Fun For Everyone

Rating: 8/10 (18 February 2013)

I didn't really know what to expect when going to see Wreck-It Ralph this week.
The trailer looked promising, but I decided to reserve judgement based on the decline of animated Disney movies over the last number of years, such as the largely unremarkable Cars, Bolt and Toy Story 3.
What played out before my eyes, however, was a visual feast that succeeded in achieving what so many classic Disney movies had before it – creating a totally captivating and immersive world for people of all ages to enjoy.
Wreck-It Ralph is set in a gaming arcade and begins with a voice-over by none other than Ralph himself, palpably performed by the gummy vocal chords of actor John C. Reilly.
Ralph explains that he has been carrying out the same job for thirty years – a job that has seen him play a video game villain throughout this time.
We discover that Ralph has been largely neglected by other characters in the gaming world and as a result no longer wants to be a bad guy; he wants to feel appreciated and accepted for who he is.
Attending a support group for video game antagonists, Ralph confesses his desire to be the good guy for a change, and deciding to prove himself as a 'hero,' Ralph leaves the world in which his own game is based and travels into other games within the arcade, aiming to win a medal he can bring back to prove his worth.
Wreck-It Ralph features a number of stand-out characters, all of which help keep the plot gunning forward at a sharp pace.
A striking feature about most of the characters in the film is that they closely resemble the actors voicing them, including Ralph himself and characters Fix-It Felix and Calhoun, played by Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch respectively.
The main supporting character Vanellope, voiced by Sarah Silverman, however, left me a little disappointed as I felt her character wasn't strong enough for the amount of screen time she had.
Lovers of retro arcade games will no doubt enjoy many of the subtleties and attention to detail that has gone into planning the arcade universe.
It is this attention to detail which makes Ralph's journey all the more enjoyable, coupling a heartfelt and entertaining storyline with an array of breathtaking and colourful visuals.
Free-flowing camera sweeps and a series of well-designed shots further exemplify the environment created in this film, leading us to really come away feeling like we have visited the fictional world in which Ralph lives.
Wreck-It Ralph epitomises the very essence of family entertainment and overall I loved this movie and would regard it as among the best animated films I've seen in recent years.