Review of Wreck-It Ralph (2012) by Mrmoviebuff — 17 Mar 2015

'Wreck-It Ralph' is one of those rare original movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios, in other words, it's not based on fairy-tales, it's not based on true stories or anything else for that matter. It's just an idea that came from a writer's head and sold it to whatever studio is willing to accept it.

The movie focuses on a typical bad guy from a popular "Fix-It Felix Jr." video game named Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) whose depression gets the better of him since the game is about to reach its 30th anniversary and he feels unpopular and unloved.

Whenever the arcade closes, the video game characters go on to their daily lives of going to bars, or just hanging out at another game program.

Can't blame him, when was the last time you played "Super Mario" and thought maybe you should give Bowser a break? Why would you? He keeps kidnapping the Princess.

Ralph decides that enough is enough and must earn everybody's respect the same way that the ever so popular Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer) has earned everybody's respect. In order for Ralph to prove himself, he needs to win a medal and it is there that he will get what he desires.

He tries to do this by "game-hopping", in other words, one video game character entering a different video game, kind of like seeing Sonic the Hedgehog appear out of nowhere in the game "Luigi's Mansion". Ralph enters a game called "Hero's Duty", a homage to the ever so popular "Call of Duty". He meets a very ballsy female action hero called Sargent Calhoun (Jane Lynch), who is a very funny character as she takes no nonsense and has more guts than most men, including Ralph.

Ralph manages to receive the medal, but accidentally takes a ship and a harmful "Hero's Duty" bug into another game called "Sugar Rush" which combines the visual aspect of "Candy Crush" and the gameplay style of "Mario Kart". He meets a young girl named Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) who takes his medal and uses it to enter the race that she cannot be a part of.

We also meet a mysterious leader named King Candy (Alan Tudyk), who does not want Vanellope to compete in the game and tries to stop Ralph from letting her do so.

The funniest parts in the movie include the surprising romance between Fix-It Felix Jr. and Sargent Calhoun, the way the writers pull that off with intentional cliches, but genuine chemistry is very well done.

'Wreck-It Ralph' is a highly entertaining and colorful movie and one of the best movies of 2012. It shares the same spirit as the "Toy Story" films, maybe that's because it is executive produced by John Lasseter who never falls short of great imagination, and considering that it's made by Walt Disney Animation Studios instead of Pixar Animation Studios (which had 'Brave' that felt more Disney), it's understandable to get the two confused.

Great cast, great humor, great animation and a great story. 10/10.