Other than not writing a new post in a whole month, it's been quite a long time since I've seen a really great movie in the theaters. Over the weekend I finally got to see the film I was anticipating since last year: Wreck-It Ralph. Now, I know I am practically three whole months late with just barely watching this film, but at least I was able to see it in a theater before its release on DVD and Blu-Ray; better yet, I got to see it with my family.
I admit that my expectations for this film were not very high when it was first announced. The trailers had current pop-culture songs that I had heard too many times in very unfavorable circumstances, I had a feeling that the story might not impress me and the plot would be no more significant than a children's cartoon with a cheesy moral strung at the end, and most of all, although the idea featuring official video game characters was interesting, I hoped that the film would not have to rely on those cameos alone to carry on the story. As the film's release to theaters neared my pessimism slowly dwindled and I actually became curious to see the movie and to find out how it delivers. One of my friends saw it before me and wanted to discuss film, but I asked him not spoil any of the important plot points as I planned to watch Wreck-It Ralph eventually. Three months after the initial theatrical release I was greatly impressed with the work. Maybe I am just easily impressed at times, but Wreck-It Ralph is far better than what I had expected out of it.
Wreck-It Ralph is a 3D animated film about a video game antagonist, named Wreck-It Ralph, who is tired of playing as the bad guy because he is feared and unappreciated by the other characters in his video game world. Determined to prove that he can be just as good as the good guy, Fix-It Felix, he leaves his own video game world and dives into the dangers of different video games to earn his title as a hero. Wreck-It Ralph was created by Disney Animation Studios with a similar style to an earlier film, Tangled. Pixar was not involved with production of this film, which is really impressive since the animation is smooth, beautiful, and lively, but is also a 3D CGI animation, which is what Pixar is notable for. The different [video game] characters are well written and animated, and since they originate from different eras and genres in gaming, each is stylized with a unique look and personality as well as their own story which makes them highly likable. Although we weren't able to see as many video game worlds as I had anticipated, each world that we visited was interesting to look, including the surge protector itself. I've heard some complaints about being restricted to very few worlds, namely the "Candy land", Sugar Rush, but this restriction on the game jumping actually works to the story's advantage as it not only drives the plot but we also see a great deal of Disney's original characters interacting with a specific environment. In addition to a more defined exploration of a whole new world, this also allows the audience a greater chance to become more invested with these new characters they are presented with. The movie's phenomenal soundtrack also strengthened the emotional delivery tenfold with appropriate scene themes and leitmotifs building up tension to an incredible climax.
As I said before, I worried about the cameos; and so it turns out that this film implements the cameos of official video game characters quite well. Sure, they used characters like Zangief, Dr. Robotnik, Boswer, and Clyde the Ghost, but they were not needed to actually carry the story along. The cameos are probably the strongest point made in the advertisement for Wreck-It Ralph, which is genius because the posters and trailers immediately inform the audience that the movie is about video games. (The actual video games themselves.) After watching the film, I looked up some videos about Wreck-It Ralph and lots of people wished that their familiar favorites had played a larger role in the story. But I want to remind everyone that this movie is all about Disney's Original Characters and that the focus is around Ralph and his friends, not Sonic and his rivals. Cameos proved to be great advertising and are lots of fun, but the vast amount of hidden video game culture references should not outshine the well written story this movie tells.
One last thing I would like to add concerning the video game cameos, although I am a big Mario fan, I am glad that he did not make an appearance in Wreck-It Ralph. (He is mentioned, but not shown.) I did not grow up playing Sonic games and as a result I'm not very fond of Sonic the Hedgehog. (It also doesn't help that some percentages of his fan base sort of tarnishes his image.) Even if Sonic wasn't given much screen time, along with the rest of the cameos, that actually earned him some respect from me. Sonic the Hedgehog's role is to appear for a short moment to deliver an important PSA to the characters in universe. Admittedly, I believe that Mario would not be able to deliver the same message with same kind of importance. The cameos did not overstay their welcome and that really works in the film's favor. Also, Mario's face isn't plastered on screen for the sake of a quick cash grab.
Overall, Wreck-It Ralph is a touching story. It is funny, but it isn't all about laughs. There are serious moments that can be very emotional and the plot eventually unfolds into something big. You don't need to much about video games in order to enjoy this story, but the more knowledgeable you are with your video gaming trivia and history, the better chances you have of catching the many subtle references which can make watching this movie more fun.
