(Original post date 3 November 2012)
Ladies and gentlemen,
I like to think of myself as a gamer. I have played computer games,
video games, tabletop games. I love board games, dice games,
role-playing games. I try to LARP (Live-Action Role-Play) whenever I
have time/money for it. I am very big with Dungeons and Dragons, and
other fantastic games like that. So, when I heard way back when that Disney was doing a movie about video
games (especially of the retro sort) I had to admit that I was
excited. I had big expectations, and I am usually very critical about my
video game movies. What I want to offer you, (with minor spoilers) is
my review of Disney's Wreck-It Ralph.
In a time of
uncertainty, what with Disney having just acquired LucasFilms Ltc, I had
pretty much came to the conclusion that Disney was an evil empire (get
it?) and that I had long since lost faith in the Disney company. They
have pretty much all but abandoned their own iconic characters, like
Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck, and Goofy, just to name a few. With the
Disney Company buying other major conglomerates like the ABC (American
Broadcast Company), Marvel Entertainment (I’m still waiting for Chip and
Spidey’s Rescue Rangers), and now the aforementioned Lucasfilms (or as I
like to say, Ewoks, Jar Jar, and midi-chlorians), I had to admit, that
to me, Disney lost its soul somewhere between Lion King, and The Frog
Princess. Needless to say, this work from Disney delivers genuine laughs
(especially for a gamer), stays faithful not only to Disney fans, but
gaming fans, and even manages to tug at the heartstrings of this usually
jaded viewer.
The main character of Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph,
is the title character himself, voiced by a very talented, and comedic
genius John C. Reilly, who gives a phenomenal performance. He’s the
villain of his game “Fix-It Felix. Jr.” But he’s really disillusioned by
his way of life, as always having to be the bad guy, and never getting
any recognition. After a heated conversation with some of the minor
characters, he decides to leave his game and travel to other games,
hoping to become a hero, but he finds that not everything is always so
black and white when it comes to heroism.
Probably the most
memorable character, other than Ralph is Venellope voiced by the also
comedically talented Sarah Silverman, who is one of the little cutesy
racers from a candy-themed Mario Kart-esque game. While I won’t go into
detail about how she’s important to the movie (because those would
contain spoilers) they relationship she has to Ralph is very touching,
in a way that would move people, and certainly was surprising for me.
Really, Venellope really made the movie for me. And it’s easy to see why
from the very beginning. In my opinion, it is clear to see why they
chose Sarah Silverman for this part.
In Wreck-It Ralph, there
are a lot of gaming reference, cameos, and trivia that you can see even
from the very beginning. Some of them are blatant and good for a laugh,
but some of them are subtle, and I’m sure I missed a whole lot of them
on this first sit-through (by the way… I do intend to see it again in
the movies). While I won’t spoil all of the cameos that I caught (and
trust me, there are a lot of them), I do want to say that Capcom (which
during the late 80’s and early 90’s had quite the friendship with
Disney) was certainly represented. Fan favorites such as M. Bison,
Zangief, Ryu, Ken, and Chun Li were sprinkled throughout the movie,
Nintendo had its fair share of reference, Bowser, and Mario for certain.
There were also a few more subtle reference also made. There is the
word “Jenkins” written on the wall, a reference to Leeroy Jenkins of
World of Warcraft fame. Also the Konami Code was referenced in the movie
as well.
And while I could go on and spoil more and more of
the movie, Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph certainly will not restore my faith
in the Disney Warmachine that it’s become. It has its flaws, and I
wouldn’t say it’s the perfect movie. This movie is great fan service for
video gamers, and blends the familiar with the nostalgic into a solid
movie that I will definitely add to my library as soon as it comes out
on DVD. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Disney, or
video games. Or just the movie experience. I found myself laughing at
some of the parts that others around me didn’t quite understand, as
there are a few subtle jokes that only avid gamers would get, but
there’s a lot for the kids as well. The children, and those who grew up
in the 80’s and 90’s will both enjoy this movie.
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