I think Pixar is good. It would be foolish of me to say that they weren't. But here's the part of the game where I refuse to play ball - not everything they touch is the best thing I've ever seen. That, more than anything else, is one of the biggest problems I have with them. Every time they come out with a movie it gets nominated for every possible Oscar it can be nominated for, it pulls down nothing less than a 107% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and every person tells me it's the best film of the year, and that I should put my eyeballs into cyrogenic stasis after seeing it so that the majesty radiating from the screen can be forever stuck in my corneas.
Why this bothers me is that other animation studios don't really get the credit they deserve, because they are overshadowed by The Mighty Flawless Pixar. In fact, much like the lowly chicken nugget will forever be referred to as a "Chicken McNugget" due to a clown serving the world a pile of deep-fried, vaguely edible protein paste in mind-bending popularity, most people who see an animated film nowadays just assume that Pixar did it. And yes, maybe some confusion arises because they do kind of all have obnoxiously similar animation styles, but still, there is more than one animation studio out there.
And where this comes back around to my main point, being that I don't consider Pixar the best, is that of all my favorite animated films I've seen of the past who-knows-how-long, none of them have been Pixar. Not a single one.
Pixar also never had a scene like this.
"How To Train Your Dragon" was an incredible film. As was "Kung-Fu Panda." As was "Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of The Were-Rabbit." "Megamind" also deserves mentioning. Those were all DreamWorks Animation. Then there was 2011's "Winnie the Pooh," and what is probably my favorite animated movie of the last decade, "Bolt." Those were Walt Disney Animation Studios films.
It's also worth mentioning Laika Entertainment, who is keeping the IV running into the arm of a sadly dying form of animation - stop motion. They're responsible for one of my favorite movies ever, "Coraline," not to mention this year's phenomenal "ParaNorman." All of these movies I've mentioned are superb.
And the only Pixar film I'd lump anywhere near them is "Finding Nemo." Maybe the "The Incredibles" as well, but I'd still rather watch any of the others I've mentioned before those. I don't know exactly the reason why, but I always feel manipulated watching a Pixar film, like they're setting up a tug-of-war game with my heartstrings to make up for the simply average story. I don't know. Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon.
So where does that bring us with "Wreck-It Ralph?" Well, simply put, this is one more instance where an animation studio, in this case Walt Disney Animation Studios and director Rich Moore, who is a "Simpsons" and "Futurama" LEGEND, has released a movie that is better than what I've seen from Pixar. While in it's first 20 minutes or so, it's kind of shaky and falls into "Toy Story"-ripoff territory, not too far into the film "Wreck-It Ralph" takes on a life of it's own to become something that, while perhaps not the most original idea ever, is executed with such charm, style, and humor that it's impossible to not have a smile on your face.
CHARM...CAPACITY...MAXED...ERROR.
I say that it gets close to "Toy Story"-ripoff territory because, well quite frankly it does. The familiar setup of inanimate objects actually being alive (in this case video game characters) isn't a new thing. The theme of old being put out by the new is also an aspect, as video games are probably far more susceptible to that than anything like an action figure is. It's similar, but "Wreck-It Ralph" seemed like more of a personal journey to me, due to it being more focused on being content with your lot in life, and finding something to give yourself both respect and purpose.
The titular character, Ralph, is the bad guy in a "Donkey Kong"-style arcade game. He's been doing it for 30 years, and he's tired of it. Being the bad guy, nobody else really likes him, even though he's not actually a bad GUY, he's just a BAD guy. True, he's not exactly the most social person, and like his name implies, he is kind of a walking implement of destruction. But that's not really his fault, it's just the way he is. He is a bad guy after all.
After a crashed party turns awkward and a challenge is flippantly dished out, Ralph decides to go out and earn himself a medal in another video game to prove that he's worth something. After all, bad guys don't get medals, but if he can go out and do just that, maybe everyone will recognize him for being more than just a villain. And then he'll be able to get some cake, which is actually something of a theme in "Wreck-It Ralph."
NOT THAT CAKE!
Everything up to that point was pretty standard fare, and I wasn't too invested in it, but when Ralph enters the other arcade games was when the movie really started taking off for me. Upon first going into the rail-shooter "Hero's Duty," the scope that "Wreck-It Ralph" was capable of really started to become clear, as the look and feel of everything changed to reflect the newer, more graphically intense modern video games. Going from something like "Donkey Kong" to a dark, intense action game a la "Star Craft" was a surprisingly pleasant jolt.
We're also introduced to possibly the best character in the movie, the intense, brooding Calhoun. She's the commander of the troops in "Hero's Duty," and is kind of a cross between Kerrigan from "Star Craft" and a Renegade fem-Sheppard from "Mass Effect." She's a dead serious, ass kicking powerhouse programed with the most tragic (and hilarious) backstory to make her suitably dour and intense.
She's voiced by Jane Lynch, which helps because Jane Lynch makes an awesome badass. They even make her character look a lot like Jane as well, which makes sense because she's the most realistic looking one of the cast, but the animation on her face is worth mentioning because it's very well done and expressive. And I'm serious when I say that I'd totally play "Hero's Duty." That game looked sweet!
Oh my god I loved Calhoun. So much.
Most of the movie takes place in a racing game called "Sugar Rush," which is like "Mario Kart" meets "Candyland." There we meet who is probably going to be the most divisive member of the cast, Vanellope, played by the comedian everyone but me seems to love to hate, Sarah Silverman. So many people are going to hate her simply because of who the voice is, and also because Vanellope is pretty much exactly Sarah Silverman, only in the form of a little girl and unable to swear because the movie is PG. I'll leave it at this - if you like Sarah Silverman, you'll like Vanellope. A lot. If you don't like Sarah Silverman, it's not a given you won't like Vanellope, but good luck with that.
Personally, I thought she was adorable and hilarious.
So much of "Wreck-It Ralph" is sold based on the chemistry between Ralph and Vanellope that if it didn't work, the movie would have collapsed on itself. Fortunately John C. Reilly, voicing Ralph, and Sarah Silverman play off each other fantastically and make for one of the better character pairings I've seen in a long time. These two characters are so different in nearly every conceivable way, but at the same time are very alike, which makes for some very touching scenes and revelations, which are heart-breakingly well acted at times. This was a particularly nice surprise for me since I'm not a fan of John C. Reilly. But I have to give credit - both of them knocked it completely out of the park here.
Rounding out the cast is Jack McBrayer as Fix-It Felix, Ralph's good guy "nemesis," and Alan Tudyk as King Candy, who functions as the villain of the film. Felix is a predictably dull goody two shoes, but King Candy is a fun character who has most of the best lines in the movie, including several "so bad they're awesome" puns which had me rolling in the aisles. Also helping is that Tudyk gives him the same crazy voice that the Mad Hatter from the old "Alice In Wonderland" had, which was a lot of fun. There's also a great "should have seen that coming but didn't" twist with King Candy.
I'd also play "Sugar Rush." It had an AWESOME soundtrack. J-Pop madness for the win.
"Wreck-It Ralph" also goes places I wasn't completely expecting it to go. There are moments when I thought I had the next plot point sighted, only to have them deliver something I wasn't expecting. That's not to say it completely went places I wasn't expecting it to go, but a little bit of unpredictability does wonders for a genre that is pretty paint-by-numbers. And that only made the ending that much more satisfying as Ralph finally finds what it is in his life that he really cares about - and makes it so that he's finally happy with himself. It's really quite moving.
Two additional things that struck me about "Wreck-It Ralph," in closing, was that this had to have been an expensive movie. Not for the animation itself, but for the licensing rights. There are so many video game characters from across platforms here that it's amazing they're all in it together. Just watching the characters roll in is pretty impressive by itself, and they're not facsimiles - it's the real deal. There's no Speedy The Porcupine. It's actually Sonic The Hedgehog dishing out advice on staying safe while traveling to other games. That blew my mind.
The second thing was that this was actually a neat little "Obscure Arrested Development Character" reunion! Jack McBrayer was the waiter at the Country Club who has never been spoken to nicely by Lucille, Alan Tudyk was Ann's (her?) father Pastor Veal, and Jane Lynch was Cindi Lightballoon, the one who didn't know what a blooper real was! I gotta say, that's pretty cool.
God, I want the "Arrested Development" movie so bad.
THE BOTTOM LINE - "Wreck-It Ralph" is a fantastic film. That's all there is to it. While I wasn't expecting much out of it, it totally surpassed my expectations and knocked a grand slam out of the park. Is it Top 10 of 2012 material? That has yet to be seen, but it's a contender, make no mistake.
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