Wreck-It Ralph

2012, PG, Directed by Rich Moore
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch

Ralph is bad. Ralph – with his over-sized block hands - is programmed to wreck things in the arcade game he has long been a part of. When the arcade lights go down at the end of a tiresome day, Ralph is ostracised in favour of the game’s hero Fix-It Felix, Jr., left out of the parties held at his penthouse and the cakes baked by his fellow characters. This day-to-day occurance is what brings Ralph to Bad Anon, a support group for video game villains. ‘I will never be good...and that’s not bad,’ villains ranging from Mario baddie Bowser to a House of the Dead zombie are told. Not content with this rationale, Ralph (voiced by ultimate supporting actor John C. Reilly) decides to take matters into his own large hands and does the unthinkable: skips games (via Game Central Station, of course!) in hope of winning his very own gold medal. 

The latest Disney outing may not reach the heights of Pixar movie magic, however Rich Moore's animation does have a hint of the untouchable Toy Story; once the gamers have departed the Arcade for the day, we are drawn into the game, unveiling a whole world beyond the screens. Moore immerses us into the virtual world seamlessly, delivering the film in the guise of an actual video game. With the world comes the rules (namely the one Ralph breaks - stick to your game,) the video game character interaction (two fighters from Street Fighter calling it a day and heading for a beer is priceless,) and the fears (Toy Story's characters feared the shelf...these characters fear the 'Out of Order' sign.) It is a broadly well-realised concept that really succeeds. Add to the mixer the nostalgic element at play, and Wreck-It Ralph becomes equally as watchable for adults as it is for kids.

As Ralph bumbles his way into a first-person shooting game (in a standout scene, we see how the characters incorporate the paying gamers into their world,) right through to landing in Sugar Rush, a sickly-sweet racing game populated by saccharine little children and fulsomely sprightly adults, a smile will be firmly fixed on your face. It is in this game where he meets 9-year-old Vanellope Von Schweetz, a candy-pun-spewing handful who forges a friendship with our titular hero. Voiced by comedienne Sarah Silverman, the character may irritate a touch to begin, but it is doubtful her existence as a 'glitch' (for the techno-phobes: a system fault) won't tug at the heartstrings by the end; left out by her fellow characters, just like Ralph, there is more than a hint of Monsters Inc.'s Sulley and Boo here. Not a twosome as near as memorable, however Ralph and Vanellope are endearing enough to make you root for 'the Wreck-It guy' to aid the 'glitch' in realising her dreams of participating in a cup race...a true underdog story.

Wreck-It Ralph may not reach the heights of Pixar's best, but don't be fooled - this is still a cut above the rest, and superior to Disney's recent offerings Filled with references galore, laugh-out-loud quips and top-notch characterisation (including a homeless Q*bert,) this - as well as the charming pre-feature short Paperman - is an unadulterated joy to be shared with all.

This game is not over.  

4/5

 

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Brave

PG, 2012, Directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Kevin McKidd

  Toys, Monsters, Superheroes, Cars, Waste-collecting robots; the Pixar list goes on, and will continue to do so as long as Pixar effortlessly manage to sustain their excellence, amidst some signs of - not so much stalling, than slowing down (the critical derision of Cars 2 from everybody bar 8-year old boys forms the integrity of that statement.) Fresh ideas may be sapping, with their last original offering being 2009’s Up - as well as two more sequels in the works - but with Pixar, (emphasis on the word 'but',) there’ll never be any empirical reason to lose faith.

 

Their latest, however, faces challenges: people have become content revisiting beloved characters, whether it’s Woody, Buzz or Lightning McQueen. Somewhat interestingly, one common link between the entire Pixar back-catalogue is that female leads are pretty scarce. So perhaps in an attempt to prove they are still the leading animated classic-churner in the movie kingdom, head honchos unveil Brave: an original fairytale about a Princess. Set in Scotland. It is fair to say excitement has been lower on the league table than with previous outings - with production troubles meaning female director Brenda Chapman and title The Bear and the Bow departed the shoot, paving the way for Mark Andrews to take the reigns - but it is very probable this may have worked in its advantage. After a solid opening proves that there is no fear in making the younger audience members fly off seats in fright, it grows ever apparent that Pixar still defy fear to transcend what is expected of them. Using their princess protagonist as a tool, Merida is a force to be reckoned with. Enduring her expectant day-to-day princess rituals, she showcases her desire for adventure through narration and visual spectacle that further prove Pixar can deprive you of breath easier than CG-driven live action set-pieces. Voiced by Kelly Macdonald, she is the heart and soul of the piece, with reliance on the audience taking to this character to embrace the end product. If at first you are put off by the talky folklore dialogue and Merida’s reckless attitude, by the film’s end you will more than likely have accepted her, not just down to the fire-haired teenage princess’s trajectory. The support surrounding her each select their attempts to show-steal; Billy Connolly’s King Fergus, a peg-legged booze-guzzler, or even Emma Thompson’s Queen Elinor, who gets embroiled into the film’s overarching plot in a way one genuinely might not expect via Julie Walters' bizarrly-concepted witch. 

Strip everything back however, and Brave – whether you like it or not – falls short of the mark. Perhaps this is due to the instant-classic nature of the studio’s previous, downright braver, efforts. But Brave’s most noble element is its insistence on not trying to better what has come before, instead opting to provide something on a smaller-scale than what no doubt will come next (Monsters, Inc. gets the prequel treatment next summer in Monsters University.) Meaning it's easier to embrace the film’s redeeming qualities, threatening to glow even brighter with a re-watch – if Brave even lingers long enough in your brain to warrant another.

The world sits even tighter for the return of Sully and Wazowski.

3.5/5

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