WRECK-IT RALPH: in cinemas now [short review]

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Directed by: Rich Moore
Written by: Jennifer Lee, Phil Johnston
Starring: Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman

IN CINEMAS NOW

RUNNING TIME:108 mins

REVIEWED BY: Dr Lenera, Official HCF Critic

When Litwak’s Arcade closes at night, the various video game characters leave their normal in-game roles and are free to travel to other games. Within the game Fix-It Felix, Jr., the characters celebrate its titular hero but shun the game’s villain character, Wreck-It Ralph, who wants to stop being the bad guy but is told he has to earn a medal before he can be part of the group. When a modern, first-person shooter game called Hero’s Duty arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun, Ralph sneaks into the game to obtain a medal, but accidentally unleashes a deadly Cy-Bug enemy which threatens every game in the arcade.  Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz, a young troublemaking “glitch” from a candy-coated cart racing game called Sugar Rush who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy…..

Being as I have never had much interest in computer games, it’s possible that I’m not really the right person to review Wreck-It Ralph. I know this site’s very own Bat and Juan Vasquez have the enthusiasm and knowledge that I lack, and may produce a better review of this movie some day. Wreck-It Ralph is a loving tribute to computer games, heavily nostalgic for the simpler games of old, and absolutely crammed with references that many will nod at approvingly and even cheer. Unfortunately, despite the many good reviews of the film by critics who sometimes seem over-keen to show how ‘cool’ they are, I feel that if you don’t care for games than much of it will just go over your head, and all you’re really left with is yet another villain-who-wants-to-be-good story [Megamind, Despicable Me] with some seriously great visuals. Make no mistake, the film really does look good, especially once we arrive in the Sugar Rush world which is made of sweets and shows fantastic imagination in its design, but the beats of the story are all very predictable, most of it has been done better before [i.e.the Speed Racer/ Phantom Menace-style car race] and the film makes the mistake of spending more time with the least interesting of the two couples, though the film does develop heart after a while. Just as well, because the humour falls increasingly flat, and just hearing Sarah Silverman’s voice is almost as annoying as seeing her. Still, it’s a million times better than Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.

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