Les Mondes de Ralph

Got to see an advances screening of Wreck-it Ralph today. I had been waiting for at least a year for this film and it did not disappoint.

I am a hardcore Disney fanboy and was before I even played my first video game. But I have to be honest, sometimes Disney doesn't get it. They see something is trending and an instant money maker and jump head first even if they don't understand the topic they're tackling.

So it does make you wonder if they could really do justice to a film dedicated to something they really don't excel in. Video games are not Disney's strong suit(except for the rare cases like Kingdom Hearts, which really only succeeds, because they have little to nothing to do with the production). Trust me I've played enough cheap marketing/movie tie in/ buy it for your kid because of the characters on the box Disney games to know what I'm talking about.

But Wreck-it Ralph nailed it. Start to Finish it is a love letter to gaming, made by people who understand games(and I highly suspect John Lasseter's role as Executive Producer greatly contributed to it's excellence).

It really reminded me of why we love games. It's not the technology or the graphics or the marketing hype. It's what they make us feel. The broad range of emotions they extract from us as we immerse ourselves in their world. The joy of victory, the stinging pain of loss, laughter and even tears. I felt all of those in this movie.

The world has become an ugly place and personally, my faith is what gets me through. But when you experience a game or a movie that takes you to an imaginative world where anything is possible, things start to seem a little brighter. Those stacks of paperwork you're facing seem smaller. The grisly news headlines get a little further away. That's what art and beauty do. They heal; help us see things in a better light. And I thank God for them.

I didn't expect for the movie to get me waxing philosophical, but that's the kind of hairpin I am.

Side notes: I was a little disappointed that they lingered SO long in one environment and I, frankly, find the crude humor tiresome. I thought the 3D was excellent, providing a nice immersive depth and texture without ever seeming gimicky( and I'm not a die hard 3D fan). Also, be sure to get there in time for the short at the beginning, Paper Man. Reminded me of classic Disney animated shorts, and that is not a bad thing.

A few weeks ago I was leaving California Adventure Park and overheard a little boy talking to his father about Wreck-it Ralph. With the wide eyed enthusiasm of youth he said to his father, "It's a movie about video games....who doesn't like that?" Well said, kid, well said.

I think 2012 has been a very good, even great, year for animation in that I don't think I have seen an animated film I've disliked. Wreck It Ralph for me was the best animated film from 2012(although it only came out yesterday in the UK I still class it as a 2012 film), tying with Tangled as the best Disney has done since The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It has something for children and adults alike, and I don't think you have to be a video game fan to like it(I'm not exactly, more of Disney myself, but am very familiar with them through my brother). The animation is wonderful, the characters move with no problem at all, the colours look gorgeous and the backgrounds are detailed, very like the very best of Pixar actually. The music, right from the tempos, rhythms, melodies, chord progressions and instrumentation, is full of energy and the songs are incredibly catchy. The writing is a perfect blend of humour and heart, the film is often hilarious and witty as well as heartfelt and touching in equal measures and the story is fast-paced and much more original than you'd think complete with energetic-but not too frantic- action. I like the Be Youself message, it is an important one and I personally didn't think it was heavy-handed. And of course any video game fan will love spotting the video game characters and references, there's plenty of them and all are colourfully evoked. I found it very easy to relate to Ralph, Fix-it Felix Jr is an amusing character and Vanellope is cute without being annoying or mawkish. The voice work is terrific, with the standout being the gruff vulnerability that John C Reilly brings to Ralph. In conclusion, a wonderful film and the best animated film of the year. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I was supposed to be be seeing either Flight or Argo today, but to my disappointment I missed both showtimes, and I was in a tight time frame where I could see anything. So my friend really convinced me to check this one out. Boy, what a great time it was.

Wreck-It Ralph is really wonderfully created. Its visual design is brilliant and its action pieces pretty amazing. The world it builds, and all of the little details from various video games, is pretty wonderful to look at and experience. Even some characters move in the precise way they actually do in video games. But what makes this gloriously colorful spectacle of a world work is the screenplay. The jokes hit all the right places, the characters are all lively and written with skill that goes beyond what we have come to expect from a simple kids' film like this. The few commercials and trailers I saw had been sure to let audiences know just how "pretty" this film looked, but what makes it a truly great film is that it has a great story and great dialogue to back up the visuals. The voice performances are pretty incredible, and perhaps because I recognized such people like Reily, Silverman, McBrayer, and Lynch, but even others did wonders with their characters.

Overall, the film follows a clear pattern and formula for kids, but the real surprise is that none of it made me roll my eyes or cringe. It's incredibly entertaining and enjoyable for anyone. Pretty much everything is done in a very respectable manner, and the film hits greatness in the writing, direction, voice performances, and visual design. The only real flaw in it that I gathered was the inclusion of a Rihanna song, which really took me out of the world the film created and kinda put a plaster on it from pop culture. Or maybe it's because I hate the song... Still, this is another truly great animated film that does stand out from others this year in its own way, and one that's admirable and satisfying in all the best ways. I loved it. Highly recommended.

Let me start by saying this: I am the ideal demographic for this movie. I am in my early/mid 30s, I grew up with videos games starting with the ColecoVision 30 years ago, which is, in the movie, when Wreck-It Ralph was released. I still play games. I have a four-year-old son who plays games. He knows who Pac-Man, Zangief and Sonic are, and you can bet that on top of that I know who Sheng Long, Tapper, Q*Bert and Burger Time are.

That's what makes me nervous about blanketly recommending this movie to everyone...not just that I'm obviously going to catch more references, in-jokes and cameos than the average movie goer, but that I'm going to recognize the archetypes they're playing off of and the mechanics they're referencing as the stories progresses.

It feels a bit like Mallrats, in that I'm so ideally in the target demographic for the movie's release that I'm not sure I can accurately gauge how it will be received by people outside of that demographic.

That said, I don't think you need to be a video game fan to enjoy this movie. It's a very well crafted movie with characters that are more Pixar than Disney. I was concerned that this was a "Disney" movie as I haven't seen a 3D CG "Disney" movie that can hold a candle to the Pixar and Dreamworks hits that I'm a huge fan of. And yet, for me, this movie was better than recent Pixar movies and better than Dreamworks movies, with characters and a story that felt worthy of of the Pixar name.

I even greatly enjoyed the animated short at the beginning. Again, something I would expect more from a Pixar film than a Disney film. The whole theater experience for this film was a delight, all the way through to the very, very brief bonus scene at the end of a credits, which is something you really, really need to be a gaming nerd to get. (Gamers who have seen The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters will definitely get it.) I went into this film with high hopes and expectations, and I was blown away. My wife, who is not a gamer at all, enjoyed the film, and when my four-year-old son was asked by her what his favorite part was, he replied, "Um... Every part! I liked the whole movie!" That he was able to talk to her and I in great detail about the plot and characters while I was able to appreciate the whole film to the level I did as an adult speaks volumes to me about how well this story was told.

If you played in arcades in the 1980s, if the games Q*Bert, Burgertime, Pac-Man, Street Fighter II and Sonic all mean something to you: You're enough of a gamer to appreciate all the references. If you have a youngster who's played video games, they're enough of a gamer to get the movie. And even if you aren't, while you may not relate to the subject matter the way I did, you're still in for an enjoyable story, with great characters, masterfully told.

Highly recommended, and a 10 out of 10 for me, as I expect this will be on both my son's and my short list of favorite movies for years to come.

Here is a warm, clever, and funny addition to Disney's animated canon. Wreck-It Ralph applies the general concept of Toy Story in a new and original way. The entire film is illuminated with familiar video game characters and little gamer jokes from invisible walls to jerkier, less developed side characters.

The overarching Armageddon subplot could have been handled better since it has us nearly forgetting about it in an effort to focus on developing the main characters and their own interests. Ralph seems to be oblivious throughout the film about the fact that he pretty much threatens everyone's existence with his carelessness.

But Vanellope! The highlight of the film. She is the most adorable little character, although it is a bit creepy that she's essentially a mini-me of Sarah Silverman. Nonetheless, if this movie has a single strong point, it's that Vanellope will find a way to win you over.

The simple lesson of the film is conveyed well: grow to accept your identity.