Wreck It Ralph Response

Have you ever watched an animated movie, and been so distracted by the voice actors that all you can think about is the fact that there is a person "behind the screen" voicing the character? That was what the hour and 40 minutes of Wreck It Ralph felt like for me. The cast was so star studded that I was continuously distracted (Jane Lynch, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Silverman).

In addition to this distraction, the premise of Wreck It Ralph is not my favorite. I am not a huge video game player (in fact, I never was allowed to play any kind of video game growing up) so I didn't find the characters recognizable or nostalgic. I also, in general, found a lot of the characters to be annoying. However, by the end of the movie, I found that I had enjoyed it. Definitely not a favorite, but the twist ending made the movie more exciting, and a couple of the characters cracked me up (Fix It Felix and the green Sour Bill in particular).

I think the biggest takeaway from this film is supposed to be social stigma. This was apparent in two characters, Ralph and Vanillope, and I think they were supposed to get the audience to challenge the idea of group think. One of the most apparent scenes of this phenomenon was at the beginning when Wreck It Ralph fails to be invited to his own 30th anniversary party. Clearly Felix likes Ralph, but doesn't invite him because other people say that he is a "bad guy." (The awkwardness of Felix not wanting to invite Ralph in but Ralph hanging around was palpable. So real and hilarious.) By showing the psychological affect other's meanness was having on our two leads, the filmmakers were trying to get the audience to think twice before being mean to someone just because it seems like you are supposed to, or because they are different.

The twist ending. I don't think I saw it coming, and it was good, but it was not completely mind blowing. I think it would have been even more shocking if they had given no hint at King Candy's evilness (like the reveal of Hans in Frozen!), but it still was really cool that they incorporated Turbo, a seemingly irrelevant character, into the major plot.

My biggest gripe all in all with the film was that they incorporated GIANT FLYING COCKROACHES. WHAT was the point of that? Cockroaches are my biggest fear (i have had nightmares about them and am getting queazy just typing the word), and I felt that ruined my enjoyment of the plot B with Jane Lynch's character.

There were some hilarious one liners and Sour Bill is SUCH an underrated character. But the premise is just something that I'm never going to inherently love. However, I enjoyed it more than I would have expected had people not told me it was a great movie. A unique film in the Disney eschaton and a well executed film.