Wreck-It Ralph Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: The villain of an arcade game wants to become a hero for a change.

Review: I should once again preface that I loathe Disney for their shady history and brainwashing tactics, but they successfully lured me into watching one of their films by paying tribute to video gaming and a damn good tribute at that. I have to admit, the creativity was especially noteworthy as all the characters interact through a central hub which is just the plugs and that the villains and heroes of the games separate and are friends. The approach to the manner in which everyone hangs out and goes into each other games makes for some clever scenarios which I applaud for thinking outside the box. There are so many homages to classic and modern games strewn about that it would take forever to list them all, but suffice to say, a true gamer will be pleasantly impressed to the dialogue, background images, and straightforward characters featured like Bowser, Ryu, and the Pac-man ghosts. I personally liked when the main character, Ralph, was going through a box and pulling out things like mushrooms and the exclamation point sound effect. Speaking of which, Ralph and his game, Fix-it Felix Jr., was like the original Donkey Kong. I also loved that the arcade that the film is set in has many retro-type games mixed with newer games which I think really only works nowaday since there has been a wave of nostalgia for the past 10 or so years now. Any other time and this might not have worked, but it comes together as people have grown to appreciate the classics or a new generation wants to experience what the older generations had while everyone still wants to keep playing the newest things. The story is a little simpler than I would have liked given the material, but I'm well aware of how Disney likes to play their storylines out. Ralph wants to stop being a villain for a while and be appreciated since he feels as though he is a big part of the game's success, but others are worried he will become like a guy named Turbo who was jealous of other games and tried to get them shutdown. Since no one respects him, Ralph sets out to prove he's a hero by entering a new arcade game called: Hero's Duty; this game is essentially Metroid mixed with any of a million shooters out there. Inadvertently cheating to the games end, Ralph manages to receive a medal for winning at Hero's Duty which leads to him being attacked by the games antagonists, Cy-bugs, and fleeing into another game called Sugar Rush which is a racing game. Here Ralph wreaks more havoc as a Cy-bug escaped into the world to multiply while Ralph destroys everything in his path to get his medal back from a girl, named Vanellope, who is apparently a "glitch" in the Sugar Rush game. Ralph and Vanellope slowly garner a friendship as she is her game's outcast and Ralph can relate to her. Vanellope wants to win her game's preliminary race so she can be a featured character, but since she is a glitch they are worried it will ruin their game. Ralph decides to help her all the while Felix and the protagonist of Hero's Duty, Calhoun, try to find Ralph and kill the Cy-bug before it can destroy Sugar Rush. Ralph eventually betrays Vanellope because he becomes convinced by Sugar Rush's apparent main character, King Candy, that if Sugar Rush is shutdown, Vanellope won't be able to escape because she's a glitch so Ralph must hurt her for her own good. This eventually leads to the film's decent twist in which Ralph sees Vanellope featured on the games cover meaning she is not a glitch afterall and soon discovers King Candy is the glitch since he is actually Turbo! Needless to say, Ralph and crew save the day by defeating Turbo, restoring Vanellope as a real character in which she is actually the queen of Sugar Rush, everyone finally respects Ralph as a hero, and Ralph comes to a satisfying realization of who he is and his place in the video game world. I mean, how else was it going to end...this is Disney afterall! Surprisingly to me, this is a great film for everyone even if you only have a basic knowledge of video games, but is even more impressive if you're a more hardcore gamer. Even casual fans who know nothing of video games will still appreciate the strong story and fun adventure or if you are just a Disney fan in general. The characters are fun, there is a lot of creativity, and the lure established is so rich with possibilities that you could easily see future sequels being just as good or better. I definitely recommend this film even if it fits all the typical Disney and family film cliches.

Notable Moment: When you realize that King Candy is actually Turbo who escaped into yet another video game.

Final Rating: 7.5/10