by Nick Growall
Staff writer
After letting their Pixar branch pick up the slack over the past several years when it comes to animated features, Disney is finally stepping up its game in-house with its past few releases including 2010’s “Tangled” and this year’s “Wreck-It Ralph.”
As the villain of the retro arcade game “Fix-It Felix Jr.,” Ralph (John C. Reilly) has grown tired of always being seen as a “bad guy,” while Felix (Jack McBrayer) is adorned as a hero, winning medal after medal for defeating Ralph.
After a desperate attempt to fit in with the characters of his game world, Ralph takes off on a quest through other games in the arcade to win his own medal, in order to prove that there’s more to him than meets the eye.
While Ralph is gone, the owner of Litwak’s Arcade, the arcade where “Fix-It Felix Jr.” is located, declares the game “out of order,” thinking it is malfunctioning.
Since broken games are unplugged, leaving their characters homeless, Felix take off to find Ralph and bring him back before it’s too late.
What could’ve been just a cash-in for Disney, throwing in cameo after cameo of famous video game characters, turns out to be a fully-developed world filled with great original characters. Famous heroes and villains do show up throughout, but their presence in the film has purpose.
The world (or worlds) in “Wreck-It Ralph” prove to be well thought-out, harkening on different eras and genres in gaming history.
The citizens of “Fix-It Felix Jr.” move and interact in the not-so-smooth, jittery way you’d expect them to, being from a game that would be found in the 8-bit gaming era of the 80s.
“Hero’s Duty” plays as the obvious salute to first-person shooters like “Halo” and “Call of Duty,” and the kart racing game “Sugar Rush,” while initially too sweet for its own good (pun intended), proves to be a game you really wish existed by the film’s end.
It’s this attention to detail that makes “Wreck-It Ralph” work and it also shows in its well-written characters and stories. John C. Reilly (“Step Brothers”) brings a warm, lovable presence to the gentle giant Ralph, as his character learns the true meaning of being a hero.
Jack McBrayer (“30 Rock”) fills the Mario-like Felix with unbridled optimism, which works to hilarious success when matched with Jane Lynch’s (“Glee”) tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun, referencing female heroes like Lara Croft, as the two play off each other in their unlikely romance.
However, it is strange to hear Lynch’s voice coming out of a character so seductively designed. One might think they would’ve gone after one of Hollywood’s young starlet’s for this role, but the focus is on voice talent here, and Lynch nails the character’s no-nonsense humor.
But the most memorable voice talent goes to stand-up comedian Sarah Silverman as kart racer Vanellope von Schweetz. Known for her polarizing on-stage comedy, Silverman is kept at a relaxed restrain here, using her off-beat humor to its fullest potential and getting some of the film’s funniest, most quotable lines.
The visuals throughout the film are stunningly vivid, from the colorful world of “Sugar Rush” to the apocalyptic, alien terrain of “Hero’s Duty.” Enough cannot be said about the animation of the different characters and their worlds.
It’s truly what you’d expect if you were able to step through the game screen, filled with references to different genres throughout the history of video games.
But a film’s success truly lies within its story and characters, and “Wreck-It Ralph” gets a high score in this department. The screenplay is witty and heartwarming without being cheesy or feeling forced, and the characters are likeable and entertaining throughout.
It’s a salute to the world of video games done right, filled with enough nostalgia to make you want to dig out your old game systems again.