"Wreck-It Ralph" Brings It

What happens to all your favorite video game characters when the arcade is closed for the night? "Wreck-It Ralph" imagines that they can travel to different games via their power cords and interact with each other when they're off the clock. The games themselves form their own separate little universes, where the characters live and work. One such game is "Fix-It Felix Jr.," an old-school "Donkey Kong" style action game where the villain, Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly), tries to bust up an apartment building while the hero, Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McNabray), races to repair the damage. But on the 30th anniversary of the game's debut, Ralph is getting tired of being the bad guy and being treated like a menace. So he decides to break the rules and prove he can be a hero.

"Wreck-It Ralph" was made for multiple generations of video game lovers, the grown-ups who remember the days of 8-bit graphics and quarter-eating machines, and the kids more familiar with first-person-shooters and high-definition CGI avatars. The movie is full of references and cameos from dozens of different video games, some that only the older gamers who were around for the 80s are going to pick up on and appreciate. The big question is whether non-gamers and younger gamers are going to enjoy the movie. I think they will, because the Disney Animation artists have done a great job of constructing a full and fascinating universe to explore, with some very appealing conceits. In the "Wreck-It Ralph" world, like "Toy Story," the game creatures are aware that they exist to follow their programmed code and entertain the gamers, and their worst fear is that that their games will become "Out of Order" permanently, and unplugged.

Despite all the advertising featuring so many familiar game characters like Sonic and Q-bert, they only have minor cameos. Ralph and the film's original characters stay firmly center stage. Most of the action takes place in three games created for the film: "Fix-It Felix Jr.," a violent first-person-shooter called "Hero's Duty," and a candy themed go-cart racing game, "Sugar Rush." Ralph sneaks into "Hero's Duty" to try his hand at fighting aliens, meeting the tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch). Later he ends up in "Sugar Rush," where he befriends a bratty little wannabe racer named Vanellope (Sarah Silverman). "Sugar Rush" is especially eye-catching, a world where everything is made of candy and sweets. And the writers do not hold back with the candy-related puns.

Where "Wreck-It Ralph" is weakest is in its writing. The story is fairly simple and predictable, with a lot of old clichés and few surprises. I found the characters were strong enough to keep my attention, though. Ralph is a loveable, big-hearted galoot, but his frustrations with his lot in life lead him to make some rash and selfish decisions. I think Vanellope is going to be the hardest sell, since she's the kind of aggravating little moppet who some viewers will find too grating to take, but the inevitable friendship that develops between these two misfits is genuinely touching. The minor characters are also used very well, especially when Felix and Calhoun get paired up trying to track down Ralph.

And then there are the visuals, where "Wreck-It Ralph" is a constant delight. Even if you don't care about the story, it's hard not to be impressed by the abundance of inventive little details. Several of the characters in "Fix-It Felix Jr.," notably Felix himself, have some frame-skipping pose-to-pose motions and vaguely blocky designs to reflect how they appear on the game screen, though most of the time they're rendered in typically flawless CGI animation. "Sugar Rush" has a full roster of racers for Vanellope to compete against, who I fully expect to see as a line of dolls in time for Christmas, along with countless candy citizens filling the stands during their races.

I can't think of too much to take points off for. Okay, the use of a certain pop song in a training sequence was pretty groan-inducing. And I don't think that Vanellope's creative insults are going to go over well with some parents. However, this is a major accomplishment for Disney Animation. I don't think I've ever seen a video game film that's come off as well as this, combining potent nostalgia with cutting edge technology. I've never considered myself a gamer, but there weren't many of the references that went over my head entirely. Video games have worked their way so deeply into modern pop culture, I think this one is going to appeal to a much wider audience than people might expect.

And though it wasn't based off of an existing property, there's no denying that "Wreck-It Ralph" is a video game film, made by exactly the right crew of gamer nerds and geeks who understand and love them best.
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