Ah the old arcade. I remember going to those fun little areas when I was younger, mainly at the seaside and theme parks. So it's a great little feeling of nostalgia going to see 'Wreck It Ralph', seeing different arcade characters, Hell just seeing the arcade brings back memories.
When the arcade closes all the characters from all the games resort to a social life, interacting with one another, visiting each other in their respective games. Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the antagonist for his game Wreck It Ralph, however after thirty years of doing the same thing, getting no respect from his fellow game characters, not even inviting Ralph to their 30th anniversary party (He's the title character for God's sake!), and decides that he is bored of being the bad guy. Ralph decides to get a medal for something in his field (of destroying things), as the other characters constantly remind him that bad guys do not get medals. Unfortunately , his actions have some consequences.
The story is good, I do want to say that, even if it does follow the cliche flow chart, the inevitable betrayal, the two characters who are poles apart forming a friendship, Ralph feeling unloved, okay we've seen it before. I think there's only like ten original stories and every single other film in existence is a rip off of at least one of those originals. But aside from that the fact that it travels across different worlds, it interacts so many different characters, it's more a homage to all those different genres then a cliche ridden film. That being said I was surprised to find some bits in a film which people will bring their kids to, like Kano ripping out a zombie's heart, or racers being crushed in the Sugar Rush race. God no wonder those two boys wanted to play that girly looking Sugar Rush game all day, it's more violent than the Hunger Games.
In fact now that I think about about Ralph is a Disney princess; he wants more. Then again who can blame him? The introduction of the film shows that he went to sleep one night, then finds his home was effectively bulldozed out of the way to make way for a building consisting of flats and penthouses, forcing Ralph to live literally in a dump. Then, despite the fact that it's his job to be the bad guy, everyone in his game snubs him, they run away the second they see him. And Ralph is genuinely a nice guy, he doesn't give a reason why people should dislike. Apart from accidentally wrecking bits of Felix's penthouse, and being goaded into destroying the anniversary cake. And people wonder why he might be upset and goes to another game.
Speaking of Disney princesses, we have our other main character Venellope (Sarah Silverman). Now, the character itself will affect the film in three ways; 1. If you like her, then you like her there's no problem. 2. If you're indifferent to her, then you'll be annoyed and will only feel positive about her towards the end of the film. 3. If you don't like her, you're really not going to like her. This will affect your enjoyment of the film, because once she is introduced, she effectively becomes the main character and Ralph becomes a side note in his own film. I fell into the indifferent category, I really didn't like her at first but liked her in virtually the last scene she and Ralph share.
Fix It Felix (Jack McBrayer), I initially thought going into this that I would like him, I thought that he would be the only one who liked Ralph and treated him with some respect. I was wrong. Felix tries to act like the good guy but he is in actually fact selfish, he's obnoxious, self-centered, he's just as bad as the others in the Wreck It Ralph game. And yet, there's a certain charm to him that makes him somewhat likable.
Then there's Calhoun (Jane Lynch) who I did like, initially. She is first found in the game 'Hero's Duty', leading a squadron to take on a colony Cy-Bugs, and to be honest I wish they actually made this game. But anyway, she is a badass, she's effective. The problem really is Jane Lynch. The second I recognised the voice and pictured the actress, I just saw Jane Lynch, I no longer saw Calhoun, and when Jane Lynch has been in stuff like 'Two and a Half Men', 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' and 'Role Models', it's hard to stick with the whole tough gal persona. That and she does have the typical back story, or rather the "saddest back story ever coded", and, in hindsight, a rather forced romance.
King Candy (Alan Tudyk...yes I was as surprised as you to find out that King Candy was voiced by Alpha/Steve the Pirate), is annoying. Mainly because of his voice. I must admit it suits the character, but it's just annoying. But you do see the character as someone who cares about the way things should be run...which makes it more shocking when the character's darker side comes to the surface.
Now, the thing you're all looking for; cameos. Or rather the video game industry in general. We have the Konami code, Sugar Rush is very similar to Mario Kart (In fact change the pick ups to Mario Kart and it is the same game, just different characters), the different video game characters (Like Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Robotnik (Oh fine Dr. Eggman), Bowser, Clyde (the Ghost), Pacman, etc, etc), the references to different games (Like Pacman, Space Invaders, Street Fighter, Dance Dance Revolution X2) the list goes on. Heck, even the jerky motion referencing the 8/16 bit arcade games is a nice touch, though it does raise a question as to why Ralph and Felix don't move like that but the other characters in the (Wreck It Ralph) game do.
The animation meanwhile is good, it's really good. The characters move like human beings, I know that's completely irrelevant when we're watching video game characters, but the point still stands. The way the characters move and interact with their environments is brilliant. The voice acting, okay Jane Lynch I've already mentioned, the others meanwhile do a great job as well, successfully portraying the right emotion and the right voice for their characters. Such as Alan Tudyk, okay the King Candy voice might have been annoying, but it suited the character.
Is it the new 'Toy Story'?...Well, it's not better than 'Toy Story' but it certainly can be the 'Toy Story' of 2013. A great story, some entertaining...interactions should I say (?), fantastic characters, and some good voice acting make this an enjoyable film. You should definitely give it a shot.
Paperman
Now, before the film started we got a traditional short film before it. In this case we got 'Paperman', and I want to quickly go over it. Firstly, the animation is beautiful, it is quite possibly better than what we see in 'Wreck It Ralph' or any 3D animation film. The story is brilliantly told through this animation and through the fact that there is no dialogue. Despite the fact that there were apparently voice actors. Anyway, this short is truly spectacular, I might have actually enjoyed it more than the proper film. If you get the chance, watch it, you won't be disappointed.
Spoiler Section
There's a Cy-bug plot point (In Wreck It Ralph, not Paperman), since when Ralph gets a medal in Hero's Duty, he accidentally awakens a baby Cy-bug which attacks Ralph and causes them to accidentally fly into Sugar Rush. Now the Cy-bugs are designed like a virus, they consume everything in their path and absorb their victims traits, i.e. if it eats a gun it spawns guns. In Hero's Duty there's a beacon which is effectively a giant big zapper. Since a Cy-bug ends up in Sugar Rush, obviously the beacon in Hero's Duty is left behind, so the Cy-Bug ends up multiplying and threatening to consume every game in the arcade. That is actually a really interesting plot point, obviously we won't get it but I wish we did. Instead, while the swarm do emerge, they're effectively swept under the carpet in ten minutes, it's just slightly disappointing.
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