I told you all that I could not wait to see this movie! And Wreck-It Ralph was worth the wait! Wreck-It Ralph is all about video games! All of the characters in the movie are based off a fictional video game in the movie. So yes; this movie has a geeky tone to it! As always if you have not seen this movie do not read below; SPOILER ALERT!
http://disney.go.com/games/#/games/play3/&content=2006061
Ralph has been doing the same thing over and over for 30 years! And as you know many people will face a midlife crisis in their life. And Ralph goes through a midlife crisis! After Litwak’s Arcade closes, the various video game characters are free to visit other games. And Ralph attends a support group for video game villains where Ralph reveals his wish to stop being a bad guy. This freaks out all the villains! Ralph gets permission from Felix to attend the game’s 30th anniversary. But the residents in the building refuse to accept him, saying that he would have to win a medal as Felix does. Yes; in video games you are deemed the villain unless you win a medal.
After the arcade closes for the night the video game characters go to Game Central where they can go to any game they want! There is also a bar called Tapper’s where Ralph meets a solider from Hero’s Duty. The solider tells Ralph the game’s winner receives a medal and in turn Ralph enters the Hero’s Duty game. He meets Sargent Calhoun (Voiced by Jane Lynch) who is a great leader! But here is the problem; between game sessions, Ralph climbs the game’s central beacon and collects the medal, accidentally hatching a Cy-Bug, one of the game’s enemies, in the process. The Cy-Bug clings to Ralph as he stumbles into an escape pod that launches him out of the game. This will come into play later in the movie.
The movie pushes a heartfelt message which everyone will love! Wreck-It Ralph does a pretty good job as a story. The detail in the animation is great and stellar, especially in the Sugar Rush and Hero’s Duty scenes. The animation is logical and adds an element of characterization. As an added bonus there are a lot of great video game references and a few dorky pop culture nods like the Diet Coke and Mentos. The characters are well-done and connect with the audience. Venellope and Calhoun have a surprising amount of character development too, which is great! Ralph’s friendship with Venellope is adorable and Calhoun and Felix’s romance is unconventional and sweet.
From the little touches like the way the video game characters move and dance to the larger strokes like housing Game Central within one of the arcade’s power strips. Wreck-It Ralph is flowing with creativity. Everything from glitches and cheat codes, to the ever-increasing complexity and graphical fidelity in games is touched on in brilliant fashion. The basics can be appreciated by anyone, but some of the little references in the background are so obscure they act as a wink and nod from the creators and it makes you love video games even more!
All images copyright from Disney.
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