The Short: Wreck-It Ralph is a classic. From the slick animation, the great sense of humor, nostalgia inducing references and cameos, and the surprisingly adept and emotional story, Disney's Wreck-it Ralph is the best animated comedy since Tangled, and one of Disney's best animated films ever crafted.Street Fighter, Pac-Man, Q-bert; widely known and considered classic games. But a "new challenger has entered the ring" in the form of old school, Donkey Kong inspired retro arcade game, Wreck-it Ralph. Follow the misadventures of Wreck-it Ralph, voiced by John C. Reilly, as he attempts to become a hero by jumping though various video games. I don't want to spoil any of the plot, but it is incredibly well told and is quite surprising in the end. It has that classic Disney emotion, but with a most unique "video game-y" twist. In the end, Wreck-it Ralph teaches some great lessons, but it is also neither mundane nor juvenile, and that's why it's a winner.
The cast here couldn't fit the characters better. John C. Reilly as the big guy Wreck-it Ralph, Sarah Silverman as the spirited and surprisingly funny Vanellope von Schweetz, Jane Lynch as the stoic and hilarious Sergeant Calhoun, and Jack McBrayer as the lovable and yet again laughout-loud Fix-it Felix Junior. The movie is absolutely hilarious; the performances from all of the actors fit their roles perfectly and couldn't be funnier. They couldn't have picked a better voice cast, honestly to goodness.
The animation continues the high pedigree that Disney has become famous for. Its bright and lively action is wonderful to watch, and combined with great facial animations make for a great and emotional experience. But the winner here is the way that they have adapted the oldschool style of video game animation into the film itself. You'll know what I mean when you see the movie. It makes for a truly unique, one of a kind experience! Sony's 4K presentation is crisp and vibrant.
The thing to understand though is that with its focus on video game cameos and references, don't worry! You don't have to have any knowledge of video games to understand or enjoy Wreck-it Ralph. The story and main characters are all part of the film's story and world. Rather than using the references as a crutch, they're used more as a springboard into new and unexplored fictional worlds.
Granted, gamers of all ages are going to love the care and attention taken when putting in the huge amount of references, cameos, and little bits of easter eggs spritzed and scattered throughout Wreck-it Ralph, making for a truly nostalgic inducing experience.
And those classic Disney trademarks, from great characters to a well told story, are all here and are much more than side attractions. The twist is great, the concepts are fresh, and the level of imagination at work revives my faith in the animated genre. There's still plenty left in this old dog after all.
And so I have to end this review by asking, "Are you tired of the same old washed up animated feature film? Feel like you're just too old for childish animated movies?" Wreck-it Ralph is the perfect cure. And it's meant for that group of movie goers looking for something more than just another animated money pit. It's laugh out loud funny, exciting and fresh, incredibly inventive and gleefully unique at every turn.
It's a classic no doubt, and Wreck-it Ralph will be one of those movies on my "favorites" shelf for decades to come. The true triumph? Wreck-it Ralph feels like that classic game that has been a part of my childhood ever since I can remember; the type of classic where you throw hundreds of quarters away and you honestly just don't care, because it is just that good.
5/5 Perfection; Stop reading and watch right now
The story follows Wreck-It Ralph, a "bad guy" who is tired of being the character who's only purpose is to wreck things in an arcade game called "Fix-It Felix Jr." Ralph dreams of being the hero, so he sets out to explore other games within the arcade to earn a highly-coveted medal, along with the respect he feels he deserves. The voice acting is top-notch here; John C. Reilly is great as the title character and Jack McBrayer is perfect as Felix Fix-It Jr. In fact, there isn't one member of the voice cast that is out of place. Even Sarah Silverman, whom I'm not much of a fan of, does a great job with her character, Vanellope von Schweetz. The story does have elements that are familiar, but sets itself apart by with the insertion of original jokes and clever references.
One of the things I loved most about the movie is the appeal it has for everyone, whether it be little kids, adults, video game enthusiasts, or grandparents; there's something here for everyone. Those who grew up playing classic games like Pac-Man and Tapper will be overjoyed with some of the references this movie contains. It's fantastic to see companies collaborate and allow their properties to come together, and I sincerely hope they make a sequel. I also thought it was great how the creative team incorporated various gaming elements into the movie. For example, in the same scene they will have highly modernized characters with fluid movement interacting with jittery characters in the old 8-bit style, something I'd never seen in a film.
As I said, this was the best animated film of the year for me and one of the most enjoyable I've seen in a long time. If you have nostalgia for old video games, you'll be sure to love this movie. I would highly recommend this to anyone.
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There are many great joys in life and Disney, the creators of "Wreck it Ralph", have always been experts at tapping into those emotions. It has been key to their success. Just like the characters in "Toy Story", we all long to be needed and not necessarily loved, but liked. We want to be included. We want to know that there's somebody out there who thinks of us from time to time and quite simply, that is all that Ralph wants.Locked away inside his game between the hours of open and close of the arcade, Ralph is alone. He's a bad guy. The hero of his game, Fix-it Felix is the star. Felix is the one with the friends and who receives all the accolades. When the arcade closes up for the night, the characters can travel from game to game, they can socialize with each other, but Ralph is alone, with no friends to speak of. Ralph, voiced by John C. Reilly, wants people to like him. He wants people to be proud of him, but being locked away inside his game only allows him to destroy and then get thrown off a building. This triggers a nostalgic and incredibly creative adventure.
"Wreck it Ralph" never really struck me as outwardly hilarious, but the movie is endlessly entertaining and loaded with imagery and blast from the past references. Also like "Toy Story", another world occurs when people aren't looking and when that world takes off, the video game references from the past will go right over your child's head. The adults though, will recognize characters from Super Mario Bros, Sonic, Q*bert, Street Fighter, Joust, Frogger, Pac-Man, Burger Time, the bartender from the game Tapper and even paddle one and two from the ultra nostalgic game, Pong.
Ralph means well, but like most animated movies, that doesn't always lead you in the correct direction. So, when he meets a sweet little 9-year old racer named Vanellope Von Schweetz, voiced by Sarah Silverman, he finds that he's not alone in his plight to be included. Vanellope is a glitch, a flawed character program, hidden away in the system, not allowed to play. The two of them may have formed one of the most memorable character bonds in recent history.
While the movie may not be hilariously funny, "Wreck it Ralph" is sheer joy and fun and it taps into an emotion that many adults have forgotten and many kids know all too well. It reminds you what it is like that first time you realized that you had a friend. Your child will also see a nice example of friendship and loyalty. This, in my opinion, makes "Wreck it Ralph" not just a movie for kids, but for adults as well. With all the references of nostalgic games and its flawless reminder of how euphoric friendship is, "Ralph" is for everybody.
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Since my wife and I both love seeing animated movies together, and since we both enjoy video games (especially me), it was decided that we absolutely had to see this movie! We had received a Regal Gift card a while before this came out and we actually hoarded what was on it to see this and The Hobbit once it came out as well.Going into this movie we figured we'd enjoy it because we already had some people we knew say it was awesome, and we certainly did love it, from start to finish! It was very well done and very well voiced! Plus, of course, like most animated movies, it had a good moral at the end.
My favorite part, as was many people's favorite part I'm sure, was the meeting with all the various video game villains...that part was cool. It was neat seeing all of those actual video game villains in that part, as well as all the others at different points throughout the movie. All around, the movie was great fun and suitable for most any age. I highly recommend this one! I for one will be picking this up upon it's release...definitely collection worthy!
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Being raised in the age of Atari, Pac-Man and (classic) Nintendo, I was even more excited than my kids to see this film. The only drawback I saw when I first viewed the trailer was that Sarah Silverman was cast at what seemed like an extremely annoying character, which did not surprise me since I am not that fond of her comedy. Nevertheless, I jumped at the chance when my kids said they wanted to see this! The first thing I marveled at was the short cartoon that preceded the film, "Paperman" -a simple story about a man who struggles to find a woman with whom he met early in his work day. This short is a wonderful testament to the yearning of breaking out of life's monotony and searching for something better. And that is a perfect warm-up for "Ralph," a film itself that centers around this theme. Oh, and I WANT composer Christophe Beck's musical score for this (it's one of the best I've heard in years; including in feature films!)Ralph (Reilly) is a villain who yearns to break out of his "bad guy persona" and become a hero by winning a medal. The only problem is that, in his game, the medal ALWAYS goes to its protagonist Fix-It Felix, Jr. (McBrayer). So, despite great dangers of permanently erasing (dying) in another game, Ralph ventures to other game worlds so that he may win his medal. Along the way, of course, he meets various characters, including Lynch's Sergeant Calhoun and Alan Tudyk's King Candy. I could tell that by watching the trailer. What I didn't know was that this film would be such an ensemble piece, there would be an evil conspiracy subplot, and that I would come to LOVE Silverman's character, Vanellope von Schweetz, a character who is a wonderful role model for my girls and other little girls in a world where racing and "boys stuff" is still considered for boys. The role that Ralph takes on during the film is surrogate father or big brother to Vanellope, and I have to admit that at the very end of the movie, Ralph makes a move in which any father can relate and tears started to well in my eyes! This film has got wonderful performances, wonderful writing and classic video game characters (Q*Bert, Root Beer Tapper, Zangief) as well as voice cameos from well-known actors (Mindy Kaling, Ed O'Neill, Dennis Haysbert, Edie McClurg, Adam Carolla, and Horatio Sanz)! This movie also has plenty of heart! It falls in with Up (Single-Disc Edition) and Toy Story 3 as my favorite animated movies EVER!
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