Wreck-It Ralph is an animated adventure comedy film directed by Rich Moore. A classic arcade game villain Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly), decides he wants to reform and be a good guy, when he realises that his fellow video game character won’t accept him unless he has a medal he sets out to win one.
As someone who has played video games all his life I appreciated the references and appearances in this film. I found them to be delightful and the nostalgia factor of them never really wore out.
I thought a lot of the emotional beats in this film had been done before and I wasn’t very impressed with the storytelling or the characters, that is until about 15 minutes from the end. As Ralph is about to self-sacrifice to save his friends a powerful wave of emotion hit me hard and I realised that I had been caring this whole time, I had formed attachments to these characters.
I think the message of the film about accepting yourself for who you are is really well done and is communicated in a good way. I think children need films like this as I could have a strong positive impact on their self-esteem.
Other than Ralph and his best friend Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), I thought a lot of the other characters were weak and I lose interest when they were on screen; they took away from the A storyline.
Overall, this is a film with a good heart and a message everyone can relate to, the writing is a little shoddy in places and the side characters aren’t great, but Wreck-It Ralph still manages to be moving in its own way.
Pros.
The message
The surprising emotional payoff
Ralph and Vanellope
Cons.
The terrible side characters
The writing wasn’t good across the board
3/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 