Wreck-It Ralph, voiced by John C. Reilly who's tones are
suitably rounded, is tired of being a bad guy. No one gives him a medal for a
day's work so he decides to do something about it in this slick, 3D, children's
film. On his mission he encounters Vanellope, sometimes called Glitch and
wonderfully voiced by the Sarah Silverman, and they must work together to
overcome the excess use of ice cream, biscuits, sweets and oh yes the
unexpected villain.
Wreck-It Ralph is a Disney Movie. There is no mention of
sometime partner Pixar and it is therefore designed to slot into the mighty
cannon of the Disney Brand. It is arguably for Disney a break from the norm; no
re-interrupted legend, fable or myth,
but it struggles with its identity. There is obviously a massive Movie Game market
this unashamedly taps into which is arguably current but the main characters
are purposely retro. It darts from one type of game setting to the next,
picking up action heroes, girly stereotypes, familiar bad guys and an alien
invasion. We never feel at home in any of the environments, like the backdrop
in Cars for example, although they are intriguing yet confusing.
It's also very American Centric, the featured sweet and
biscuit products, characters and consol games are largely from the said
country, which is not surprising but detracts from some of the entertainment
for UK viewers. It would have been nice to have seen a custard cream with a
spear rather than an Oreo. It did seem at times like a branding bonanza.
But perhaps the films biggest problem is it works on only
one level; the children's, whereas most successful animations throw something
in for the adults. The subtle jokes which only adults get are few and often
aimed at computer geeks.
The fact is Wreck-It Ralph is trying too hard to be a
Pixar film. It's not surprising that this should be the case as Pixar work with
Disney on their most successful films of late. They should have known better
and tried to bring us a great story rather than a selection of connected short
films based upon made up computer games. It's saving grace is Sarah Silverman
in the role of Vanellope. When she's on the screen her voice makes the
character irritably cute which somehow engages a primitive part of your mind
and makes you root for her.
61/100
