Wreck-it Ralph is a classic!

Rating: 10/10 (3 December 2012)

So Wreck-it Ralph came out to theaters on November 2. I'll admit, I'm a huge a Disney fan (seriously, I'm even wearing a Grumpy shirt as I write this). And I also love movie soundtracks. To top it off, I'm a big ol' gaming nerd. Yes, I am very fond of gaming. What's more, I'm a big fan of old school gaming. So when I heard that a Disney movie with a score from Henry Jackman (who has been mentored by Hans Zimmer for years) was coming out to theaters, well I was excited. When I learned it was a movie about old school gaming, well let's just say that I was excited as a dwarf standing three feet in front of a chest full of mithril. So here's a brief description of the movie, which I will then follow up on with my thoughts on the movie. Just so you know, I'm going to keep this description very brief and vague so that if you've already seen the trailers then this won't include any spoilers for you.
Description: Wreck-it Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) is 9 foot tall, 600 pound (approximately) bad guy with abnormally large hands in a 30 year old video game in an old arcade. His game is called "Fix-it Felix Jr." (named after the star of the game). Ralph is the wrecker whose job is to wreck a building that Felix can then fix with his magic golden hammer. Ralph is tired of just doing his job and being shunned for it. He even goes to a bad guy group therapy session to help deal with the stress. Ralph is so distraught by his situation that he abandons his own game and enters another game. On his travels he meets a young girl named Vanellope (voiced by Sarah Silverman) from the game "Sugar Rush". Though at first they appear very different, they realize that they are much more alike than they had at first imagined. Eventually circumstances force the two to work together and they have many grand adventures that forever change both their lives.
Review: So I came in with very high expectations for this movie. When that happens, it's generally very bad for my opinion of the movie. Because if I come in with very high expectations, then even the smallest issues ruin my opinion of the movie. But after watching Wreck-it Ralph, my opinion leaving that theater was actually very favorable. 1. Animation. The animation was quite excellent. I've seen this in 2D and in 3D. Now I've never been a big fan of 3D, but as far as 3D goes, it was quite good. They put a lot of effort into the details as well as the obvious bits, which I think it really important in judging truly excellent animation. They also did a wonderful job in keeping the video game characters' motions similar to how they appeared in their respective video games. This really made you feel as if you were watching your favorite video game characters, rather than just random characters in a movie. 2. Music. There were several songs included in this movie and its soundtrack. Now, while I didn't care for most of the songs, the truth is that they complimented the mood of the movie very well. So while I did not care for Rihanna's "Shut Up And Drive", I really did not mind it either. It really did fit the moment. As for the score, it too fit the mood of the scenes in which it appeared. Henry Jackman not only managed to include enjoyable music, but he managed to do so while keeping in the spirit of the video games in which the characters were in. It's definitely not the equal of the How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack, but it was an enjoyable soundtrack. 3. Characters. Nerdy brats, bored assistants, annoying perfectionists, unhygienic brutes, pompous royalty, cranky soldiers... How on earth did this movie include all of these weird characters and yet somehow make you love them? Truth be told, I don't quite know myself. They did though. After viewing this movie I found that I very much liked nearly every character included. They're all interesting, funny, tragic, lovable, or some mix of these. 4. Storyline. So maybe you don't really care about the music. Maybe you just care about the storyline. Well, I've got good news for you. This story is actually very good- albeit at some points predictable. I'm usually very good at predicting movies' story lines. And so while I was able to predict many parts of the storyline, this one still did take me by surprise at some points. 5. Humor/Drama. So Wreck-it Ralph is a very funny movie. I'll admit that there are many parts of this movie that leave me grinning like a moron. But there are actually moments that are just really moving. At some scenes there were literally people crying in the theater. Not me of course. I'm tough like granite so I never cried during any parts of this movie... of course. 6. Child Friendliness. There's some violence and there are some scary scenes. One of the characters says some pretty unfriendly things, but I don't recall anything terribly inappropriate. I would avoid showing this to young children who are easily frightened. Other than that, I'd say it's pretty good for kids.
Summary: Wreck-it Ralph is a beautiful movie full of humor and emotion. Definitely worth seeing in theater. If you don't feel like seeing it in theater, then certainly rent it. You won't regret it!
Rating: 10/10 stars