It’s “Make Your Mommas Proud” Time!
The sad realization I’ve had about doing my reviews is that I occasionally don’t seem to find the time to see the movies I actually want to watch because I’m too preoccupied reviewing movies that have been requested or that I just want to watch to make fun of. Today’s movie is the former. I really wanted to see this movie for a number of reasons. It included the voices of many people I like, it is about something I revolve my life around, and it just looked good. But I never managed to get to the theaters to see it. When it came out on DVD later, I still didn’t get around to it. My roommate even purchased it and I still put it off until he finally had to slap me in the face a number of times with his BluRay until I agreed to watch it. And then I left it on my desk without watching it for a few times until I felt like my life was in danger if I didn’t get around to it. What I’m saying is that I’m terrified of my roommate. He’s mentally unstable and I need help. And since none of you are rushing to my aid because you’re bad people, I’ll instead review Wreck-It Ralph, the new movie from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures, written by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee, directed by Rich Moore, and starring the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Ed O’Neill, Mindy Kaling, Joe Lo Truglio, Rachael Harris, Edie McClurg, Adam Carolla, Horatio Sanz, Dennis Haysbert, Maurice LaMarche, and John DiMaggio.
When Litwak’s Arcade closes, the video game characters come to life. …I KNEW IT!! One of the older games in the arcade is a game called Fix-It Felix, Jr., which is a Rampage rip-off where a giant monkey or lizard creature is replaced by a bad guy named Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly), who wrecks a building, and the gamer must take control of Fix-It Felix, Jr. (Jack McBrayer) to fix it. But 30 years of being the bad guy is taking its toll on Ralph, who just wants to be the good guy and get a shiny hero badge every once and a while. Ralph sets off into the other game worlds to earn a medal, going to the new first-person shooter called Hero’s Duty and jumping into the team of Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun (Jane Lynch), where he is able to earn a badge. He escapes in a pod, but accidentally takes a Cy-Bug creature with him, which causes him to crash in the saccharine sweet kart-racing game and lose his medal to a little, glitchy girl named Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), who wants it to join the race and become a playable character. But Ralph’s absence does not go unnoticed. Having no villain in the game is viewed as a malfunction by the owner of the arcade, and if Ralph doesn’t return, the plug will be pulled on the game. Felix teams up with his new love interest, Sergeant Calhoun, to find Ralph before it’s too late.
Disney must’ve realized that Pixar was showing them up recently because they really seem to be stepping their game up. I would put Wreck-It Ralph up against any Pixar movie as at least their equal, and that’s one hell of a compliment with some of the Pixar classics out there. I loved Wreck-It Ralph, and there’s really no reason I should even bother acting surprised about that. This movie was made for me, or at least born gamers like myself. …But mostly for me specifically. For a movie so full of hidden references as this one was, only the most dedicated of gamers will be able to get all of them, and I’m proud to say that I got them all. And, coincidentally, I am also single. They had the more obvious things like the Konami code in the game (Yes, I consider that to be something obvious; something everyone should know), but they also had smaller things you have to pay attention for, like graffiti saying “Aeris Lives” and a Leroy Jenkins reference. But then they also had things that pained my nerdiness, like making Zangief a bad guy. The only point where Zangief was a bad guy (to my recollection) was in the Street Fighter movie, and no one acknowledges that movie’s existence. You just think he’s a bad guy because he’s Russian. But it wasn’t all about the video game references for me. I thought the story was very sweet, had a simple but good message, and actually made me laugh out loud multiple times. Most of the things that made me laugh were (arguably) horrible puns, though some of them were genius. One character claims she has “Pixlexia”, they get trapped in “Nesquicksand”, and they had a Wizard of Oz/Oreos joke that I thought was great, even though I kind of saw it coming. But I can’t hold that against them. I AM a comedy genius, after all. Also, I always thought that what the guards were saying in Wizard of Oz anyway. But, just as important to the lasting effects of this movie as the comedy, this movie was very sweet. Mostly involving the fatherly relationship between Ralph and Vanellope. Also, the ending was sweet as all hell. I’ve noticed recently that some movies don’t end the way you want them to because they want to be unpredictable. This movie’s ending was perhaps predictable, but it was exactly the ending I wanted. I left with a warm feeling in my heart.
Not much to say about the atmosphere of the movie. It’s fantastic. It captures every look it goes for. And it’s interesting to see how they changed the atmosphere and design for each of the individual games. Keep an eye out for that.
The entire cast of this movie killed it. And most of them were people I loved going in. John C. Reilly did a great job, but I found myself mostly focusing on everyone else. Sarah Silverman killed it. She was relentlessly adorable, like a female, human Wall-E. I also love Jack McBrayer, but he was overshadowed by Jane Lynch, who was pretty funny with a pretty hilarious, tragic backstory. I thought it would’ve been much more progressive if her character was getting married to a lady instead, but perhaps Disney isn’t quite ready to take a stand on the gay marriage situation. They’re no Chick-fil-a. Also, he may not have a huge part in the move, but the Ace Man himself, Adam Carolla, is in this movie a little! That is so exciting to me. But he wasn’t complaining, and that’s how I like my Ace Man. I’ll stick to his podcast to get my Carolla fix.
Wreck-It Ralph was a movie that I should not have put off for as long as I did. I regret missing it while it was in theaters, but hopefully I can make it up to the movie by purchasing it on BluRay now. The story is sweet and funny enough for children and adults alike, and it’s chock full of things meant to please the nerdiest of gamers (me). All of the performances were great, but Sarah Silverman stole my heart in this movie. I think everyone should not only see this movie, but just go buy it right away. If you don’t like it, then you’re a bad person and I feel no remorse for causing you to spend money on things you don’t appreciate. Wreck-It Ralph gets “You’re a winner!” out of “And you’re adorable!”
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