“Wreck-It Ralph” Movie Review

By: Lynn Barker

An old-school videogame bad guy has only one mission: do anything he can to wreck life for the good guys. Wreck-It Ralph, baddie from the game “Fix-It Felix Jr.” is tired of being an outcast in his own gaming world so he leaves and sets out to be a hero in another game. Of course, if he dies out there, it’s permanent!

Wreck It Ralph characters

Bad Guy Boredom

“Fix It Felix Jr.” is one of the most popular games in an arcade. For thirty years, the game’s baddie Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) has been rejected by his fellow heroic game characters and he’s tired of it. What if he could be a hero in another game? Ralph “goes turbo”, bailing out of his old-school game in search of one where he can be a good guy. Of course when Ralph leaves, the arcade owners will assume that “Fix It Felix” is broken and unplug it, leaving all the characters in it homeless!

Fix It Felix

Dangerous Warfare to Sugary Sweetness

Ralph goes from old 8-bit video action to suiting up as a soldier killing alien cyber-bugs in “Hero’s Duty”, a much more updated and dangerous game where hot but kick-butt female Sgt. Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch of “Glee”) is in charge. Ralph finally gets his hero medal but loses it in the sweetsy racer Candyland-style game “Sugar Rush” where he meets another outcast Vanellope (voice of Sarah Silverman) who is banned from racing because she’s a “glitch”, shorting in and out.

Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch)

Teaming Up

Calhoun and hero Fix It Felix Jr. (voice of Jack McBrayer) team up to follow Ralph and an escaped cyber-bug into the “Sugar Rush” game. Ralph and Vanellope team up to get her back into racing and retrieve his hero medal. Eventually, after battling the bugs and more, secrets are revealed, Vanellope gets her wish and both she and Ralph learn who they really are, inside.

Wrapping Up

This film should please both gamers and audience members who have never even seen some of real games represented in the movie. Voice actors are excellent; not only John C Reilly and Sarah Silverman as Ralph and Vanellope but Jane Lynch as tough but good-hearted Sgt. Calhoun, Jack McBrayer as mild-mannered Felix and Alan Tudyk as the evil “Sugar-Rush” ruler, King Candy.

Game characters we spotted were from “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Street Fighter 2”. There was Bowser from “Super Mario Bros”, the ghost from Pac-Man, Q-Bert and more from the early X-Box worlds. Of course “Hero’s Duty” is a tribute to the “Call of Duty” games. You and/or your parents will have fun spotting more I’m sure.

Vanellope

The movie almost seems divided in two as the action, hero-angst first section contrasts with the girl-powered “Sugar Rush” section in which the usual Disney message of “be yourself” and “form a family” (Ralph and Vanellope) is really evident.

Wreck-It Ralph has great heart as we really care about Ralph’s quest to find his inner hero and little Vanellope’s search for a place where she can excel and be accepted. But the true triumph is probably in the film’s amazing technical accomplishments. The filmmakers duplicate not only the spirit but the look of 1980’s early videogames and contrast that with the more modern CGI look of “Hero’s Duty”. Even the sound effects and music are perfect for the different game styles and eras. Very cool!

Ralph with his hero medal

This is one that kids, teens and parents can all enjoy…maybe for different reasons. We’ll go 4 stars.

Wreck-It Ralph Movie:

The poster