Post by Trey_Vore on Nov 10, 2012 23:36:07 GMT -5
Okay guys...
I will admit. I finally got to see Wreck-It Ralph.
I thought I was going to really like it.
I am going to say...
I was RIGHT!!
First off, when I finally saw Brave, instead of being a Pixar movie, it felt like a fairly typical Disney film. Wreck-It Ralph? It felt like what you might expect from Pixar. That was kind of a reason why no matter how much everyone seemed to praise Pixar, I chose to stand by Disney and DreamWorks because they may not have really nailed it every time, but when they do something nice, it really manages to be something.
The story is very good; it does remind me somewhat of Toy Story (in that the characters are "alive" inside the game) and Monsters, Inc. (the characters all have jobs and their games are just that) but it doesn't feel overly derivative.
At the same time, the characters are well done too; I mean Fix-It Felix feels like an Expy for "Jumpman" (who we know to be the early Mario) and Ralph is the game's Donkey Kong (the arcade game even mimics that game's booth art). I know that some people claimed this, but... at no point did Ralph actually remind me of Shrek. I was happy with the fact Ralph and Felix don't wind up "trading jobs" or that Felix doesn't go the way of Stinky Pete in Toy Story 2.
I also liked how the story is consistent, nothing goes unresolved, and it ends without leaving unanswered questions (a flaw that was in Frankenweenie).
They also have some funny little commentaries on how video gaming has evolved since the 1980s; namely in how Calhoun, the Hero's Duty Sargeant with a tragic backstory in what is a pretty hard contrast to the no-plot-necessary gameplay of Fix-It Felix, Jr. Imagine adapting a game like Pac-Man into a movie as opposed to Call of Duty.
I also have to mention Vanellope Von Schweetz. I really did like her as well, like she is supposed to be one of the girls from Despicable Me in a Strawberry Shortcake-like video game called Sugar Rush. She also seems to help bring out Ralph's better side when he learns that she is intended to be merely a programming glitch. But is there more to her? I can't say because the ending would be over but it makes the ending all the better.
There is also a whole bunch of cameos from other video gaming icons, but I am happy to report that the movie is not depending on these characters being on screen while also not simply being joke fodder--just cake icing.
For flaws, well...
The animation is really nice, no flaws there. But... on some of the animation for the "Nicelanders" in the Fix-It Felix game... well I understand they are supposed to be animated like they would be in an early 1980s video game but the animation on Ralph and Felix is pretty fluid.
Another little thing involves the movie's villain. Unlike movies like Lilo and Stitch and Bolt, this movie does have a villain--Sugar Rush game character King Candy. I can't say who he is or why he's the bad guy, but for right now I'll say he gives the movie proof that it's a Western film--we are joking about a politican, and you don't see a Chinese movie doing that. As a villain he's fine, and they do some things to make him different, but for the most part he feels like they ripped the Mad Hatter out of Alice in Wonderland. The voice, design, mannerisms--some people may find the similarities too close for comfort.
Small complaints aside, I really do think Wreck-It Ralph is a movie worth seeing this Thanksgiving weekend. Who knows, maybe I'll see it again. I won't say it should stand with Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King as an "A+" movie, but I won't deny I really liked the movie and look forward to having it in my DVD collection.
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
TreyVore rates it: A
I will admit. I finally got to see Wreck-It Ralph.
I thought I was going to really like it.
I am going to say...
I was RIGHT!!
First off, when I finally saw Brave, instead of being a Pixar movie, it felt like a fairly typical Disney film. Wreck-It Ralph? It felt like what you might expect from Pixar. That was kind of a reason why no matter how much everyone seemed to praise Pixar, I chose to stand by Disney and DreamWorks because they may not have really nailed it every time, but when they do something nice, it really manages to be something.
The story is very good; it does remind me somewhat of Toy Story (in that the characters are "alive" inside the game) and Monsters, Inc. (the characters all have jobs and their games are just that) but it doesn't feel overly derivative.
At the same time, the characters are well done too; I mean Fix-It Felix feels like an Expy for "Jumpman" (who we know to be the early Mario) and Ralph is the game's Donkey Kong (the arcade game even mimics that game's booth art). I know that some people claimed this, but... at no point did Ralph actually remind me of Shrek. I was happy with the fact Ralph and Felix don't wind up "trading jobs" or that Felix doesn't go the way of Stinky Pete in Toy Story 2.
I also liked how the story is consistent, nothing goes unresolved, and it ends without leaving unanswered questions (a flaw that was in Frankenweenie).
They also have some funny little commentaries on how video gaming has evolved since the 1980s; namely in how Calhoun, the Hero's Duty Sargeant with a tragic backstory in what is a pretty hard contrast to the no-plot-necessary gameplay of Fix-It Felix, Jr. Imagine adapting a game like Pac-Man into a movie as opposed to Call of Duty.
I also have to mention Vanellope Von Schweetz. I really did like her as well, like she is supposed to be one of the girls from Despicable Me in a Strawberry Shortcake-like video game called Sugar Rush. She also seems to help bring out Ralph's better side when he learns that she is intended to be merely a programming glitch. But is there more to her? I can't say because the ending would be over but it makes the ending all the better.
There is also a whole bunch of cameos from other video gaming icons, but I am happy to report that the movie is not depending on these characters being on screen while also not simply being joke fodder--just cake icing.
For flaws, well...
The animation is really nice, no flaws there. But... on some of the animation for the "Nicelanders" in the Fix-It Felix game... well I understand they are supposed to be animated like they would be in an early 1980s video game but the animation on Ralph and Felix is pretty fluid.
Another little thing involves the movie's villain. Unlike movies like Lilo and Stitch and Bolt, this movie does have a villain--Sugar Rush game character King Candy. I can't say who he is or why he's the bad guy, but for right now I'll say he gives the movie proof that it's a Western film--we are joking about a politican, and you don't see a Chinese movie doing that. As a villain he's fine, and they do some things to make him different, but for the most part he feels like they ripped the Mad Hatter out of Alice in Wonderland. The voice, design, mannerisms--some people may find the similarities too close for comfort.
Small complaints aside, I really do think Wreck-It Ralph is a movie worth seeing this Thanksgiving weekend. Who knows, maybe I'll see it again. I won't say it should stand with Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King as an "A+" movie, but I won't deny I really liked the movie and look forward to having it in my DVD collection.
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
TreyVore rates it: A