Wreck-it-Ralph Review

Hey guys. I'm here with my first ever movie review. I just got back from seeing Disney's Wreck-it-Ralph, a marvelous feat for first time director, Richard Moore. The story follows Ralph (John C. Reilly), an arcade video game villain who's sick of being "the bad guy." He embarks on a journey throughout the many games in the arcade to find himself and to prove that he's really not the villain. Let's jump right in, shall we?

Animation: A

This is where the movie really shines. The world of "Sugar Rush" is bright, vivid, and pretty much eye candy (no pun intended). The action scenes, primarily in the world of "Hero's Duty," are just about as breathtaking as an action scene in a Disney movie can get. The character designs are wonderfully expressive and creative, and the backgrounds are stunning to behold. The animation quality is just what I would expect from Disney, but the creativity and care put into the overall design and aesthetic of this movie is much harder to come by, even with a major company like Disney.

Sound: A-

There isn't really much to complain about here. When I saw the movie trailer I was not excited, simply because of the music. Pop songs like that are used to give a movie universal appeal I suppose, but for me, it was really a turn off. Luckily the movie itself had nothing but pleasant instrumental tracks (with the exception of one pop montage, which was actually very appropriate). The music could have been better I suppose. A huge original score, maybe with a retro mixture of 8-bit and orchestral music would have been awesome, but fantastic original scores aren't too common in animated movies, so what can you do.

The voice work was great. The VA's were really having a good time with this one, and you could tell. The voices suit the characters really well, and it was a pleasure to listen to.

Writing: A

The writing was impressive. For an animated Disney movie, the plot was surprisingly complex with a few little details one might miss on their first watch through, yet still simple enough to hold the attention of a child. It did have some predictable Disney moves such as "Chekhov's Gun" that were easy to spot, but with a twist at the end that was awfully reminiscent of classic Pixar movies.

The characters were fantastic and multi-dimensional, which is always nice. The writers really develop them and make you grow attached.

The jokes were mostly puns, and this wasn't the funniest, most gut busting Disney movie. Mainly just a few good laughs here and there. But the writers tell a really great story, and there isn't a dull moment in the film.

Overall: A

This is movie could have been made by Pixar (and when I say that, I'm talking about classic Pixar. Like... before Cars 2 and Brave). It was that good. As soon as the credits started rolling, I was ready to go buy another ticket and see it again. It was visually stunning, it sounded fairly awesome, and it was well thought out and well written. All in all, it was a really great movie. I'd see it again in a heartbeat, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes classic Pixar and Disney movies.

By the way, there's an animated short at the beginning of the movie (as if I haven't compared it to Pixar enough) and it's really cute and well animated and nifty.

So yeah... Wreck-it-Ralph. Go see it. Peace out.