Wreck-it Ralph (Rich Moore, 2012): USA

Reviewed by Mikael Myggen. Seen at home on a DVD.

“I’M GONNA WRECK IT”

Quoted above: my reaction upon seeing a roughly 400-person long line wrapping around the Arlington. Apparently the theater was showing this film in 3-d for free, so as you can imagine, everyone and their grandmother came to see it. I didn’t know about this, otherwise I would have came earlier. I came about 10 minutes early, but the theater got filled up and I was turned away along with about 100 other people. I still wanted to see the movie however, as I didn’t see it when it was released in 2012, so I rented a DVD with the movie on it. What this means for you the reader is that I will be reviewing the regular version of the movie, as opposed to the one shown in 3-d.

The feeling I got while watching Wreck-it Ralph was something akin to that of meeting your soul-mate for the first time. I’m no stranger to movies with video-game tie-in themes (Spykids: Gameover, War Games, Grandma’s Boy), but besides the recent Scott Pilgrim movie, Wreck-it Ralph feels like the first movie I’ve seen that completely gets what actually being a “gamer” is about. The movie doesn’t laugh at or discredit gamers, it honors them and their hobby. It doesn’t take an 80’s-style radical overblown approach to the idea of a gamer either, even though retro games are a big part of the movie, and it doesn’t reduce the idea of video games to that of a simple children’s plaything. Wreck-it Ralph constantly gives little nods and inside jokes to gamers, such as a moment in the film where Sonic the Hedgehog loses some rings after taking damage, or the obviously intentional resemblance of Ralph’s game to that of Nintendo’s 1981 classic arcade game “Donkey Kong”. The movie is fast-paced and witty enough to keep things interesting for non-gamers as well. It uses every part of the video-game buffalo while rapidly creating additional content of it’s own, and for the most part it works very well.

The movie starts off with a brief introduction of the film’s sympathetic protagonist, Ralph, who is the bad guy in a retro arcade game called “Fix-it Felix JR.”. He’s at a “bad-guys-anonymous” group therapy kind of meeting, surrounded by several video game icons which gamers will immediately recognize, such as Zangief of Street Fighter, Eggman and Sonic of the Sonic franchise, and Bowser of the Mario franchise. Cameos such as these continue throughout the movie. He explains that he’s tired of being the bad guy all the time, being forced to sleep outside, and being left out of post-game parties with Felix and other characters from his game. Jealous of Felix’s heroism, Ralph goes game-jumping to try an obtain a “medal” to prove that he’s a hero to the denizens of his game.

Wreck-it Ralph is basically Toy Story with video games instead of toys, which is awesome. These arcade characters are sort of like actors to a stage, acting as characters for the entertainment of whoever is playing the machine. These characters must obey their “programming”, and should they deviate from what they’re supposed to do in the game, the game will be deemed “out of order” and shut down, leaving the video game characters homeless in an area similar to that of a subway station to other games. The characters do their parts in games all day long, then when the arcade’s closed, they throw parties and celebrate. Characters can leave their own game in what is referred to as “game-hopping”, but if they die in a game that isn’t their’s, they’ll die for good, where in their own games they’re invincible to permanent death. This all may sound like a lot of information, but the film dispenses all these rules and concepts in an easy-to grasp way that makes sense for the viewer. The idea that characters can die and even become permanently homeless works to the film’s advantage, adding an element of risk and danger to anything done outside of one’s home-game.

As far as visuals go, the movie really looks great, and it seems like it would be a perfect fit for 3-d. It’s  hard to believe that Pixar didn’t have a hand in any of this, as the quality of the picture really seems at the level of one of Pixar or Dreamwork’s best films. The animations and facial expressions look especially great, and little things like intentionally primitive animations on certain retro-game characters are definitely appreciated.

There are also several themes and concepts that are covered throughout the movie, such as the state of today’s more realistic and violent games, the concept of change in a person, and several other things I can’t list here because of spoilers.

The only real complaint I have is that the movie spends a bit too much time in a game world called “Sugar Rush”. It gets to a point late in the film where I have to try and remember if the movie is called “Wreck-it Ralph” or “Sugar Rush”, because of how consistent the backdrop is for the end. The world of Sugar Rush, and the other two main worlds feel fleshed out, interesting and believable, but I just would have liked to see the film explore some additional game genres a bit more. The story can also feel a little cliched and progression can feel a little forced at times, especially near the end.

Gamer or non-gamer, Wreck-it Ralph is a must-see for audiences of all ages, although those looking for a super-serious or heavy movie might be disappointed. Wreck-it Ralph raises the bar for all future video-game themed movies to come.

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Published:
02.10.13 / 3pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2013