Sugar Rush of Cute . . . Or, Wreck It Ralph Review

By Steven Mclain

I remember when Disney and Pixar were the closest of friends.  They'd make fun animated movies together that were heart-warming, delightful and just plain fun to watch.  Then the divorce happened, and Pixar got heart-warming and fun-to-watch in the settlement.  Disney was left with something shallow and it showed.  Then along came Dreamworks, and it seemed like they and Pixar would dominate computer-generated movies--heck, it seemed like they would dominate the fun-to-watch and well-made movie niches.  Wreck It Ralph seems to have put that notion to bed.  It's fun, heart-warming, and compelling.  It is tightly plotted and understands the genre.  It's been favorably compared to Toy Story and the comparison is relatively apt. 

The movie is about video game characters who come alive at night.  Like Toy Story, the mechanism for this change is never fully explained, we're simply dropped into a world in which video game characters in an arcade go home at night, have social lives, and grouse about their condition.  Which is the essential premise: Ralph is a bad guy, and he's tired of being ostracized by the other characters in his game.  Dared to win a medal by one of the pint-sized townspeople in his game, Ralph leaves his game for the chance to win one.  Things get messy quick here, and in the course of his adventure he lands in the middle of a candy and confection themed racing game called Sugar Rush.

Daring to help the underdog beat off bullies, Ralph injects himself into the politics of the game world, with disastrous results.  With a name like Wreck It, you know nothing good can come of it.  Yet, despite his bumbling attempts to be good, his dogged pursuit of the prize at the expense of the people around him, and the heart-breaking betrayal of the one person who trusts him, Ralph learns that to become a hero, one must make the hard decisions.  Often, in the tradition of the greatest myths, the hero must sacrifice himself. 

But this is a game, and every game has a reset button.  Even for Ralph. 

I was impressed with this movie on several levels.  I went into it expecting a lot of pop culture references from my childhood, and I wasn't disappointed.  I worried, however, that most viewers would understand them, and that they would detract from the movie.  Disney managed to pop culture coup in that regard.  None of the references are vital to the story, yet they improved my viewing experience and revealed a much deeper subtext.  Way to go, Disney.

All in all, this movie might be the most fun I've had in the theater this year, and I highly recommend this movie.