A "Roger Rabbit" for the Gaming Generation

Rating: 8/10 (2 November 2012)

So I was not the biggest fan of the trailers for Wreck-It Ralph. Even though I liked the small appearances from classic video game characters, I wasn't riding the train of "this movie will be awesome" because I'm not a John C. Reilly fan and definitely not a Sarah Silverman fan. But after finally seeing it, I thought it was really good.
The best part of Wreck-It Ralph is the first half of the movie. In fact, it's flawless. The writing, characters, and animation is all perfect. I found myself laughing quite a few times (which I rarely do in a kid's movie) and having a lot of fun!
One of the best elements of the movie is the character if Ralph, which is weird, because I don't really care for John C. Reilly. But he was a really good and likable guy. And the filmmakers know that, despite the fact that this is a movie filled with video game characters that everyone knows and loves, they need to keep the focus on him.
These video game characters are more like cameos. They work very similarly to how the toons in Who Framed Roger Rabbit worked; they definitely have some of the best laughs in the movie and are a lot of fun, but they never pull focus from the story or the main character.
Okay, so I've praised this movie so much that you're probably wondering why it has an 8 instead of a 10. Well, the movie sort of loses gravity as soon as Ralph enters a game called Sugar Rush. He meets a little glitch named Vanellope, played by Sarah Silverman, who dreams of becoming a racer. But King Candy, played by the very charismatic Alan Tudyk, forbids her from racing because she is a glitch in the game. Everyone taunts her, but despite all of this, Ralph and Vanellope form an unusual bond.
And you can pretty much guess the rest of the movie from there. They race, defeat the bad guy, and Vanellope is crowned a princess. But, if that wasn't predictable enough, there are more plot points going on involving bugs, a jealous video game character, and a silly, but hilarious, romance between two side characters. All of these elements work, I guess, but it becomes just a little too complicated along the ride. It's not horrible, in fact it's not even that bad, it's just not handled as well as the first half was.
Final verdict: I would recommend anyone, young or old, gamer or not, to see Wreck It Ralph. It has wonderful animation, great characters, and some great laughs. Yeah, I wish the second half was a bit more polished, but this movie was still a lot of fun. In fact, I think this is the most fun I've had in a theater since The Avengers in May, which is saying a lot.