Every once in a while a movie will come out of the blue and hit you right between the eyes, in a good way. Wreck-It-Ralph (WIR) is just one of those movies. It is perhaps one of the best movies I've seen this year, and can confidently put in in the top 5 that for the entire year, despite it being a 2012 release.
Normally, I like to be as objective as possible, but I must confess a certain degree of bias for WIR for it has good visuals, good characterization, and most of all an excellent story.
I state the visuals as being good because that's the best word I can use. They're not stunning compared to other animated movies both old and new but it has been aptly rendered to fit with the video game like feel of the characters.
The main strength of the movie is the story, a clever weaving of different video game characters and giving them a more fleshed out and "human" quality. The behind the scenes story was refreshing and highly entertaining. I enjoyed how the story created a link between an arcade player and the character he/she chose. There was also a nice blend of various genres of game styles, appealing a wider viewing audience. The clever part was that pretty much anyone could associate with the characters, across genders and age groups, as we've pretty much encountered similar games over the year. Some of the characters were instantly identifiable, such as the Street Fighter characters or Qbert, but others were play on characters so you did have to stretch your imagination and association.
The story is very well told and moves at a good pace, never stagnating. It's hard to put my finger on it but WIR had an original vibe to it, even without it being a completely new idea. Think of it as a re-imagining of a fairy tale story, only there isn't a dragon, or a chivalrous knight, or a damsel in distress. Again, it's very cleverly done. The range of emotions that movie displays is also staggering. It has everything for everyone- action, humour, romance, drama.
If there is a slight drawback to the movie it would be in the voice over department. I have nothing against John C. Reilly but I felt that his presence took away from Ralph. Every time Ralph spoke I didn't see or hear Ralph. I saw and heard John C. Reilly when I really wanted to see and hear Ralph. A no name but a good voice actor would have been preferable, at least to me. After all in animation movies the characters are promoted, not the actors voicing them. Did mothers and their daughters flock to the cinemas to see Brave because Kelly Macdonald and Emma Thompson were doing the voice overs? I didn't think so either.
All in all this is a movie that everyone should see. The endearing quality of the movie will have you smiling, laughing, tense, frowning and maybe even in tears. I have been recommending this movie to everyone I talk to about movies, and if you read this review and watch the movie I hope you do to. This movie deserves a rating closer to 9.5 than that overall 7.9 that is stated.
Normally, I like to be as objective as possible, but I must confess a certain degree of bias for WIR for it has good visuals, good characterization, and most of all an excellent story.
I state the visuals as being good because that's the best word I can use. They're not stunning compared to other animated movies both old and new but it has been aptly rendered to fit with the video game like feel of the characters.
The main strength of the movie is the story, a clever weaving of different video game characters and giving them a more fleshed out and "human" quality. The behind the scenes story was refreshing and highly entertaining. I enjoyed how the story created a link between an arcade player and the character he/she chose. There was also a nice blend of various genres of game styles, appealing a wider viewing audience. The clever part was that pretty much anyone could associate with the characters, across genders and age groups, as we've pretty much encountered similar games over the year. Some of the characters were instantly identifiable, such as the Street Fighter characters or Qbert, but others were play on characters so you did have to stretch your imagination and association.
The story is very well told and moves at a good pace, never stagnating. It's hard to put my finger on it but WIR had an original vibe to it, even without it being a completely new idea. Think of it as a re-imagining of a fairy tale story, only there isn't a dragon, or a chivalrous knight, or a damsel in distress. Again, it's very cleverly done. The range of emotions that movie displays is also staggering. It has everything for everyone- action, humour, romance, drama.
If there is a slight drawback to the movie it would be in the voice over department. I have nothing against John C. Reilly but I felt that his presence took away from Ralph. Every time Ralph spoke I didn't see or hear Ralph. I saw and heard John C. Reilly when I really wanted to see and hear Ralph. A no name but a good voice actor would have been preferable, at least to me. After all in animation movies the characters are promoted, not the actors voicing them. Did mothers and their daughters flock to the cinemas to see Brave because Kelly Macdonald and Emma Thompson were doing the voice overs? I didn't think so either.
All in all this is a movie that everyone should see. The endearing quality of the movie will have you smiling, laughing, tense, frowning and maybe even in tears. I have been recommending this movie to everyone I talk to about movies, and if you read this review and watch the movie I hope you do to. This movie deserves a rating closer to 9.5 than that overall 7.9 that is stated.