4/5
Cast: John C Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, Jack McBrayer
Direction: Rich Moore
Genre: Animation
Duration: 1 hour 48 minutes
Story: Ralph has been the bad guy in an arcade video game for 30 years too long. Tired of being unloved and unappreciated, despite doing his 'job', he decides to leave and become a hero anyway. Does he succeed in his quest?
Review: Before one gets down to the actual film, you know you're going to be treated to an animation short. 'Paperman', a black-and-white ode to love-at-first-sight precedes the main feature and must not be missed.
'Wreck-It Ralph' itself takes you back to an era before gaming consoles were handheld or wireless. For the most part, one had to go to an arcade to play one's favourite games.
This film takes you behind-the-scenes, as it were, taking a closer look at the characters that peopled those games, right from the eight-bit pixellated beings to the ones that are cutting-edge high-definition wonders.
Ralph (Reilly) is tired of being the bad guy in a game where everybody takes him for granted and only celebrates the hero Felix (McBrayer), who fixes everything Ralph wrecks with the help of a magic hammer.
Ralph game-hops to a 'Starship Trooper'-like game called Hero's Duty and eventually lands up in another one called Sugar Rush. His object of attention is a medal he 'wins' in the former game and sort of - loses - in the latter.
While in Sugar Rush, he meets the feisty and high-strung Vanellope (Silverman), who's branded a glitch but wants nothing more than to win a race and gain her people's respect.
The film is remarkable in that it takes you on a multi-generational gaming trip, sparking off an aching nostalgia for all things retro while keeping true to its real story - a hero's dilemma - having to choose between doing the so-called right thing and keeping true to your friends.
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