Wreck-It-Ralph

There is a continuing fascination with what goes on with inanimate objects when we humans turn our backs. Now we find out what happens to arcade game characters when we leave them for the day.
I must say upfront that I am not really a fan of video games. I find them fairly frustrating. I usually get to a point that is too difficult and then give up. It also baffles me somewhat that in this day and age where home video game consoles are so popular that arcades still exist. For many there is a certain thrill in seeing some of their favourite characters coming together in the one film.  So there was not that much of a thrill in that area for me. I did find the premise fairly conventional too, of a bad 'character' trying to break their programming. However it is the journey of this character that makes the film a great deal of fun. The plot has many different twists and turns which I found a lot more interesting than other animated films we see these days. I loved the look of the film too. Most of it takes place in the game Sugar Rush so it has a very candy background. It was certainly a very tasty looking set. The Diet Cola mountain was probably my favourite idea. I also liked how they give the characters interesting backgrounds. Most of these video game characters are just there to play in the game so it is nice to see them be given more depth.
Director Rich Moore has done an excellent job with his selection of voice cast. It also helps that the characters bear some resemblance to the actor providing their voice. John C. Reilly brings his expert skill as an actor to his vocal performance of Ralph. While he is supposed to be a villain you never get a sense of that. Sarah Silverman is know more as a daring comedienne, but here she tones herself down to play a very sugary character. and she is excellent at it. Jack McBrayer is perfect at Felix and has that light sweet quality for a sweet character. Jane Lynch is a little bit typecast as the macho female soldier but is still very good. I did not recognize Alan Tudyk which is a good thing. He manages to balance the sweetness of his characters exterior with the evil inside.
You do not need to be a video game fan to enjoy this delightful animated film. It may help if you are as you'll no doubt get to see some of your favourite characters when you've turned off the game.