Copied and pasted from forum posts/tumblr but might as well share here - thoughts on Wreck-It Ralph (since I finally got to see it)!

BIG SPOILER WARNING!

It was really really great!  I don't really understand all the criticisms of it mostly taking place in Sugar Rush because… well that's where the story was.  If he had game-hopped for ages first just for the sake of covering more genres there'd have been less time for the real story, which is what I enjoyed most.  I also saw a lot of people moaning about the emphasis on Sugar Rush not because of lack of game representation beforehand (as early criticisms from american peoples seemed to imply) but because the world didn't feel "video-gamey" enough.

I disagree, I totally invested in the world, and it woulda been cliché to put in as many video game "things" as possible because… that's not what games are like these days!  I'm glad they didn't go the cliché route and have every game have retro game tropes.  That's what Ralph's game is like.  Sugar Rush is a racing game and it looked like a racing game, and even then the various platforming elements in the scenery almost make no sense.  Was the whole "create-a-car" segment, passable wall into the diet coke volcano, big screen showing a video game style view with on-screen displays etc not enough?  It felt like a video game to me - one from this century too which makes a refreshing change for video game representation in other forms of media.

I admit one thing I didn't care much for was the humour.  Most of it was pretty, bleh generic stuff, and too many of the better jokes were in the trailer as well.  The video game reference jokes were funny but somehow I don't feel they "count" because they were funny just by… existing lol (like the mushroom/metal gear "!" in the lost and found box).

I have to say I ADORED the visual design of the various locations.  They really felt like something out of a game (even if, as said, it kinda made no sense for a racing game to have all these platforming tropes in the side scenery but shhhhh they had to cover a lot with just two games lol).

The plot twist was great too, I love movies where everything comes together and is important to the plot like that.  At first I thought that Venelope was kicked out by the (now) Candy King because she was so blue-mouthed and therefore inappropriate as a queen for the game, but I'm glad the actual reason was tied in with the whole game universe rather than being self-contained to this game Ralph just happened to end up in etc.  I also thought at first her glitchiness would be fixed by Felix in order to escape, but that woulda been kinda cheap - though I kinda wish they had at least addressed the possibility and given a reason why it wouldn't work.  Mollfie even added to that thought of mine by saying it would have been nice to bring Felix down another peg.

Finally I adored the soundtrack as well.  Already bought it on iTunes lol.

So in short, great movie, little bit ehhh on the humour, not fussed about the fact that there weren't many cameos of real video game things other than the posters being deliberately misleading in that regard (I never thought they would have important roles but it's unfair to those who might have hoped they would), but story was awesome.  Actually I confess though, most of the bits that did make me laugh were the numerous fantastically awful punsome names for things in Sugar Rush lol.

I feel like I've somehow become WAY more sensitive as an adult watching films - especially at the cinema - and not sure why, but all the same I did find pretty much all the sad scenes with Venellope really tearjerking which was nice (I love tearjerkers lol).  Especially when she was being bullied early on, when she and Ralph finished the car, the fantasy flashforward of her being deleted with the game and in particular when Ralph wrecked her car.  That was a real punch to the gut.

Assss for Paperman it was super cute and so nicely stylised, really great stuff, and made me chuckle quite a few times.  I also adored the music for this too.






Okay
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Graze Box Eton Mess
Paperman OST
Come Dine With Me
Nothing

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