Spinning off of an imaginative,
Monsters, Inc-like concept about a community of video game
characters living within the same arcade, Wreck-It Ralph may
seem at a distance to be little more than a nostalgia trip for
parents and a seizure-inducing distraction for their kids, but the
marketing is a mirage. While it starts out merely as a clever homage
to the arcade culture of the eighties, it transitions into something
more substantial and compelling before its ingenious but admittedly
thin premise has the opportunity to wear out its welcome. You need
not be a gamer in order to relate to this beautifully spun tale about
seeking acceptance and discovering self-worth, which is frankly the
best movie Walt Disney Studios has given us since its 1990s heyday.
It's like the Pixar movie we never got last year (what is this Cars
2 of which you speak?).
We all know what it's like to be in a
rut; that feeling of desperation that comes from going through the
motions of a dissatisfying routine, the frustration of being doomed to
your “lot in life” when you desire so much more. Wreck-It Ralph
(John C. Reilly) understands it all too well. He, the villain of an antiquated arcade
game called “Fix-It Felix Jr.”, has been performing the same
Sisyphean grind for 30 years. Ralph wrecks the building, Felix (John
McBrayer) fixes the building. Felix is rewarded with medals and
admiration from the tenants, Ralph is tossed in the mud and made to
sleep on a heap of discarded bricks all by himself. Sunrise, sunset.
