Nostalgia is a risky thing to build a film around. Are the memories you have indicative of the experience everyone else had with the subject in question? Will the subject translate to a wide enough audience to be accessible?
Wreck-It Ralph hinges itself to the video game industry. Ralph is the bad guy in Fix It Felix Jr. After being shunned at the in-game 30th anniversary party, Ralph leaves his game to prove he deserves to be the hero he thinks he is. He meets with everyone from Q*bert and the bartender in Tapper to Street Fighter's Zandief and a large array of original video game characters to prove his worth.
The greatest strength of Wreck-It Ralph is the voice acting. The cast is top notch. John C. Reilly creates a natural, likable wanna-be good guy in Ralph. Jack McBrayer sells the innocence and privilege of Felix, who was coded to be the one and only hero of the game. Jane Lynch pops as Calhoun, the aggressive lead of a high-stakes first person shooter.
Sarah Silverman gets to steal the show as Vanellope, a glitch in a wacky cart racing game. Her hyperactive heckling and sarcastic attitude is a real crowd-pleaser. The film puts the weight of comic relief on her shoulders and Silverman exceeds all expectations.
The animation of Wreck-It Ralph is very clever. With the exception of Ralph and Felix, all of the characters in the film are always animated in the style of their game. The citizens of Fix It Felix Jr. move in sharp, 8-bit jerks. The Street Fighter characters have repetitive action cycles and the Pac-man characters float effortlessly across the screen. The varying animation is a lovely homage to the world of video games.
The big issue is one of ambition. Wreck-It Ralph really tries hard to please everyone. It has humor, action, romance, and a clear, almost fable-like, throughline. It's filled with Easter eggs for video game fans and broad physical comedy in equal measure.
The problem is that the plots that develop to carry such a wide range of material don't balance each other very well. They tie together in a logical way at the end, but the balance is a little off. Not enough time is spent in Calhoun's FPS to justify so much weight on her involvement throughout the second act. Vanelope's story overwhelms Ralph's own quest and blurs the lines of narrative focus. The balance is just a little off to hit as hard as it should.
Wreck-It Ralph is a really fun film. You're bound to find something you enjoy in it. Whether it's the video game nostalgia or the actual narrative thrust is the only gray area.
Rating: 8/10
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