Wreck-It Ralph (PG)
Dir. Rich Moore
Reviewed by Matt Adcock
“This is it, ladies! The kitten whispers and tickle fights end now!”
I’m a videogame fan – I’ve played a lot of videogames throughout the years… I was there in 1978 when Space Invaders came out in the lovely arcade machines format (when home consoles like the mighty PS3 were just future dreams). My first home machine was a ZX Spectrum which I won from my junior school in 1982 – Manic Miner, Jetpac, Sabre Wulf, The Lords of Midnight then ate my life…
So now the circle is complete and videogames have finally merged with film – and not just as The Last Starfighter / Super Mario Bros / Street Fighter or Tron - (and will again Ready Player One) – but Wreck-It Ralph does magic on the big screen thanks to Disney having learned a CGI trick or two from the mighty Pixar…
“My name's Ralph, and I'm a Bad Guy. I'm 9 feet tall. I weigh 643 pounds.
Got a little bit of a temper on me.”
Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the chunky videogame bad guy who wants more than that – he wants to prove himself with a ‘Heroes Medal’ – but unfortunately these medals can only be won by ‘good guys’…
So Ralph sets off through the leads behind his arcade unit and via a central hub he enters Heroes Duty – a mash up of Halo and Resistance where heavily armoured battle marines fight huge killer bugs. Ralph meets beautiful but bad-ass commander Calhoun (Jane ‘Glee’ Lynch) – who is shapely formed in HD graphics, a fantastic juxtaposition when she mixes with Ralph and other game characters from lower resolution games!?
Director Rich ‘Simpsons’ Moore delivers exactly what gamers who remember the classic 8-bit gaming generation – for we aging gamers who were there, Wreck-It Ralph is a sensory pleasure nostalgia trip that sets it way above the normal Disney output. I took my 12 year old son who enjoyed it a lot but who didn’t ‘get’ half of the references or cameos from the game characters and even sound effects. Wreck-It Ralph is choc full of Easter Eggs for videogame fans — seemingly with a genuine love for all things game-related…
"Looking good in HD"
I was absolutely beaming seeing Streetfighter’s Ken and Ryu chatting about their needing a drink after a hard day’s fighting and there’s pure gaming joy in hearing the various game themes, sound effects and half glimpsed shots of characters from other games gone by…
Don’t worry too much about the plot – it’s all bit Mario-Kart by the end, just sit back and let some of the best visual CGI (especially in 3D) wash over you. It’s a fantastic feel good 1 UP of a movie for all ages – even bad guys will enjoy!! Ready Player One – your mission is to go see Wreck-It Ralph.
Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:
öööö1/2 -wreck-ognition deserved!!
4.5 – game on for film fans!
Awesomeness öööö – videogames are cool
Laughs ööö – not out and out comedy but lots of fun
Horror ö – very tame
Babes ööö – CGI battle armoured babe anyone?
Spiritual Enlightenment öö - be the best you can be!
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