Wrong Lesson

Rating: 7/10 (7 January 2016)

Let me start by saying that this is a wonderfully entertaining film packed full of action, humor and heart. However the best kids movies not only entertain but teach some kind of lesson as well. At the beginning of the film Ralph is misunderstood and mistreated by everyone. His "job" is to be the bad guy and he's treated as such even though he's actually a nice guy who's been assigned a crummy position. So you'd think that by the end of the film everyone will realize what jerks they've been and that the real villains are themselves. The lesson - look beneath the surface and treat people how they deserve to be treated not just the way you think they should be treated. Wrong!!! There's only one very brief scene where Felix realizes how unfair he's been to Ralph, and that's as close as this movie comes to getting the right message across. In the end things improve for Ralph and the others give him the respect he deserves, but they do it for all the wrong reasons. Instead of celebrating him for being the great guy he's been all along, Ralph saves the day and proves himself to be a hero. So I guess the lesson here is if you want people to invite you to parties and bake you a cake, save them from mass destruction. Otherwise you can go live on a pile of garbage and be alone.