Rating: Score: 8.3/10
Grade: A-
Family-Friendliness Scale: Level 4 (Great)
Kids ages 7+
After 30 years of being a bad guy, wouldn't you want a "restart" on your life?
Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) is a bad guy who has been wrecking Fix-it-Felix, Jr. for 30 years. Tired of his job, the bad guy announces intentions of not wanting to be a bad guy anymore. Upsetting his fellow bad guys in a group therapy-like meeting and shocking everyone else, Ralph abandons his game to try and win a medal. He thinks that if he can win one, he'll finally earn the admiration of the Nicelanders and his rival/friend, Fix-it-Felix (voiced by Jack McBrayer). Finding his way into a Call of Duty-like game called Hero's Duty, Ralph causes mischief in that game. Stealing the medal from the center of the arena, Ralph escapes into Sugar Rush, a Mario Kart-like racing game where he meets a character named Vanellope Von Schweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman). Vanellope steals Ralph's medal, and makes a deal with him to win a cart race in exchange for the medal. It doesn't get any easier from there.
Positive Notes
Ralph consistently encourages redemption and acceptance. Ralph himself is a huge, wrecking giant that is hated by almost everyone. In his attempt to become a good guy, he soon wins the respect of others for his efforts. (Spoiler Alert!) Unlike MegaMind and Gru before him, Ralph doesn't exactly change into a good guy by the films' end. Instead, he keeps his job as a wrecker, but the Nicelanders more appreciate his role in the game, and recognize him more, thus accepting him for who he is. Regardless, Ralph becomes a hero himself by saving the games from a buggy invasion. The same goes for Vanellope, who is a "glitch" in the game. She's bullied by the other racers, but later proves herself. Sargeant Calhoun (voiced by Jane Lynch) was shown having a happy life before being turned mean by her unexpected fiancee's death at her wedding. Felix develops an innocent romantic relationship with her, and her soft side is later unlocked. Characters risk their lives for one another. Ralph also willingly makes a wise decision to save Vanellope (but it later isn't wise).
The voice cast does a great job, with Reilly, Silverman, Lynch, McBrayer, and others. The script, while not exactly well-written, is still cleverly original and provides a couple of unexpected plot twists. Henry Jackman provides an exciting film score. The animation is imaginative, colorful, and effects-driven, from colorful backgrounds to cartoony characters, it feels like you are inside a video game. The films' setting is very imaginative, with a surge protector being used as "Game Central Station" and plugs being transportation units for characters.
Speaking of video games, I was pleased with the amount of cameos of video game characters. The most recognizable are Sonic, Q-bert, Dr. Eggman, Pac-Man, the Orange Ghost (Clyde), and Bowser (from the Mario games). A few hilarious moments. Some exciting moments and a great climax.
Negative Notes
Quite a bit of toilet humor. The video game-style action violence is sometimes intense and probably too much for younger children. "I'll be dipped!", "bull roar!", "move your molasses!", "sweet mother hubbard!", and the unfinished "what the..?" are used as curse word-substitutions. Lots of name-calling. Calhoun wears a skin-tight outfit. One particular bad guy only wears underwear-like bottoms. Ralph steals someone's battle gear and replaces it with those same trunks. He also lies a few times. Vanellope is briefly bullied.
Also, I was a little disappointed not to see Mario, Luigi, or Yoshi as a cameo.
Conclusion
If you've read this blog all year, you probably already know that I'm a sucker for animated movies. And I probably always will be. There have been quite a few great ones in 2012, and Ralph was the last one I got to see this year. Going into the theater, my expectations were low. I was expecting Ralph to land in the average range for animated movies (between 7 and 7.5 on the "Score" scale, and in line with movies such as Puss in Boots, Despicable Me and Hotel Transylvania) and at the bottom of my favorites list for 2012. But by the time I came out, I surprisingly had changed Ralph's status from being "average animated material" to "biggest surprise of the year". Here's why.
For one, the video game theme really intrigued me. The cameos are fun, the animation is colorful, and the voice cast is solid. Plus, the movie has a huge, strong heart. The acceptance and redemption lessons ring throughout the film, encouraging us to accept others (including bullies [like Ralph in a twisted way]), and allowing the bad guy to redeem himself. Yes, we've seen the same happen to Gru and MegaMind, but this particular "bad guy" distinguishes himself through actually doing a heroic deed, helping others who needed help (unlike the "bad guy" who became a dad and the "bad guy" who had to defeat his own creation and not intending to become a good guy in the first place).
As what we're used to seeing in animated flicks, toilet humor is in the mix. But in a way, its' more lightweight than the minions' backside photocopies on Despicable Me and penguins and bears using the toilet in Mr. Popper's Penguins and Open Season. But I still can't excuse it. Also, parents with younger children may be turned off by the video game violence (Ralph sums it all up by asking a thought-provoking question, "When did video games become so violent and scary?" I'd ask the same thing).
But those downfalls are nearly (but not quite) flicked away by the heartfelt and exciting moments, and wonderfully cartoon-y/video game-style animation. Ralph doesn't physically feel like a Disney movie. But with much less cartoonish silliness and zero adult humor, the studio still keeps itself in kid-friendly territory.
To put it in a video game vernacular, this video game flick easily winds up reaching the end with few scrapes and bruises...
