Courtesy of nintendocharged.com
Directed by: Rich Moore
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer
What It’s About: Tired of being a villain, an 8-bit video game character leaves his respective game to pursue his dream of being the hero for once.
Rated PG (for some rude humor and mild action/violence)
Runtime: 101 minutes
By Joann Lee, Staff Writer
The latest Disney movie Wreck-It-Ralph has been highly anticipated by not only children, but also video-game enthusiasts of all ages.
The film focuses on Wreck-It-Ralph (played by John C. Reilly), the protagonist of the movie and the antagonist of his video game. The video game, titled “Fix-It-Felix,” is one of many in an arcade where all the games are connected by one surge protector. The game “Fix-It-Felix” has a playing style reminiscent of the 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game; Wreck-It-Ralph throws pieces of rubble down at Fix-It-Felix, Jr. (played by Jack McBrayer) as he repairs his way to the top. Without fail, Fix-It-Felix, Jr. is the victor, and the residents proceed to present Fix-It-Felix, Jr. with a gold medal. Then, they throw Wreck-It-Ralph off the building. Wreck-It-Ralph realizes on the 30th anniversary of his video game that he is unappreciated and not accepted in his video game as a villain. Envious of his counterpart’s hero role, he leaves his video game to explore other games in the arcade where he, too, can obtain a medal and become a hero.
The cast also includes Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch), who is a rugged and coarse female commander in the game “Hero’s Duty,” and Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), an aspiring racer in the “Mario Kart”-styled game “Sugar Rush.”
The film is highly nostalgic, highlighted by various video game allusions throughout the movie. The movie also features various cameos from famous video game characters such as Bowser and Pac-Man, to the delight of the audience. In Wreck-It-Ralph, Disney presents another “what if” scenario and proceeds to tell a colorful explanation of what they think would happen. The insight into the world of video games was brilliantly constructed. Though the plotline is filled with the typical Disney morals and heartwarming lines, it avoids being overly sappy with cleverly placed video game allusions and plenty of comic relief from the other characters. The plot twists and turns, but for the most part, it was moderately predictable.
Wreck-It-Ralph is a well-thought-out concept, and is executed masterfully by Disney.
8.5/10