Wreck it Ralph out today, Who's gonna Wreck it?

[Dakinggamer87]

Picked up the 3D Blu-Ray Collector's Editon on Tuesday have yet to watch it. I need to start Tomb Raider this weekend if I finish Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance which hopefully I do since I heard it's short.

[Gamerforlife]

I just watched it. Did I like it? Yes. Was I disappointed? Also yes. Ultimately, the movie wasn't quite as clever or funny as I had hoped. My favorite kids movies are written in a way that will appeal to adults as well as the kids. Usually, this involves a lot of clever dialog and jokes that go over kids' heads but make adults smile. Wreck it Ralph doesn't do this. It feels like the writing is aimed squarely at kids and not adults. However, a lot of the game references and cameos will only be picked up by older gamers like myself. It's like they made a movie just for kids, and then threw in lots of retro game cameos and references to draw in thirty something gamers. It I'm being perfectly honest, it felt like pandering. It's one of those movies that seems to make references just for the sake of making them. Some people criticize Scott Pilgrim for this, but that movie was far more clever and I think will look better in retrospect when compared to Wreck it Ralph. I feel like both of those movies play to the same crowd and Scott Pilgrim is far better.

All that said though, I still liked Wreck it Ralph. It's a good natured movie with a lot of positive messages to it that I like. As far as good life values go, this is definitely a movie I would let a kid watch if I had one. There are themes about pursuing your dreams no matter how much the world tells you no, treating people with respect even if they are different, accepting responsibility, and respecting people who are in undesirable or seemingly unimportant jobs. Ralph is sort of the movie equivalent of the janitor, or garbage man, or plumber, or any other person that performs an important job but gets no respect for it.

I also thought it was clever the way the plot weaved together classic video game elements and created an alternate universe where people and video game characters co-exist in a way that makes sense. The movie has a certain internal logic to its world that is pretty consistent, much like something like Roger Rabbit.

I liked the characters too. The girl is super bratty and annoying initially, but she grows on you (kind of like the real life Sara Silverman ). I liked her by the end of the movie and actually cared about her relationship with Wralph. The movie would have been a total failure it had not accomplished that.

Also, while the game references and cameos all felt kind of crammed in there to shamelessly pander to us with endless fan service....I'd be lying if I said I didn't still appreciate it

The movie is good, not great. In my view, Scott Pilgrim is a classic. This movie isn't, but I still like it. The end credits sequence is fantastic I have to say, definitely not something you would just get up in the middle of and walk away. There were a few chuckle worthy moments in the movie too like this one:

Wreck-It Ralph: I ought to beat the filling out of you!
King Candy: [Pulls out fake glasses and puts them on] Aha! You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses would you?
Wreck-It Ralph: [Grabs the glasses, shatters them on Candy's head]
King Candy: Ow. You hit a guy WITH glasses. That's... [snickers] that's... well played.

There's a cool little easter egg where Chris Hardwick talks about all the game references in the movie and other cool things like Hidden Mickey Mouse images in the movie. If you love scouring a movie for little trivia tidbits, references, shout outs, and other hidden stuff, you'll find plenty in this movie. It seems like anything that is cool and also geeky has Chris Hardwick popping up in it these days (like The Walking Dead's little sidekick show, Talking Dead)

[jfrost]

It was a good movie, it's just odd that they chose to focus so much on the candy racing game. It's not like it's such a typical scenario for a game that the movie had to pay homage to. It feels misplaced.

what do you mean "typical scenario"?

It's not like the world is overflowing with cutesy little girl kart racers. I think it is hardly a very representative game genre to be in a movie like this.

[Gamerforlife]

It was a good movie, it's just odd that they chose to focus so much on the candy racing game. It's not like it's such a typical scenario for a game that the movie had to pay homage to. It feels misplaced.

what do you mean "typical scenario"?

It's not like the world is overflowing with cutesy little girl kart racers. I think it is hardly a very representative game genre to be in a movie like this.

I think the movie primarily focused on three things. The kart racer, old school arcade games like Donkey Kong, and modern Gears of War style shooters(there's actually a clever visual gag about first person shooters they threw in there too)

I think kart racers are extremely popular, even though they are not my thing. I would say it is a typical scenario for a game. Who the hell doesn't know about Mario Kart? Even casuals are really into those games. There's a kid playing a Sonic kart racer on Breaking Bad

[Retrodude]

Here's a tought: If Mario exists in this world, then you could assume that Fix It Felix Jr is one of those knockoff games like Lock N Chase that was made to cash in on the popularity of a more well known game but stuck around because it's a good game in its own right. That's actually pretty clever if you think about it.

[jfrost]

I think the movie primarily focused on three things. The kart racer, old school arcade games like Donkey Kong, and modern Gears of War style shooters(there's actually a clever visual gag about first person shooters they threw in there too)

I think kart racers are extremely popular, even though they are not my thing. I would say it is a typical scenario for a game. Who the hell doesn't know about Mario Kart? Even casuals are really into those games. There's a kid playing a Sonic kart racer on Breaking Bad

Kart racers are a popular genre, sure, but are they sufficiently popular to be referenced like that in a movie that pays homage to video games?

Okay, maybe it is (though I don't think so, I can see why people would think otherwise). Even so, do you think that the kart racer they presented on the movie really makes a good reference to games that are really popular such as Mario Kart?

I for one didn't think the game looked very familiar, to be honest.

[Gamerforlife]

I think the movie primarily focused on three things. The kart racer, old school arcade games like Donkey Kong, and modern Gears of War style shooters(there's actually a clever visual gag about first person shooters they threw in there too)

I think kart racers are extremely popular, even though they are not my thing. I would say it is a typical scenario for a game. Who the hell doesn't know about Mario Kart? Even casuals are really into those games. There's a kid playing a Sonic kart racer on Breaking Bad

Kart racers are a popular genre, sure, but are they sufficiently popular to be referenced like that in a movie that pays homage to video games?

Okay, maybe it is (though I don't think so, I can see why people would think otherwise). Even so, do you think that the kart racer they presented on the movie really makes a good reference to games that are really popular such as Mario Kart?

I for one didn't think the game looked very familiar, to be honest.

Actually, and I don't know if this was intentional, but it seemed kind of like the movie was making fun of kart racers. Like it was implying that kart racers are for girls. All the drivers were girls, and that game's world took place in this sickeningly sweet world with candy and bright colors everywhere. Was the game poking fun at guys who play kart racers, because I know there are a lot of guys who do.

On a related note, was the movie subverting guy dominated third person and first person shooters by having the baddest character from that game's world be a female (whose male partner gets killed)? It's also interesting that when a female player started playing the game, Ralph (a dude) completely effs things up and gets her killed.

Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe the movie is more clever than I gave it credit it for. It's kind of fun to see possible hidden messages in how it treats these genres.

[Luke]

I, for one, loved the fact WIR did NOT rely on cameos and game references. They were there, but they weren't the focus of the film, as they shouldn't have been.

And the best thing about the cameos is that kids don't have to know the characters; they're still funny even if you have no clue who they are, and that what's makes the movie great.

It's a bit predictable, but it is entertaining, fun, clever, pretty, and the voice acting is top notch. You take the video game theme out of it, and it's still a great buddy story.

[AppleQueso]

Funfact: the director of the movie, Rich Moore, was also the director on some of the best Simpsons episodes ever.

[MrPopo]

Funfact: the director of the movie, Rich Moore, was also the director on some of the best Simpsons episodes ever.

Wow, he went out with a bang on the Simpsons by making the best episode ever: Cape Feare. I'm still waiting for Kelsey Grammer to put out a Rogers & Hammerstein album.