Official Synopsis
For decades, Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) has played the bad guy in his popular video game. In a bold move, he embarks on an action-packed adventure and sets out to prove to everyone that he is a true hero with a big heart. As he explores exciting new worlds, he teams up with some unlikely new friends including feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman).
Let me just get this out of the way now, Wreck-It-Ralph is outstanding on so many levels. It finally brings an enormous hit to the Disney Animation Studio, which really needed Pixar-esque success on its resume with digitally animated features. Don’t’ get me wrong, there are some movies that Disney has done well in this format, but Wreck-It-Ralph simply takes that to an entirely new level.
The story, as you read in the synopsis, revolves around a villain named Ralph. While he is a villain through his day job, he isn’t a villain by heart. Fed up with the lack of appreciation for the job he does in Fix-It Felix, Jr., Ralph decides to goes on a journey for a medal to prove that he’s just more than a ‘bad guy’. The movie takes the role of villains and turns it on its head. It puts worth in the role of the villain and gives it some depth, which is not easily done in storytelling. I think it all seems less vicious when it’s applied to the video game genre, as there always has to be an antagonist pressing the protagonist to keep moving forward, so the antagonist is trapped in this role (otherwise the whole thing collapses).
By Ralph being trapped in the villain role, the movie dissects his character to magnify the emotion and pity you should feel for him and his situation, which gives him more depth. He’s literally stuck being hated on for 30 years, and even worse being shunned by his peers well after the game is over. His desire to want something more and, more importantly, be more appreciated is completely understandable. By dissecting him through his inner dialogue and through the action of his peers, it creates a mass effect where the good/bad guys begin to fall onto even ground in the film. The guys/gals/creatures you usually categorize as villains in video games suddenly don’t look as mean as they previously did thanks to Ralph’s story. It’s almost as if Ralph is liberating all villains and giving them more depth through his plight to gain the medal and respect of his peers. That’s what this film creates through Ralph and in my mind that is the main element that makes this movie work so darn well.
Artsy stuff aside, the film is just fun to watch. Seeing Ralph’s journey from no one to savior is fun the whole way through. John C. Reilly really nails this character from the get go. He plays off of all the characters he meets, especially when he comes across Sarah Silverman’s Vanellope. While I can’t say much for Silverman’s comedy career as an adult, she absolutely owns the role of the sassy glitch in the film. Ralph and Vanellope have the best scenes in the film, including one of the most emotional moments in the storyline (you’ll know it when you see it). Reilly and Silverman did a fantastic job and are the stars of the film; everyone else just helps to move things along.
Now having said that, I don’t want to underscore how well Jack McBrayer did as Felix. His genuine kindness, which he carries everywhere with him in all his roles (Talladega Nights anyone?), really does make Felix the perfect hero in his video game. Not to be outshined, Jane Lynch does a spectacular job as the rough/tough soldier in Heroes Duty called Calhoun. She has some fabulous moments with Felix in the movie, and adds some strong emotional value to the whole piece (some of the best comedy as well).
Soapbox time: While I certainly appreciate the beauty of Pixar’s Brave, I think Wreck-It-Ralph got jobbed at the Oscars this year. It was head and shoulders above all other animated films in 2012. The story was strong, the characters were stronger and it was all balanced perfectly by director Rich Moore’s vision of this very much alive video game world. It created a stronger message, in my view, than Brave created without having to depend on graphics and humor to carry it along. The fact that it didn’t win was laughable. It had better acting, writing, story and even better animation. On top of this, Moore’s team nailed the video game look across decades of arcade evolution. They paid proper homage to real video game legends (such as Q-Bert) and stuck to the task of making a great movie in the process.
Anyway, if you haven’t seen Wreck-It-Ralph then you really need to snag this on Blu-ray or at least rent it. I’ve watched this movie three times already and I’m still not bored of it. If you love video games then you’ll definitely love this one.
As for the 3D portion of this release, it was pretty darn spectacular. Using passive 3D for the review, the images stood out pretty well. The depth was particular impressive and accurately spaced, especially once you get into the places like Game Central Station, Sugar Rush and inside the secret hiding place of Vanellope. The color detail and HD kept up pretty well with the 3D transfer, but you never really have one of those ‘Avengers’ moments during the 3D where you would duck at a flying object. I was just a tad disappointed with that, as there were more than a few opportunities for that to take place during the film. Regardless, you still get some of the best animated 3D on the market. Of course, new animated films in 3D always seem to have some of the best 3D.
Staying with that same theme, the HD transfer for the movie was gorgeous. It’s easy to get the most out of animated movies when they’re born in the HD era. You can have as sharp as graphics as you want and the only thing holding back pure HD in the transfer is the compression. There aren’t any issues with WIR in the compression or transfer. You get zero graininess or artifacts in the picture, which makes this one of the best looking movies on the Blu-ray format. Some of the best scenes are in Ralph’s game, Sugar Rush and Heroes Duty. Lots of things could have messed up the HD transfer, especially in the latter game, but it looked absolutely gorgeous. Plenty of fine details and lots of moving objects. This is the reason why you buy Blu-ray.
As for the audio transfer, you get this movie in 7.1 DTS-HD, which is perfect because you’ll love the music and sound effects that go with it. In particular, I enjoyed the Heroes Duty music, which sound absolutely epic in a 7.1 sound setup. As for the aspect ratio, the video comes to you in 2.39:1.
Finally, as for special features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Paperman Theatrical Short (also in 3D on the 3D disc)– It absolutely deserved to win the Academy Award this year. A beautiful tale of love without words.
– Bit By Bit: Creating the Worlds of Wreck-It-Ralph — I really do like how they explain the concept and creation of the movie and how it all came to be. I thoroughly enjoyed the artwork and evolution of the characters, especially Ralph. Gotta get me one of those arcade machines.
– Disney Intermission: The Gamer’s Guide to Wreck-It-Ralph — Interesting little guide, but not as good as Bit By Bit.
– Deleted/Alternate Scenes — Loved some of these. Really solid addition to the special features section.
– Video Game Commercials — I enjoyed the edited pieces (especially how the monetary bonus changed at the end of each), but I wish they had done a bit more than pull scenes from the movie. Something special to make these commercials work as individual pieces.
All of these features really complimented the movie. I would have loved to hear commentary from actors and crew, but what you get is pretty solid for this combo pack.