REVIEW: Wreck-It Ralph

There are no spoilers in this review.

PLOT: A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives.


THE GOOD: Story. Disney did a great job with its marketing of Wreck-It Ralph. It was obviously important to them to get a ton of licensed video game characters to attract the attention of gamers, but it was getting the rest of the audience to invest that was the problem. To get the boys, Disney showed a lot of the first-person shooter sequence. To get the girls, they promoted Sugar Rush, a go-kart racing game with anime-like girls and tracks made out of candy and other sweets. To get everyone else, they put out the conundrum: A video game bad guy no longer wants to be a bad guy. It's enough for anyone to be interested in the movie and Disney executes the Pixar approach so well here. That is, give the people half of the movie and let the second half be a surprise. There's a pretty big antagonist in the film, but you wouldn't really know it from the previews. And why Ralph spends so much time in Sugar Rush is important, too. Like all good animated films these days, Wreck-It Ralph has big heart. There are a couple moments where you might get choked up. This is the best Disney movie I've seen since Tangled.

Just when I think Disney couldn't possibly be any dumber, they go and do something like this... and totally redeem themselves!

Music. Composer Henry Jackman created unique pieces of music for this film. Because Ralph travels to different types of video games, the music changes and is often different from one another. There are also a few songs contributed to the soundtrack by other artists. Owl City does a song called "When Can I See You Again" that is pretty catchy. Skrillex is in there both audibly and visually (there's a character modeled after him) with "Bug Hunt (Noisa Remix)." Finally, there is the theme to the fictional Sugar Rush video game performed by Japanese pop sensation AKB48.

Voice acting. Unlike most animated films, the principal actors regularly recorded audio sessions together in the same room; a situation which led to a lot of improvising. This benefited many of the funny stuff from Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Alan Tudyk. All of whom give bright and very energetic vocal performances. John C. Reilly was a perfect choice for Ralph. Jane Lynch as Calhoun is not a surprising choice, but works. And then there's some great folks with smaller roles in there like Adam Carolla, Mindy Kaling, Ed O'Neill, Dennis Haysbert, Horatio Sanz, and John Di Maggio.

In the background, you will see the character who was voiced by Dennis Haysbert. This is also the face Dennis Haysbert makes when he finds out that you are not switching to Allstate.

THE BAD: Repetition. There was a point in the film where I noticed a bit of repetition of stating Ralph's motivation or purpose. I mean, I get that it might be in there a bunch for the little ones to get it, but I saw it as redundant and made certain scenes moved slower. Other than that, this is a near perfect film.


THE END: I haven't been this enthusiastic about an animated film for a long time, so take my word when I say that this is a must-see. My daughter liked it as well and it's fairly safe for kids, aside from a zombie character near the beginning getting its heart taken out. That was unexpected. Anyway, if you are a older gamer, you'll also find lots to love about this movie. Check it out in theatres now.

DISCUSS: What did you think of Wreck-It Ralph? What was your favorite part? What did you think of the music? Did you see the small twist coming at all? What did you think of the short before it?

RALPH: "Hello, little girl. Do you want to know a secret? Cause I know one and it is so good to hear it. Do you want to know what it schwas? Alright, I'll tell you what it schwas. I know how to count all the way to schfifty five."

NOTE: The animated short before Wreck-It Ralph is Paperman. It is just about the best thing I have seen all year. It's almost entirely in black and white and blends traditional animation and computer animation. The score by Christophe Beck is equally as compelling. Paperman is gorgeous and has such a great little story. I hope Walt Disney Animation Studios puts it up for an Oscar. Be sure not to miss this!