bill bodkin and logan j. fowler get wrecked…
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Theater. I’m ready to press start on this one. Wreck-It Ralph has had my attention since I saw the first trailer, and the roster of characters has a bit to do with that. This movie may just feature glorified cameos, but featuring such childhood video game favorites like Bowser, Frogger, Pac-Man ghosts, and Sonic the Hedgehog in your movie will get me to pay attention. Being called the Who Framed Roger Rabbit of video game movies, Wreck-It Ralph centers around a virtual world bad guy named Ralph (John C. Reilly) who wants to be good. His job for 30 years has been demolishing buildings and quite frankly he’s fed up. Who can’t relate to hating their job at some point and wanting a change? The animated film features a solid voice cast; the aforementioned Reilly, Jack McBrayer as Fix-It Felix, the good guy to Ralph’s bad, Jane Lynch as a gun toting bad ass chick in Hero’s Duty, kind of a parody of Halo, and Sarah Silverman, who voice Penelope in the game Sugar Rush, and who plays an important part in the film.
Wreck-It Ralph seems like it may drop video game character references left and right, but the core story looks good enough to survive past all the name dropping. I’ve already request to review this one for pop-break due to sheer excitement and I will be seeing it the second weekend it’s out. I’m putting all my quarters on this one. Hope it comes out a winner. –LJF
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Theater. Let’s get my negative vibes out of the way first. I’m going to say it — I don’t find Sarah Silverman funny in the least. Also, can Jack McBrayer play anything but an overly perky, super gee-golly characters? The inclusion of these two actors in Wreck-It Ralph doesn’t sit well with me, especially Silverman since she’s going to be such a big part of the movie — playing one of my least favorite characters of all-time — the precocious child.
However when I watch the trailer for Wreck-It Ralph I’m awash in childlike wonder. And I really feel this is the tone that then film is going for — a wonderful and whimsical tale rife with enough video game references for us older folks and enough folly and fancy for the youngsters. I mean I can’t help but pop when Zangief is onscreen or when the Pac-man ghost changes color. And man, the choice of John C. Reilly as Ralph was inspired. Perfect casting.
In the end I’m hoping Wreck-It Ralph will take notes from Pixar films and deliver an emotional yet funny film that the entire family can love and not a strong premise that gets rung through the wash of predictability and mediocrity. –BB
