Game On: A Review of “Wreck It Ralph”

Pixar made its name by animating what happens when we leave our toys alone. Now, over a decade later, Disney Animation Studios has imagined what happens when they power down the arcade games for the night. The result is “Wreck It Ralph,” Disney’s holiday offering.

Insert coins and press SPOILERS!


Wreck It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the villain of 80’s video game Fix It Felix, Jr. (Jack McBrayer). The premise is that his tree stump is moved to build an apartment complex. So he intends to destroy the building but Felix has a magic hammer from his father. He fixes whatever Ralph destroys and is celebrated as a hero by all the people of “Niceville.” Ralph is thrown into the mood and reviled as a villain.

When the game is turned off, things aren’t much different. Felix and the residents of Niceville live in the apartment and are all chummy; Ralph retreats to the dump alone. After 30 years, he’s tired of being the bad guy. The other video game villains try to help him in their support group but it does little to help him. Back in his game, the people of Niceville tell Ralph that if he can get a medal, he can live in the penthouse of the building.

So Ralph decides to game jump to find a medal to win. He goes to Hero’s Duty, a first person shooter game. There, he meets Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch) and manages to snag a medal. But an accident sends him into Sugar Rush, a racing game. And into the path of Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), a wannabe racer who is rejected because she is a glitch. The two team up to win back Ralph’s medal.

Meanwhile, Felix is trying to find his nemesis to prevent the arcade owner from unplugging the game permanently. He teams up with Calhoun and romance ensues. Together, the four characters learn what truly makes a hero.

I am not a serious gamer, but I enjoyed this immensely. And I did spot a few inside jokes—starting with the “Aerith lives” graffiti. (I won’t tell you where, though). But if you are looking for your favorite video game characters in one movie a la “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” you’ll be disappointed. Some do make cameos but the only one with a “big” part is Q-bert. This allows everyone to enjoy the movie.

The cast is perfect. Reilly makes Ralph sound like a gentle giant and a guy you’d want to root for. He has a knack for playing the put-on character. And McBrayer has a great voice for such a golly-gee good guy. As for Calhoun, Lynch was able to portray the character’s toughness yet vulnerability. It was perfect, especially when you learn about Calhoun’s programmed backstory. Silverman is good as Vanellope. I came to the realization that I like Silverman when she’s doing someone else’s work. When she writes and acts, I find her a bit obnoxious. But this time, she was able to channel it and tone it down to suit Vanellope.

All the plots are great. Even the romance between Fix-It Felix and Calhoun. I was worried about that one, not sure how it was going to go. But it was done in a sweet way and you found yourself rooting for those two opposites to get together. The Vanellope plot is interesting. I heard some people thought the twist was predictable but I didn’t see it coming. In fact, I thought the code was going to play a bigger role in the climax than it did. This may be the only complaint I had about the movie—code seemed to be a MacGuffin.

I think Disney missed a marketing chance. Yes, it’s Disney so they are going to gear it to children. But there should’ve been a bigger push to the Gen Y-ers like me. (Gen X-ers seem covered by the ads for children). Gen X and Y grew up playing these games. We would love to see a movie about them. A few ads during “Adult Swim” doesn’t cut it.

So, I rate it: