"Wreck-It Ralph"

[Macaluso]

The movie was awesome. For a bunch of reasons. I was honestly really surprised by the twist that

Vanellope actually WAS in the game. I didn't see that coming at all.

Paperman was amazing and I can't wait for them to use that animation technique in a full length movie.

[ShyViolet]

So far it's 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, quite a good score.
I really do think it will be a very close race this year and the top 3 contenders will be
WIR, Rise of the Guardians and Brave.

[danieltruchsess]

Just went to see the movie this past weekend, and it was awesome! It was really funny, and very exciting, plus I was truly surprised by the twist at the end.

[gaastra]

Japan poster.

[EricJ]

Japan poster.

Where, of course, it's titled 'Sugar Rush". Why did I think that was going to happen?

[Vernadyn]

Ever since Meet the Robinsons, WDFA has been on the rise. Wreck-It Ralph is for me the best Disney animated film since Lilo and Stitch. The video game cameos were fun--I especially enjoyed the Metal Gear Solid one--but I truly did not expect the film to have such sincere character development and fully earned emotional moments. I'm not one to cry at movies, but there were a couple of moments in this one that had me close to tearing up, an honor shared by only a handful of other films.

I may have said it before, but Henry Jackman has become the fastest rising star of Hans Zimmer's proteges. Sure, the score has its share of cartoony music, but his music for the emotional moments is magnificent. The track "Wreck-It Ralph" (which plays under the titles) is one of those rare pieces of electronic music that somehow gets to me.

This is the best animated film I've seen this year, ahead of Frankenweenie (which I really liked), ParaNorman (which I mostly liked) and Brave (which was pretty good, if uneven at points). Hopefully, Frozen will continue Disney's ascension.

[GRUNT]

I'm late to the party, but the film took a while to come to Australia.

Let me just say - WOW. I remember first reading about the premise of Wreck-it Ralph, and dismissed it as a cheesy attempt to cash in on the current cultural zeitgeist. After all, there are some immediate similarities with Toy Story, and this film would have to work very hard to get out of Toy Story's shadow.

But it did, and it did it so effortlessly that I had completely forgotten all Toy Story comparisons after just a few minutes in.

The animation is, of course, amazing; but more than that: there's a phenomenally solid foundation of story and drama that elevates the film to a modern classic.

Without going into too many spoilers, I will say this: the decisions our hero has to go through are really frickin' good. Too often, the choice is either simply 'good or bad'. To use 'The Pirates: Band of Misfits' as an example, the choice to save the dodo or not is a no-brainer. Of COURSE you're going to do the right thing and rescue the dodo. But in Wreck-it Ralph, the titular character is given an impossible decision: being ONLY able to choose between the lesser of two evils. Here is where we see true mettle, and I was moved to a few tears.

Nonetheless, being a kid-friendly film, it can't be too intense, and Ralph was given an easy way out of this dilemma. While this deflated me ever-so-slightly, I was promptly re-inflated when I realised how cleverly the writers had constructed the new drama in the story's climax. Far from being a cop-out from a serious moral dilemma (I'm looking at you, Avatar the Last Airbender), so many little threads of story all finally pay off rapidly one after the other at the end that the stakes feel higher than ever.

On that note, I'd also like to say: I initially felt that the first half of the film meandered too much and that there were unnecessary scenes. But by the end, so many disparate and/or trivial elements come together that looking back at the film, I can hardly think of any scenes that could have been trimmed down at all. It really is a remarkably lean film.

Rise of the Guardians is next on my to-watch list, but Wreck-It Ralph is probably my favourite animated film this year. I'm officially gobsmacked. I went in optimistic because I've heard good buzz, but I didn't expect it to be as good as it was.

[Dacey]

For what it's worth, Ralph has been getting a lot of replays in my house. More in about ten days than Brave has gotten in four months. So, take from that what you will.

I think the thing that continues to impress me most is just how freaking well the story works, which is something I just marvel at. Not only do they create this world with its own rules, but they don't throw any filler into the movie. Everything is in this film for a reason, and seemingly throw away lines or moments end up playing major factors in the story as it goes on.

I also can't get over just how good the relationship between Ralph and Vanellope works, and how great John C Reily and Sarah Silverman are. Both of them are known for the comedy, obviously, and they pull that off effortlessly, but they also make the dramatic moments of the movie completely natural. The "third act depression" can sometimes be a drag to sit through in animated movies because it's become so expected, but when these two hit their "rock bottom" moment, I feel genuinely bad each time I watch the film. Everything about the scene works, from where they're coming from emotionally to how they react to each other's actions. You know why it kills Ralph to do what he does during the scene, but you also know why he's doing it, and Vanellope also responds in the same way any child in her situation would.

I can't explain why, but Brave never seems like a "complete" movie to me, even though it's hard to know what exactly is "missing" from it. Wreck-It Ralph, on the other hand, I find completely satisfying on virtually every level. If Tangled proved that Disney can make the old seem new again, then Wreck It-Ralph proves that they can also take the new and make it seem like something special.

[Randall]

After watching WiR this weekend, I have to concur with many others. It was robbed at the Oscars. The story felt original (even if the premise owed a lot to Toy Story), and I enjoyed every minute of it. I marveled at the environments, and the cleverness of the video game worlds. Importantly, the climax had real danger, a twist that I should've seen coming but didn't, and that moment where your spine tingles as the protagonist finds his purpose. (And then her purpose!) Bravo! The "all wrapped up in a bow" ending is a Pixar trademark, and almost a cliche unto itself, but who cares when it's done so well.

Brave, on the other hand... was just okay: A movie where little happens, to people with whom we have only a passing acquaintance.

[Ben]

Now I'm interested to find out how you react to my upcoming review...

(And, no, I didn't "hate" Ralph, but I do have several "problems" with it, even if I kind of agree with everything said here).

[Bill1978]

I will admit that while it wasn't the Best Animated Feature for 2012, it came very close. I was kinda relieved that Rise Of The Guardians wasn't nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars as it meant I didn't have to bet against my beloved Disney. However, out of the 5 that were nominated I felt Ralph was the best option.

[James]

I had a thought about Brave's Oscar win over WIR recently. I was considering what movie to watch this weekend with my parents and I thought of WIR. Then I started to wonder if they would enjoy it since they kind of missed the whole video game revolution having "grown up" after arcades and the home console craze. Then it hit me - the academy has a reputation of being even older than my parents. DId they just not enjoy it based on the subject matter? That would account for their preference for Brave without resorting to Pixar conspiracy theories. Just more speculation for the pile!

[ShyViolet]

That's very interesting. It might very well have been that.

Also, if you think about it Toy Story 1 was somewhat lucky as it got Academy recognition for John Lassetter despite the fact that many members were probably too old to have grown up with those specific toys.

[Dacey]

While I can't speak for everyone, my mother, who is in her mid 60s and has probably never played a video game in her life, also felt that Ralph deserved it over Brave. Ralph also has a "freshness" rating that's higher than Brave. I'm not trying to sound like a conspiracy nut, cause I'm not one, but if Ralph had come from Pixar and not Disney, well...

[Ben]

I know for a fact that someone I know, who isn't "young" and who voted in the Baftas and the Oscars, didn't have time to watch all their screeners this year and went for Brave based on it being "the Pixar movie". When I said they should check WIR out (well after the Oscars had been and gone) and they did, after also finally seeing Brave, they said that they preferred it and "wish I'd voted for that one now". But they did vote for Paperman, so I'll let them off...