Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Certified: U
Duration: 108 minutes
Directed: Rich Moore
Voices of: John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Sarah Silverman, Alan Tudyk
KRS release

Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly), the villain of arcade game Fix-It Felix Jr, is bored with his lot in life.

His role is to wreck buildings while Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) saves the day by repairing them with his magic hammer. Once the game is over, Felix is treated as a hero by the other characters of the games while Ralph is left all alone.

All this changes when he gets promised redemption if he earns a hero’s medal. So he leaves his game and moves to the game Hero’s Duty where he takes another character’s role and fights the Cy-Bug deadly creatures along with Sgt Calhoun (Jane Lynch).

When he breaks the rules he gets a medal but an accident with a Cy-Bug gets him to affect a crash landing. This has him leave Hero’s Duty and enter Sugar Rush, a racing game in a world that seems to be made of candy.

Here he meets Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), a diminutive girl who is viewed as a glitch in the system and is not let to race in this kingdom run by King Candy (Alan Tudyk). Vanellope uses Ralph’s gold medal to get to race, but Ralph wants it back.

Fix-It Felix also chases Ralph because he wants him back in their game as it is facing shut down. Sgt Calhoun is also on the way as a Cy-Bug has made its way into the candy-coloured world of Sugar Rush and it can flip the arcade world game upside down.

Wreck-It Ralph is, first and foremost, a very beautiful-looking animated feature which will instantly appeal to a young audience. The sweet and emotional picture also looks at the video game culture with a sense of nostalgia, thus appealing to older audiences as well.

The film harks back to the time when playing video games at home was only a luxury afforded by the few. The concept of unemployed video game characters makes one melancholic for the games once played and which have now become obsolete. Director Rich Moore even inserts cameos from classic video games.

The Disney film goes beyond the cute factor and is not just about fun and games. The focus here is on the relationship that develops between Vanellope and Ralph.

The voicing brings an added punch, with Silverman being especially effective. The feelings she delivers as the young girl who cannot escape her world if the game is shut down, since she is a glitch, is quite an accomplishment.

This gem of a picture is not to be missed.