As current video game fans are being treated to a new wave of big budget adaptations of their favorite console adventures, old school gamers have mostly been left in the lurch. Movies like Super Mario Bros., both Street Fighter movies, and even the gamers' love letter The Wizard were so bad as to cripple the sub-genre for decades. But Disney in their wisdom recognized there was still a lot of magic left in those great classic video game characters, and by injecting some of that Toy Story formula along with a creative mix of visual styles, Wreck-It Ralph proves to be an engaging treat.
While the bulk of the marketing has focused on the wild array of nostalgic game mascots who appear in the film, from the familiar Sonic the Hedgehog and Bowser to the less recognizable like Altered Beast's final villain Neff, Wreck-It Ralph doesn't lean on the retro vibe like a crutch. Like Toy Story, the characters exist in their own little world that we humans only catch a glimpse of after plunking down our quarters into an arcade machine. All of the arcade cabinets are connected to form a close-knit society, where after the game's are done the characters are free to roam around their digital community and live their lives. It's not fun 'n games, though. If a character dies outside of their game, they are kaput for good. And if they don't show up to play when a gamer is ready, the game maybe rendered "Out of Order" and shut down for good, with the consequences felt in the homelessness of Q*Bert and his cohorts.
It's while exploring this rich environment that Wreck-It Ralph is truly the stuff of animated comedy legend. For thirty years Ralph(John C. Reilly), a hulking Donkey Kong-ish villain from a game called Fix-It Felix Jr., has been playing the bad guy and feeling unappreciated for it. He yearns for something more, but most especially he wants the adoration like his game's hero, Felix(Jack McBrayer). When Ralph shows up at a Bad-Anon meeting with other great game evildoers like Street Fighter's Zangief, M. Bison, Sonic the Hedgehog's Eggman, and Super Mario's Bowser, it's an unforgettable scene that will be hilarious for years. After a particularly painful shunning by his peers, Ralph quits his game and journeys off to earn a medal and prove himself a hero. Leaving his pixelated 8-bit confines for the slick and glossy dystopic environment of militaristic first-person shooter Hero's Duty, Ralph meets the stone-cold Sgt. Tamara Calhoun(Jane Lynch), hilariously cursed by the most tortured backstory in history. Gaining his desired medal, he unleashes a terrible plague on the video game world before high-tailing it to the candy-coated kart racing world of Sugar Rush.
The film's brilliance begins to waver once Ralph hits the sugary land, as the coin-op nostalgia fades in favor of more traditional Disney storytelling. Meeting a hyper and initially irritating little girl named Vanellope von Schweetz(Sarah Silverman), who steals his medal to use as the entry fee for one of Sugar Rush's major races. But the Mad Hatter-esque King Candy(Alan Tudyk) sees her as a glitch, and with the rest of his Alice in Wonderland crew fight to keep her from competing. Much of the clever, biting humor from earlier in the film is jettisoned, but there are still enough laughs to be found in the background sight gags(the classic Contra code makes a funny cameo) and nifty plays-on-words. The voice work is simply incredible, even if Silverman's screechy/whiny voice can be get grating after awhile. But the scenes with Lynch and McBrayer as the stern Calhoun and squeaky Felix meet cute are fantastic. Unfortunately, like John C. Reilly's Mr. Cellophane from Chicago, Ralph is overshadowed by the more flashy and enthusiastic supporting cast. Even if the momentum slows as the story sets up camp in Sugar Rush, the visuals are so breathtaking that it's impossible to pull your eyes away. Directed with flair by Rich Moore, Wreck-It Ralph is a medley of different styles that encompass gaming's continued evolution. The world of Ralph's 1980s inspired game looks old and choppy by comparison to the polished and sterile Hero's Duty, which is in stark contrast to the peppy world of Sugar Rush. There's no better looking animated film you'll see all year than this.
Knowing some of the gamer "inside jokes" will add to your enjoyment, but there's enough fun and creativity to make Wreck-It Ralph a joy, whether you know the first thing about video games or not.
