney thing to do?
It's a Mexican thing to do. They assume none of us speak English or are too lazy to read subtitles. If it's animated or a "kids" movie, they automatically dub it. IT SUCKS.
Great review, Andy. I think the references will probably hold up over the years, since most of them are already "retro" (and it helps that none of them are done in such a way that you need to get them to understand the movie; like you say, kids that don't know Q*Bert will still understand the Q*Bert scenes.)
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