4 out of 5

Director: Rich Moore

Though it suffers from some plotting sidesteps and simplicity, the inventive designs, excellent voice acting, and balance of kid-friendly and mature humor make Wreck-It Ralph a win, chuckle-worthy and visually stimulating from beginning to end.  John C. Reilly strikes the perfect inflection of dumb, sweet, angry and relate-able as Wreck-It Ralph, the bad guy in a video game where he exists to be trumped by “Fix-It Felix” and then tossed off the building he’s wrecking by the residents of Niceland.  In the wonderful freedom of animation, we can flip to the otherside of the video game screen, where all of the characters in an arcade have full lives, connected to each other, via wires and a surge protector, and a Grand Central-esque terminal where one can wander in to another game if so chosen.  But in order to prevent one’s own game from going out of commission, it’s important to be back behind the screen in time for a player to pop in a quarter so you can do your thing.  Approaching his game’s 30th anniversary, Ralph is sick of being treated as an all-around ‘bad guy,’ attending Bad Guy Anonymous meetings (featuring great cameos) and pestering the Niceland residents to state that if he can get a medal that says he’s a “hero,” they’ll consider not treating him so poorly.  So: goal given, and cue the “accepting who you are” kid movie, where Ralph travels to a different game in search of his medal, helping and learning from a glitch (Sarah Silverman) in a racing game.  The animation is stellar for its nods to gaming culture and design, and although the plot (beneath the high-end concept) isn’t a stretch, it avoids all eye-rolling simple dialogue for pretty realistic patter.  This doesn’t avoid the problems with this genre, though – that turning point acceptance of identity comes a bit too gift-wrapped, the arch-nemesis feels stuffed in just to give us a counterpoint, and there are several plot points that seem like remnants of a different draft of the script.  Plus – the game references are all stacked toward the front.  Once Ralph gets to his medal-earning game, he stays there.  But lookit that rating – four stars.  Because that’s all from an analytical retrospect.  While watching, I was fascinated, with a big smile on my face, and saw past the recognizable voices to identify with the actual characters, which is one of the harder tasks for animated flicks.  Maybe nothing new under its awesome exterior, but ‘Ralph’ also doesn’t just rest on its big idea to sell itself – it’s the full package, and can play easily to every age range.