HOORAY FOR ALLITERATION! (Also, thar be spoilers!)
And true to my word, here is my immediate review of Disney's Wreck-It Ralph.
OMGSOGREAT
I love video games. If you don't know me, let's get that out of the way. If you DO know me then I shouldn't have even had to mention that I love video games. Some of my earliest memories in life involve video games; I remember watching my brothers play some weird biblical game in which Joseph had to keep jumping over waterfalls (for some reason). I remember getting home from church and wanting to play Road Rash on the Genesis (ya rly....you make your own conclusions there). I don't remember birthday parties much, but I sure as hell remember when my oldest brother beat Sonic 2. I loved Goldeneye multiplayer and I mastered Soul Calibur. Some of my best memories from when I was in high school involved escaping to Vvardenfell or Hyrule.
Wreck-It Ralph is a movie for everyone, but I honestly believe it is lovingly crafted for people like my brothers and I - not just an homage here or a convenient joke there, but a love letter to the culture and icons that have become a part of our own identities in a way. Not just the volume of games and characters mentioned (I need to watch again to see what all I can pick out) but little things that a gamer can notice and identify with.
For instance, the self-aware fact that one needs a magical hammer (given by one's father) to actually repair the damage done as no contractor could do the same job in the same time given the accumulated destruction. Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter going to grab a couple brews after a hard day of beating the bejesus out of one another, and the exclamation point from Metal Gear Solid in the lost and found box. The not-so-subtle nod that "hey, remember that Q*bert exists?". King Candy's use of the infamous Konami Code to open the code vault. The "Sonic Sez" segment in Central Station (a personal favorite, although they went with, to my chagrin, "skinny" Sonic as opposed to his stouter original design). Quite possibly the greatest; the part where the race starts in Sugar Rush and the last racer skids in place trying to accelerate - we've all been there trying to time the boost juuuust right in Mario Kart and missing it only to be the last to start the race.
By the way, WTF kind of name is "Rancis", anyway?
While I can see how many people could quickly tire of the Sugar Rush segments (with its Candyland-esque setting and saccharine puns) but honestly...I could see Sugar Rush as being the kind of game I'd be (or would have been at some point) all about, what with it's Jpop fusion. I think Sugar Rush would have worked better had it incorporated something like random robots or dinosaurs (ultra-kawaii, of course) roaming around to fit the over-the-top yet edgy cuteness that is so pervasive in every nook and cranny of the land.
Also..."assorted fans!....with nuts!" Why was that so funny? I have no idea. But I was dying in the theater.
As for the precocious and somewhat tragic character of Vannelope...I'm not going to lie. She was on screen for like 15 minutes and I was already weighing on what I would need to do for my next Halloween costume (the hoodie and the skirt would be pretty easy...I'd just need the boots, leggings, and wig complete with candy barrettes). Eeeyup.
While the plot could be seen as somewhat predictable (or as some would probably perceive it, unoriginal or lame)I think the beauty lies in the simplicity. It gives the spotlight to fleshing out the characters themselves; does programming make the character? Although similar in concept with Toy Story, I believe the similarities are fundamentally necessary to tell a story like this - what happens when the arcade closes? Why can't a villain be the hero for once?
As my brother pointed out, whoever was in charge of casting certainly deserved their paycheck. Every character was spot-on and even the peripheral characters were taken care of. Mindy Kaling as the bitchy Taffyta was a fitting stroke of genius, for instance. And seriously? Nobody could have brought Ralph to life like John C. Reilly. The actors cast weren't just cast because of their status in Hollywood like other hackney'd productions tend to do. In fact, the only semi- surprise was Jane Lynch as the no-nonsense Sgt. Calhoun - a rough and tumble action hero on par with Samus Aran who leads a team of commandos a la Halo meets Call of Duty. In hindsight, Lynch was the perfect choice, actually. While I found Jack McBrayer essentially reprising his role as Kenneth the page from 30 Rock in his channeling of Felix, Jr. (of Fix-It Felix, Jr. fame) I did find his mannerisms and voice on par with what one would expect from a humble contractor-with-a-magical-hammer. Aaaand then there's Sarah Silverman. I will never have a bad thing to say about Silverman. She can pull off anything - everyone knows she can get away with saying some of the most unbelievably tasteless things simply because she is some kind of magical witch comedienne (or maybe it's because she also has fooled the world into believing she is perpetually 10 years old, a skill that works brilliantly in her favor as Vannelope). She can do obnoxious and insufferable and still be endearing. Brava, Silverman.
The movie does have its flaws, and I have to say that because I can't be the Peter Travers of my own blog and say that every movie I write about is the best movie I've ever seen in my entire life (that's not fair to the Muppets and the Avengers). I'd love to see what a sequel could bring.
At the end of the day, though, I stick with my assessment that Wreck-It Ralph was made with a lot of love for gamers by gamers (or by people who did a toooon of research). Even if you have never played a game in your life, never fed a quarter to an arcade machine, or even know the finer points of Nintendo v. Sega (not that it matters now, anyway) the movie offers a lot on what it means to be left out without feeling like an after school special. Oh, and in case you forgot, the Konami Code is Up, Up, Down, Down, Left ,Right, Left, Right, B, A, START.
P.S. Paperman, the short that was shown before the feature....so cute. I'm in love.
P.P.S. Know what else was a good movie? Argo. Go see that one, too. Seriously.
Great writing and I have not seen the movie.
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