Contributor: Henry T.
Story by Phil Johnston, Jennifer Lee, and Jim Reardon
Screenplay by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee
Directed by Rich Moore
I am in the perfect age bracket for the subject matter of this film. I grew up playing the video games that are presented in “Wreck-It Ralph”, from the old 8-bit Donkey Kong-style game that “Fix-It Felix Jr.” to the more advanced games like “Street Fighter II” and the first-person shooters that are all the rage these days. The genius of this film is that the filmmakers know that there will be a lot of us in the audience and caters the film to us as well kids. It’s all in the finer details. The worlds we enter during the film are filled with smart and hilarious jokes that aren’t going to dumb down the audience. It makes the film so much easier to appreciate. Little kids are just not going to get many of the in-jokes, but then the film is also stuffed full of clever puns and inside jokes when it moves into the land of “Sugar Rush”, an arcade racing game that is crucial to the storyline. Best of all, the film surpassed all expectations from myself. I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy this film based on the underwhelming trailers. The trailers don’t do it justice. This is quite possibly the funniest, most clever film of the year.
Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the villain of the 8-bit arcade game “Fix-It Felix Jr.”, where his sole job is to smash a multi-story apartment building while Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) fixes all of the damage and saves the residents of the complex. It’s a simple game where every character is programmed to do their specific jobs. For thirty years, this has always been the case. On the 30th anniversary of the game, Wreck-It Ralph decides he has had enough of this arrangement. He understandably wants to be the hero, to desperately get the recognition that Felix has always gotten and possibly taken for granted. In one of many clever conceits of this film, Ralph travels between games to seek the medal that will get him the recognition of a hero.
This is very much like “Toy Story”, only with video games. Once the arcade is closed on the outside world, many of the most famous video game characters can unwind or cross into another’s game. We see the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog or various characters from “Street Fighter II” or “Pac-Man” make cameo appearances, and they all travel through the power plugs into power strips, which are the representation of “Game Central Station”. Ralph enters “Hero’s Duty”, a first-person shooter in the vein of “Halo” and comes into contact with gruff Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch). He gets his coveted medal, but loses it suddenly when he flies into the “Sugar Rush” game. He meets a cute little kid there named Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) and it becomes a different movie altogether when complications ensue between the two characters. Ralph wants that medal and Valleope wants to win the qualifying race to become a real character in the “Sugar Rush” game again.
The movie really gets going once Ralph goes into the “Sugar Rush” game by mistake, but it’s brilliantly set up in the first act by his growing sense of disillusionment over his job in his home game. Like the toys from Toy Story, Ralph is humanized by having relatable qualities. He wants what Felix has always gotten at the end of every game. He gets it by cheating his way through another game, but it doesn’t make him look as bad as any cheating should. When Ralph lands in “Sugar Rush” and meets Vanellope for the first time, they are antagonistic with each other. Then more of the world is revealed. It’s ruled by a despot named King Candy (Alan Tudyk) who controls whoever gets into the roster of used racers for the game. Vanellope is treated like an outcast for being a “glitch” and at first, it makes sense why King Candy doesn’t want her to win the qualifying race.
That aspect of the plot undercuts the budding friendship between Ralph and Vanellope (which takes place in a diet cola volcano filled with a bunch of Mentos), and then it turns on its head by the chaotic third act. I can’t just list many of the sight gags and puns that work in this film (among my favorites were a classic twist on the “O-wee-oh” song; clever names for the donut security guards employed by King Candy; a genius use of Nes-quik cocoa powder; a familiar cheat code that unlocks a secret vault) or the fact that the unlikely romance between sweet Felix and hard-edged Calhoun may be the sweetest romantic arc in a film this year. The film — like many in Disney’s wide-ranging oeurve — revels in putting the viewer in the middle of these various interesting worlds, then mixing good jokes with a plot that constantly moves. It’s incredibly entertaining just to watch. All of the various plot elements mix in a little too much during the ending, but the plot’s resolution is well-earned and very satisfying.
Given the wide and varying nature of popular arcade games, the likes of which the film only scratched the surface of, there could be a range of crossover possibilities that could give rise to sequels. “Wreck-It Ralph” could be an extremely useful character in the fighting game genre, for example. He could team up with Ken and Ryu for an adventure in “Street Fighter” or “Mortal Kombat” or “Tekken.” Part of the fun of this film is in seeing how every character interacts with different characters from different environments. Felix has many of the attributes of Mario from Super Mario Bros., for example (I learned afterwards that this was intentional since Disney couldn’t pay Nintendo for the rights to use the Mario and Luigi characters) and it’s just funny to see him paired with the gruff, no-nonsense Calhoun. Ralph uses many of his attributes to great effect for a variety of different tasks throughout the film. It all works.
There are messages within the film of valuing your own self-worth and occasionally bucking the ruling system and staying true to your purpose, but they’re not overtly expressed. This was undoubtedly one of the most entertaining films I’ve seen this year. It comes as a complete surprise to me because my expectations coming into the film were low. So much of the film works. I haven’t laughed at so many jokes in one film in a long time. It’s more than spotting the nods to the arcade games I loved when I was young, and it’s more than amusing puns and plays on familiar phrases. The story carries the film, and it’s populated with characters that the audience cares about. Disney continues to produce magic onscreen. Its traditional animation arm has actually produced an animated film that is better than Pixar’s animated entry from this year. Who saw that coming? I certainly did not.
Grade: 9/10
It should also be noted that the short film that preceded “Wreck-It Ralph”, entitled “Paperman”, was a delightful and sweet romantic story that harkened back to the screwball comedies of the 1940s and 1950s. In fact, it reminded me personally of “The Apartment”. Just perfect enough for me to demand to see more of the story.
