Disney headed in the right di-WRECK-tion!

Rating: 9/10 (2 November 2012)

The trailer alone, garnered much buzz for Disney's latest 3D adventure. Seeing some of'the great video game villains of all time assembled in one room was just too good to be true. The hype was elevated to even greater heights given its ubiquitous presence at San Diego Comic Con. In the back of mind I kept thinking, "THEY'RE GONNA WRECK IT!"
Thankfully, the movie succeeds in creating a heartfelt tribute to the golden era of the 80's arcade, decorated here and there with familiar cameos that are both nostalgic and laugh out loud hilarious. The actual video game characters and their respective worlds don't play as big a role in the movie as I imagined. My wishful, nerdy brain hoped Ralph would be jumping through pipes in Mushroom Kingdom, riding horseback through Hyrule and blasting away at baddies alongside Mega Man and who knows who else. This didn't happen, and may have to do with the price of buying the rights to some of these iconic images. But the new world Disney Animation Studios created is rich with surprises, and rivals that of Monstropolis, Toy Story, and the Kingdom of Far and Far Away.
Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by the incomparable John C. Reilly) is the Donkey Kong to Fix-It Felix, Jr.'s Mario in a fictional 80's arcade game. The game itself is believable enough to have existed during the era. Ralph, along with other villains in various games throughout the ages, share the same plight of feeling under-appreciated by gamers and other citizens of the video game world.
The breaking point for Ralph was the 30th Anniversary for the "Fix-it Felix, Jr." arcade. To commemorate the event, Felix throws a party in the penthouse of the game's high-rise apartment complex, a party that Ralph wasn't invited to. (The DJ of this party offered another cameo I really wasn't expecting and left me in awe of this tribute to electronic art.)
What sets Ralph apart from all the other villains is that he is determined to actually do something about the unfortunate role of "Bad Guy" he was programmed to assume. He intends to jump to different arcades in order to become a hero in another game. This act of invading a game other than your own is mysteriously referred to as "Going Turbo" by the other inhabitants of the video game world. It's considered taboo, especially since it runs the risk of permanent death: dying outside your own game makes it impossible to regenerate.
After a series of unfortunate events, Ralph eventually crash lands into Sugar Rush, a cross between the worlds of Candy Land and Mario Kart. There he befriends the adorable Vanellope (voiced by the lovely Sarah Silverman), who like Ralph is seen as an outcast in her game. In her case, she is considered a freak due to her tendency to glitch out. To Vanellope, racing runs deep within her code, but the only thing stopping her is the candy land's ruler the Candy King, who is adamant on keeping her out of the race.
Ralph's spontaneous hero's journey spells trouble for the rest of the video game world. Due to Ralph's disappearance, the "Fix-it Felix, Jr." game is in danger of being unplugged, leaving Felix with the hefty responsibility of retrieving his clumsy counterpart. Ralph's brief stint in a Halo-esque game called "Hero's Duty" is also a big nuisance to the foxy Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch). She must now track down and exterminate a Cybug that Ralph mistakenly helped escape from the game. If the bug goes viral, it could destroy every game in Mr. Litwak's entire arcade for good.
The video game setting offers awesome moments of creativity for the Disney animators, from the way the characters are drawn and animated, to the way their lives are portrayed outside of their own game. The voice talent is also really impressive across the board. While the movie isn't the all-out Smash Brothers brawl many were expecting, the movie comes with loads of surprises that are sure to delight and entertain a wide audience, gamers and non-gamers alike.
The movie could not have come at a better time. People who grew up during the era of the arcade are now starting to have families of their own, and are very likely to laugh along with the children they bring to the theaters. This same video game generation also witnessed the Disney Renaissance of the early 90's: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and the Lion King. With Wreck-It Ralph destined to be an instant classic, following the success of the equally impressive Tangled, we are in for a new Disney Renaissance for a whole new generation.
Note: Get there early enough for an excellent animated short, and stay to watch the credits roll if you haven't yet satisfied your nerdy gamer fix.