“I’m gonna wreck it!”
The movie follows the trials and tribulations of video game villain Wreck-it Ralph, who was tired of being overshadowed by Fix-it Felix, the “good guy” star of their game who always gets to save the day. But after decades doing the same thing and seeing all the glory go to Felix, Ralph decided he’s tired of playing the role of a bad guy. He took matters into his own massive hands and set off on a game-hopping journey across the arcade through every generation of video games to prove he’s got what it takes to be a hero. During his quest, he met the tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun from the first-person action game Hero’s Duty. But it’s the feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz from the candy-coated cart racing game, Sugar Rush, whose world was threatened when Ralph accidentally unleashed a deadly enemy that threatened the entire arcade. Will Ralph realize his dream and save the day before it’s too late?
The premise is similar to Toy Story. Once the lights go out, the characters are off-duty and have a life of their own. It turns out that acting out these video games is their day job, and there is a transportation terminal that takes them to and from their games at the arcade. Once again Disney has created an immersive world that’s rich with detail, populated by characters who have problems humans can identify with and characteristics that make even bad guys likeable.
Without a doubt, this is my favourite movie in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. I thoroughly enjoyed the intricate plot mechanics and found the concept of sentient game characters leaving their arcade games when the arcade closes and interacting with each other extremely fascinating. The movie featured many game characters that many would have heard of including Pac-Man and Sonic the Hedgehog. I was originally skeptical but soon realised that one need not be a gamer to enjoy Wreck-it Ralph.
The beginning of the movie introduced the idea that a whole other universe could exist in games, plugs and cables drawing me in and keeping my eyes glued to the screen. Towards the end, an unexpected plot-twist was revealed, keeping me on the edge of my seat and along with everyone else in the theatre, I heaved a sigh of relief when the problem was resolved.
For me, the highlight of the film was the friendship development between the two main characters, Ralph and Vanellope, as it was extremely heart-warming and brought tears to my eyes multiple times. Vanellope started out vexing Ralph with her energy, enthusiasm and wide-eyed naivety but Ralph ends up protecting Vanellope, coming close to giving up his life for her. Wreck-it Ralph is definitely a must watch, and I’ll definitely be looking forward to the sequel, Wreck-it Ralph 2, which will be released in 2018.
Source:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wreck_it_ralph/
Jocelyn Lim (3 Justice)
Ink Imprints 