Wreck It Ralph

My first Non Comics entry!

As mentioned a few times previously, the SpartanNerd is a bit of a cheapskate, and also has some offspring.  So the I must keep the SpartanSmurfs entertained somehow cheaply.  So I took them to the Wynnsong up in the Spartanburg proper for an hour and a half of $1.50 family fun.  Wreck It Ralph, though already released for home video, was a beautiful sight to behold on the big screen.

I kind of thought I might not really like it going into it.  I'd heard some good things about it....but it just didn't look that great to me from the advertising.....I kind of expected something like another "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," (didn't like, or "up" (what a downer).    But I was pleasantly surprised.  The movie opened with none other than a little spiel where Ralph explains how his game "Fix It Felix, Jr." works.  This description screamed 1980's NES SpartanNerd.  I remember explaining games to random people in just the same way.  AND, shortly after that we see lots of cameos of famous video game personalities.  (Meeting in a Surge Protector of all things!)  Chief among them, Bowser (from Super Mario) Zangief and M. Bison (from Street Fighter) Kano (from Mortal Kombat) Clyde (from Pac Man) a ninja (probably Noob Saibot from Mortal Kombat) Saitin (this guy reminded me of Darkstalkers, or maybe just the devil) and a Zombie.  Who knows from where.  This scene was just about enough to make the movie memorable to me, but then the plot got going and it was getting better and better.  There were some fairly emotional moments in the film, and am I sure that the SpartanNerd was having a Matinee Allergy Attack, making his eyes water........

This film also does a great job of Deux Ex Machina.  The problem was subtly replaced by a greater threat, which changed the focus of the plot right at the end.  A PLOT TWIST! (I could have just said that, right?)

Did I mention how beautiful the film was?  The Candy world scenes in this film were splenda-id (see what I did there, huh :).  And the scene from the action game rang a lot of nostalgic bells, specifically Turok 2, a little Halo, and a little Terminator.  I thought the match up of Felix and the Commander chick was sort of twisted, also.

So, I am going to rate this film at 8/10.  Given the choice of watching this film, and say, Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, I'd choose Star Wars.  of course, it still beats Gone With the Wind (shudder)  What does it tie reasonably with,,,,,,maybe Superman 2.  Or maybe Aladdin.  Or maybe Ghostbusters 2.  I mentioned Cloudy With a chance of Meatballs, for me, that was a 6/10.  ROTS was a 10/10.  Gone with the Wind gets a ......why bother.   SO maybe that clears up my ratings system.

From here on out, I am going to treat a movie that I see late in the game, like this one, as a movie that I feel I can spoil.  But when "Man of Steel" comes out this summer and I am the first person in line, and I blog about it after seeing it the third time on the second day after it was released, I won't give any spoilers.  Not until the dust settles.  I might even give an initial review, and then a late game review with spoilers, to see if my opinion changes any over time....Who knows.

Do I Smell Cheese?

SpartanNerd