Never let someone say kids movies are for kids because it just isn’t true. This past weekend, I saw Disney-Pixar’s Wreck-it Ralph out of pure curiosity. It sparks laughter and interest in all ages.
In Wreck-it Ralph, Pixar created a fictional world in which video games come alive after closing at an arcade. Characters ranging from Sonic to Pacman and many originals by Pixar interact with each other by visiting each others’ games.
Ralph, the “bad guy” in a thirty-year-old game called Fix-it Felix Jr., grows tired of the lack of appreciation he receives. As a result, he decides to leave his game and go “turbo” until he finds a medal to satisfy his need for attention. His journey takes him through war zones and candy-lands– however his goals may shift along the way.
Wreck-it Ralph is one surprise I never saw coming because I never expected Disney to attempt a video game-themed adventure. In the past, Disney has explored the mythical, the physical and the imaginative through signature pieces such as Hercules, Monsters Inc. and the Toy Story trilogy. I applaud Disney-Pixar for the creativity and originality they put into Wreck-it Ralph.
As a high school senior, the film may not have appealed to me in the same way as it would to a pre-schooler; however, Disney worked wonders around that barrier to reach into my inner-child. The blockbuster company smoothly slipped in many classic arcade references that only the adults would get. I found myself laughing not at the slapstick humor but at the different ways Disney entertained the audience.
For instance, Disney switched up the usual good guy-protagonist theme and inverted it so that the main character is a good-bad guy. Throughout the entire movie, Disney found the best way to reconnect the plot into a story with no loose ends which is useful when going up against critics.
But, Wreck-it Ralph also had a few problems here and there. Since they introduced so many well-known characters, Disney was only able to pull the story through two main game settings when they could have added five or more to keep the audience interested.
For me, Wreck-it Ralph was a nostalgic production that reminded me of the joy of being a kid, but it could easily have different effects on a variety of people. To put it in perspective, I chose to see this movie over the releases of both Skyfall and Lincoln, and I recommend everyone else do the same.
