Wreck-it-Ralph
Wow. Anything about video games and
video game culture I just love. This movie has more heart than most
animated features. It is kind of like a Toy Story premise where the
characters of the game come to life after people stop playing their
video games.
The story starts with Ralph narrating
about his life. He lives in a dump right next to a high rise
apartment that was built over his land. He plays the character of the
bad guy in the game Fix-it-Felix Jr. (the “jr.” is a reference to
Donkey Kong of course.) When the narration ends we see that he is
actually telling his story to a group called Bad-Anon, support for
people who portray bad guys in video games. I love that there is a
Beholder attending the meeting!
Since he plays a bad guy everybody
treats him like one. Ralph has no friends, and doesn’t even get
invited to the party celebrating the games anniversary. This is
Ralphs problem. He just wants to be accepted. Ralph crashes the party
and ends up making a mess. The citizens of the game tell Ralph that
they might like him if he gets a heroes medal.
So Ralph leaves his game in order to
find one. He finds himself in a shooter called Heroes Duty, starring
Jane Lynch as the female commander. Her character was programmed with
the most horrible back-story ever! Lots of fun references to the
Aliens movies. Ralph escapes with a heroes medal he plans to bring
back home.
Ralph crash lands in a game called
Sugar Rush. Everything there is made of candy, even the racing karts.
Then he meets Vanellope, Voiced by Sara Silverman, she is the heart
of the movie. An orphan girl, trapped in a racing game, but she can’t
race because she is a glitch… Vanellope steals the medal from Ralph
and uses it to get into a race. Ralph eventually makes a deal with
her to help her win so he can get the medal.
This isn’t actually an action or
adventure story. It’s what Blake Snyder, writer of the Save the
Cat books, calls a “Buddy Love” story. It’s story where two
people change and grow because of their relationship with each other.
Ralph and Vanellope can’t live without one another, their lives are
intertwined and they wouldn’t be who they are if they hadn’t met.
This movie is so much fun! There are
great gaming references all over the place, from the Konami code to
graffiti sayings like “Arieth lives” and “Leroy Jenkins”. We
see a fun cameo by Sonic the Hedgehog at the beginning. They also
create some cool video game lore about a game character going
“Turbo”, when a character leaves their game making it unplayable.
I also love the romance between Jayne
Lynchs’ character and Fix-it-Felix. They are so fun together
because she is the hardcore cussing tomboy and Felix is the
chivalrous sweet guy who never says anything mean. They’re polar
opposites of each other and their courting is great.
Throughout the movie there is a
running gag about how bad Ralphs breath is. When Ralph puts on a
space suit he says “smells like Ralph in here”. The joke adds to
the story when he threatens to put a candy character in his mouth as
a form of torture.
Ralphs journey in this movie is
wonderful. He leaves his home trying to impress the people he doesn’t
care about. He makes friends with the only person he can through
Vanellope, both outcasts in their own games. Of course Ralph becomes
a hero but it’s not in order to impress anyone. His journey is very
real to the characters in their world.
This movie is imaginative, exciting,
and creative. The most heartwarming coming of age films I have seen
in a long time!
Go see it right now!
