LINK TO PART 3:
While far from the film’s flashiest aspects, pacing and storytelling structure are two of Wreck-It Ralph’s strongest areas of success. The film naturally transitions from scene to scene, gradually establishing its world and characters in a fluent manner. The film procrastinates very little but is not absent of fluff—however, said fluff is rarely by itself, often incorporated into world-building, plot points and/or characterization. The latter is quite remarkable for a film involving licensed video game references and cameos—yet as noted with Mario in Part 3, the filmmakers placed story over marketing. BAD-ANON stands out for its many famous video game villains but also serves a vital purpose in establishing Ralph, Felix, their video game, Ralph’s role in the video game vs his true self, their fictional universe, and the central theme of the story. Licensed characters like Sonic and Q*Bert either make appearances that establish plot points, progress the story and/or are unobtrusive in the background.
Ralph goes to Tapper because the bartender knows all the ins and outs from game characters visiting for after-work drinks. The bartender lets Ralph check the lost-and-found for a spare medal, allowing for several funny reference gags and a cockroach to bother him. Ralph converses with an overworked Hero’s Duty NPC—giving an extended background shot of the wall of video game characters—who’s has PTSD from the game’s bug enemies. Ralph learns he can get a medal there, the cockroach appears again, causing the NPC to knock himself out from fear and allowing Ralph to take his armor as a disguise. The entire scene naturally transitions from one moment to the next. Nearly everything has relevance, with the many licensed video game references and cameos either serving a plot progressing purpose or smoothly intergraded to no disrupt the story’s flow.
An often-overlooked piece of Wreck-It Ralph’s universe is Litwak’s Arcade itself. Despite how infrequently and briefly it appears in the film, the business serves both to progress the plot and add further life to the story’s overarching world. The film does a good job at capturing the arcade feel, both good and bad. I appreciate the scene where two older jerk teens are hogging Sugar Rush (the scene that first establishes the game and its gimmick of daily new racing characters—using on world building moment to establish another) from a younger player—showcasing an arcade store’s more unpleasant side. On the flip side is the store’s owner Mr. Litwak (voiced by the lovable Ed O’Neil), a kind, energetic, slightly eccentric man who cares for both his customers and his games. When opening up, he stands at the door to warmly greet the entering customers, including an adult who he playfully refers to as “little fella”. When Fix-It Felix Jr. seemingly breaks down, Litwak refers to the game as cuckoo like his nana, apologizes and returns the player’s quarter, and states it may be time to “put old Ralph and Felix out to Pasture. Like my nana.” Litwak only has three speaking lines in the entire film yet they are enough to give him a noteworthy presence that provides some witty banter and surprising heart.
John C. Reilly was born to play Wreck-It Ralph. The character is the quintessential concept of never judging a book by its cover, with Reilly’s everyman, nice guy voice effectively solidifying Ralph’s gentle giant persona. Reilly’s background and experience with comedy help give Ralph a sharp witty edge to his delivery and expressions. Prime examples are when Ralph’s looking through the lost-and-found, finds a pair of Zangief’s briefs and exclaims in a soft, dejectedly self-reflecting tone; “What am I doing...?”—Reilly’s voice perfectly emphasizing Ralph’s questioning of how his life choices got to this point—and when he swiftly times a lie about being a candy cane trimmer doing some routine inspections when asked by Vanellope.
Ralph is just a friendly average Joe stuck in the body of a hulking stock-villain. He doesn’t want to be the “bad guy” anymore, he wants to be like Felix getting medals, kisses, pies, parties, etc. What Ralph truly wants is friendship and acceptance, yet he misguidedly associates such concepts with the role of hero—believing he can’t reach such goals in his current job position. To win a hero’s medal is, in his mind, the only way to make others love and respect him. His confusion shows at BAD-ANON where he fails to grasp the others’s explanations of his important role in the game versus his true self.
Yet Ralph’s confusion and misplacement of ideals are far from his fault. Most, if not all of the blame goes to the Nicelanders and Felix. The Nicelanders treat Ralph like crap, plain and simple. For thirty years they have ostracized Ralph—treating him like a beast and forcing him to live in a dump alone while they party in their apartment. I understand that Ralph’s job makes him difficult to like—I’d have trouble too getting along with someone who wrecked my house and threw me out a window every day at work—but after thirty years of not even trying to get along or know Ralph’s true self they really come across as grade-A assholes.
Felix is a more complication character than the Nicelanders. As Ralph puts it, Felix is a nice enough guy. He’s genuinely friendly, polite, well-mannered, courageous and tries his best to keep situations civil. A true gentleman hero, except that Felix is also somewhat egotistical and self-centered. He hangs his many, many medals in the apartment admiring them while surrounded by devotees, all the while Ralph sits alone outside in the garbage. He’s completely obvious and fails to take any of Ralph’s feelings and desires into account. One gets the impression Felix has not once tried getting to know Ralph in their thirty years plugged in. Not even hanging out with Mario has taught Felix to invite Ralph to a go-kart race or tennis match.
Minor Spoilers Begin: Which leads a notable issue with Wreck-It Ralph’s story: the Nicelanders—and Felix to a lesser extent—are never shown learning any lessons. Oh, they all end on a happy note with Ralph: the Nicelanders end up treating Ralph nicely and making him cakes, Felix has Ralph be his best man at his wedding, etc. The audience sees the end results, but not the mistakes being realized. Prior to the conclusion, the Nicelanders are shown to hate Ralph for abandoning the game, with no signs of realizing how important his existence is to their lives. No, “Oh why were we so mean to Ralph”, or “I guess we always took Ralph for granted” or “He wasn’t truly a bad guy, he was just playing his role”. Nothing. Just hate him one scene, then love him the next out of nowhere.
Felix just barely gets a pass with learning his mistakes. There’s a scene between him and Ralph that’s essentially the big heart to heart moment where Ralph states how every day of his life is feeling like being a criminal, yet then it turns into Ralph making a deal that he’ll never try being a “good guy” again if Felix helps him, which Felix agrees to. The scene merely infers Felix’s realization and very briefly at that. The audience never sees Felix openly express an apology or even remorse at the past thirty years. It can be, at most, be deduced that after seeing Ralph’s heroic, kind actions for Vanellope and Sugar Rush, Felix saw the error of his ways, told the Nicelanders, and they all changed tune as a result. It works story-wise, yet is also a very unsatisfying, shallow way to mend Ralph, Nicelanders, and Felix’s relationship after the latter two caused Ralph so much pain and lonesomeness—especially when a simple solution was merely one extra scene away.
A much better relationship for Felix is his dynamic with Sergeant Calhoun, who also has an ideal voice actor in Jane Lynch. She’s your no-nonsense, tough-as-nails space marine who’s not afraid to get some under-the-radar language in; “Alright pussy willows! Back to start positions!” Calhoun has one of the best video game-related jokes in the film, having been “programmed with the most tragic backstory ever”—giving her both the film’s most cliché and hilariously creative subplot. Calhoun, the modern-game solemn gritty soldier stuck together with Felix, the old-school plucky gentleman hero makes for some great comedy, chemistry, and surprisingly sweet romance. There’s an adorable scene where Felix gives a boy scout speech about how it’s his duty to help her fix Ralph’s mess, with Calhoun responding in an equally endearing manner by snapping her finger and pointing to the extra spot on her hoverboard. On a side note, I do love the usage of Felix’s magic fixing hammer—from the obvious fixing broken items to the more unexpectedly creative fixing of bodily injuries that can make for some good old-fashion physical comedy and humorously ironic moments.
Yet now I come to the heart of the film—Wreck-It Ralph’s friendship with Vanellope Cruise—a heart that doesn’t even begin to beat until forty minutes in. Going by the film’s trailers and first act, one may expect the core relationship to be between Ralph and Felix. A “good guy” and a “bad guy” working through their differences to save the day, learn about each other, and come out the best of friends. As noted earlier, this is far from what happens between Ralph and Felix, with Vanellope swooping in late to usurp the role of Ralph’s closest friend. Yet even when she first appears, Vanellope comes across more like a brat than Ralph’s destined best friend.
So far, I’ve had almost nothing but praise for Wreck-It Ralph’s comedy, but Vanellope is going to put a halt on that for a bit. Sarah Silverman’s far from my least favorite actor—in fact, when playing more serious roles she can be quite exceptional—but her particular usage of vulgar humor is far from my own tastes. Being a PG movie, such vulgarity is toned down to mostly potty jokes, but I’m also not a fan of toilet humor—so when the film spends half a minute on Vanellope making jokes about Hero’s “Dooty”, I end up looking a lot like Ralph above. That said, Vanellope does get some actual funny jokes, particularly when focused more on dark humor. MAJOR SPOILERS BEGIN: Her best comedic scene comes right after being revealed to be Sugar Rush’s princess, informing all the racers that bullied her before; “As your merciful princess, I hereby decree that everyone that was ever mean to me shall be…executed.” I remember this scene getting the loudest non-licensed video game related laugh from the theater audience—as well as being followed up by a great line from Calhoun; “Oh, this place just got interesting.” MAJOR SPOILERS END
Minor Spoilers Begin: Ralph and Vanellope’s relationship starts off semi-hostile but turns more amicable after Ralph witnesses Vanellope getting bullied by the other racers. The scene is low-key impressive in its fluent handling of Ralph’s various stages of emotion towards Vanellope. At first, he’s pissed off at Vanellope for stealing his medal, gradually moving into mocking pity after seeing her poorly-made vehicle, then genuine compassion when the other racers destroy her car, and lastly outright anger when they push Vanellope into the mud and exclaim she is and always will be a glitch. The two characters gradually grow sympathetic towards each other’s similar plight—both having been ostracized by their peers and desiring to be more than current status.
Ralph and Vanellope quickly form a bond over their shared hardships and dreams, working together to build a new race car. The duo get a classic Disney montage of them practice driving for the race to Rihanna’s Shut Up and Drive. It’s sweet, funny, effective in showcasing the pair’s growing bond, and slightly uncomfortable having a background song that uses driving as a metaphor for sex (really weird choice for a grown man/child duo). The song is catchy enough, however, that I can (almost) ignore its hidden message and enjoy the charming scene—including an adorable tiny hand to huge hand fist bump between the two. Ralph also gets a great line in when trying to pump up Vanellope for the race; “Listen to me, if you get nervous, just keep telling yourself ‘I must win Ralph’s medal or his life will be ruined’…and have fun!”
MAJOR SPOILERS BEGIN:
Yet where would an animated Disney film be without the all is lost section—brought to you by the eccentric, surprise antagonist King Candy. King Candy is a fascinating specimen of villainy. He’s kooky, he’s outlandish and about as wacky as the Laffy Taffy he rules over. He comes across as Ed Wynn’s The Mad Hatter, which is entirely intentional on the film’s part. Alan Tudyk does a fantastic job capturing the same voice mannerisms of the late great actor—from King Candy’s lisp, to how he gets easily distracted, to making puns in serious situations. There’s a scene where Ralph is angrily chasing him, and Candy quickly puts on a pair of glasses asking; “You wouldn’t hit a guy with glasses, would you?” When Ralph takes the glasses off and hits him with the frames, Candy remarks; “You hit a guy with glasses. That’s, uh, that’s well played.” There’s a ton of great, goofy comedy that comes from King Candy, making it all the more effectively disturbing when his true colors show.
Throughout the film, the audience continuously hears the word “Turbo” thrown around like some sort of taboo. Eventually, the audience learns about Turbo via Felix explaining it to the newly plugged in Calhoun about a radial game character who took over another game and got it unplugged. The setup is great foreshadowing for the eventual reveal that King Candy is Turbo in disguise—serving as the “final boss” for both Vanellope and Ralph. It’s really unnerving in all the right ways to hear such a goofy voice say stuff like “Oh look at that, it’s your little friend. Let’s watch her die together shall we.” Yet it’s when disguised as King Candy that Turbo utilizes his best form of beautifully deceptive villainy.
One of Wreck-It Ralph’s most potent scenes begins with King Candy playing Ralph like a fiddle. I love the manner he manipulates Ralph—acting sympathetic to Vanellope’s plight of wanting to race but coming up with a very convincing lie as to why she can’t, making it appear as if he’s trying to protect her. He even plays upon Ralph’s desire for wanting to be a hero, telling him “I know it's tough, but heroes have to make the tough choices don't they”. King Candy’s manipulation leads to a surprisingly bleak, hard-to-watch, yet powerful scene where Ralph wrecks Vanellope’s car to stop her from racing. I think what really makes this scene so hard-to-watch is how it involves the destruction of something both characters put their hearts into and the heartbreak both feel at its destruction—Vanellope at Ralph’s betrayal and Ralph at having to make such a painful choice for what he believes is the right reason. It almost feels like a character death, with Silverman—as she can effectively do in serious scenes—giving some powerfully heart wrenching cries as Ralph destroys the car. The tear-jerking icing on the cake is when Vanellope tells Ralph “you really are a bad guy.” Just an overall really effective scene.
Of course, this is a Disney film, and Ralph does eventually make amends with Vanellope by getting Felix to fix her car, help her win the race and then saving Sugar Rush’s world (in addition to Vanellope). Ralph gets to be a hero and Vanellope wins a race, activating a game reveal that she’s actually been a princess all along (an unusual reveal that both plays on how female video game royalty are almost always princesses, but also continues Disney’s trope of making their main female royalty princesses over queens). Vanellope then spells out to Ralph the message he’s been missing—that while the code may say she’s a princess (or ruler, since she opts to be Sugar Rush’s president instead), she knows in her heart she’s a racer, just as Ralph’s isn’t a bad guy just because his code says so. Yet both Vanellope and Ralph must fulfill their responsibilities as their games’s ruler and antagonist respectively because it’s their job and has to be done lest everything falls apart again.
I really appreciate the film’s overall message: sometimes there are jobs that are not always pleasant and/or what we truly want to do—yet these jobs must be done, and we are the best suited for them. Vanellope is best suited to be Candy Rush’s leader because all other residents are too idiotic and/or self-centered to rule properly. Ralph is the one in his game with the destructive capabilities to play the wrecking bad guy. Without them, their respective games would fall into disarray and be unplugged—the jobs must be done by them—that said, this doesn’t mean they have to be miserable. Vanellope can still participate in the races she loves, and Ralph can have friends and companionship—which is what happens by befriending Vanellope, when the Nicelanders and Felix change tune, and Ralph recruits Q*Bert’s goons to be his assisting minions.
What’s so refreshing and effective about Ralph’s journey is the way its blends and reconstructs past film’s protagonist journeys. “A villain protagonist becomes a hero by the end” and “A character that desires more than their current position” is turned into “A good guy with a villain’s occupation desires a hero’s life”. “Making difficult choices for the responsible reasons” and “Breaking free of one’s designated role in society and accepting their true self” is turned into “Making a difficult, yet responsible choice by fulfilling one’s designated role while also accepting their true self”.
MAJOR SPOILERS END
So, there you have it. Wreck-It Ralph. The film drew people in by displaying licensed video game characters in their trailers and disappointed some with their underwhelming significance and presence throughout. Yet the film was never about the cameos and references, as they were merely meant to add legitimacy to its video game universe. Wreck-It Ralph was always focused on and meant to be seen as its own distinct story first—and on its own original merits, the film succeeds as an effective, well-written story. A story that features fluent pacing, sharp storytelling, solid worldbuilding, emotional potency, witty comedy, colorful, well-crafted characters, and an effective overarching message about acceptance and duty (thank goodness Vanellope isn’t here to mock my wording).
LINK TO PART 2:
LINK TO PART 1:
LINK TO PART 2:
LINK TO PART 1:
No comments:
Post a Comment