Usually, movies based on video games tend to not do very well as cinematic adventures. Despite having all the right ingredients practically gift-wrapped for them in the form of the game itself, the movies never lend themselves to the same amount of quality that video games would seem to offer. However, Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph is different because even though it’s not based on any video game property, it has many aspects of video games written all over it with the addition of having great characters and a wonderful story. This movie is directed by Rich Moore who is best known as a writter for the early seasons of The Simpsons and would later go on to co-direct Zootopia and the sequel to Wreck-it Ralph titled Ralph Breaks the Internet. There are plenty of things to admire about Wreck-It Ralph that both gamers and moviegoers can all enjoy.
In a world where video games in an arcade have lives beyond the game, Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the bad guy of a game called Fix-it Felix Jr where he tries to wreck a building and stop Felix (Jack McBrayer) from fixing it. Despite being a big part of the game, Ralph is rejected by the Nicelanders of the apartment complex and is not appreciated for even being a part of the game. One day, he decides to go to a different game called hero’s duty to win a medal so he can hopefully gain the respect he deserves. He eventually wins the medal but soon he loses it in another game called Sugar Rush when a glitchy little girl named Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sara Silverman) steals the medal to enter a race so she can be accepted by the other sugar rush racers. Ralph and Vanellope strike a deal that if he can help her win the race she’ll be able to get Ralph’s metal back. Meanwhile, a worried Felix teams up with Calhoun (Jane Lynch) from Hero’s Duty to track down Ralph and get him back home safely before he can get into even more trouble.
his movie has a great premise that could allow so much world building and creative ideas. Luckily this movie takes advantage of the arcade setting as there are plenty of video game references and recognizable characters from other gaming properties roaming about especially in the first third of the movie. The great thing is that these references and copyrighted characters are made to build a world instead of feeling like an advertisement for classic gaming properties which could have been so easy for this movie to do. The only downside to all that is we only get to visit three main video game locations including Fix It Felix Jr, Heroes Duty, and Sugar Rush with the last one mentioned taking up the majority of the movie. Admittedly it would be awesome if we could see more video game worlds and characters, but that would have taken away from the heart of the movie which is centered upon Ralph and Vanellope's relationship. It’s the main thing this movie wants you to remember and it’s their journey together that brings out the heart of what the movie is truly about. I also give credit that the story is very focused with no plotholes or unnecessary padding. It would have been nice to have more, but at the same time it is great that they managed to make something great by giving us very little.
It’s quite outstanding the cast they got for this movie as this movie includes John C. Reily as Ralph, Jack Mcbrayer as Felix, Sara Silverman as Vanellope, Jane Lynch as Calhoun, and many more. Ralph is such a sympathetic character and his character journey to try to be something different than his program suggests brings a level of depth and thought-provoking ideas that is sure to reflect on the audience. Vanellope can admittedly be annoying but as the movie plays on, it becomes easier to love her because of her tragic lifestyle and thankfully Sara Silverman finds that right balance of being an out-of-control kid and a cute little innocent. Felix’s character is surprisingly very likable instead of him being full of himself persona and he too has an adventure of his own when trying to get ralph back home while also meeting Calhoun from Hero’s Duty and falling in love with her which leads to a funny and cute subplot. Probably the most surprising character is King Candy played by Alan Tudyk. Aside from reminding me of the mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland, King Candy also gives a delightful performance that leads you into a false sense of security until the truth is revealed about his true motives. Every character is fun and nobody seems out of place. These characters are lovable and relatable in the best ways possible.
The Animation in this movie is very interesting because it is a bit different from your typical CG animation. The few locations we get the visit in this movie come with their own interesting details to make each of them unique and distinct from each other. Fix It Felix Jr has a very blocky feel to represent its 2D graphic old-school arcade game inspiration. and the characters (more specifically the Nicelanders) have restrictive animation that moves at a different frame rate than most smooth CG animation. Meanwhile, Hero’s Duty is a dark and gritty first-person shooter where the charcters look realistic and the environment is very space-age in the same vein of games like Metroid and Halo. Finally Sugar Rush is basically Candy Land meets Mario Kart and the environment is filled with many citizens and the environment all inspired by many types of candy and other sweet treats. There are plenty of great uses of animation including more 2D animated segments and Vanellope’s glitching but overall the animation is great at making you feel like your in a video game-like environment with many little visual references and cues that make the world seemingly come alive.
Composer Henry Jackman does the main music score for the movie and it is great. Most of the soundtrack allows having many techno and electronic tunes that mimic the scores you’d usually hear in some of the most common video games. Still, the movie has its usual orchestrated sounds as well that are usually heard during the more mellow moments of the movie. It’s also cool that this movie managed to get some big artists to make music for this movie including Skrillex doing the theme for Hero Duty and Owl City performing the song “When Can I see you again” at the end credits.
This movie was nominated for best-animated feature at the Oscars but it lost to Pixar’s Brave. In my opinion, this movie should have won the oscar as this film has great creativity, lovable characters, outstanding animation, and a wonderful music score. Even though the world-building could have allowed the movie to explore more video game worlds and characters, in the end, we still got another winning film from Disney that has a big heart and well-crafted story and it will surely please both young and old whether you are a gamer or not.
(Final Grade: A-)