20121103:
This movie ended up being much deeper than what I expected just from watching the trailer. Which is good in the sense that I don't want a trailer to give me a summary of the movie. A lot of action films will do this. They'll show various sequences from the movie, including the big explosion at the end. I'd still go and watch the movie, because I'd want to see how the plot unfolds, but the trailer might already give away the big surprises before they happen. Getting back to
Wreck-It Ralph, the trailer was just an introduction, and I like that.
 |
| Ralph (John C. Reilly) |
In terms of the movie itself, I'd say the reveal took me by surprise. I did not figure out the ending until it happened. Something along the lines of Sherlock Holmes. All the clues and details are laid out in front of you. But it only all comes together at the end, when it's spelled out for you. Great story-telling.
On a somewhat related note, the movie had me feeling an emotional range in the vicinity of
Toy Story 3. It efficiently establishes the characters and the relationships between characters. As a result, the viewer begins to empathize with the characters much more.
Not too great with words, that's the best way I can praise the movie without giving away any details. If you like
Toy Story, you must see this movie. If you like animation, I highly recommend the movie. And finally, if you like movies, then I recommend the movie. Good job, Disney!
 |
| Venellope (Sarah Silverman) |
Trailers (3D): Escape from Planet Earth (2013) |
Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013) |
Monsters Inc 3D (2012) |
Rise of the Guardians (2012)
[20121114][20211105 Edit]
20130102:
Today I watched the movie again (also in 3D again) at the cheap theater. $5. We were late, but luckily the theater delayed the start of the movie, perhaps due to the unexpected number of parents and children lining up, either for
Wreck-It Ralph or
Hotel Transylvania (2012). The credits ended around 2:40PM PT. My experience from the movie was definitely different, since I knew how it ended and I would spend part of the viewing watching for signs of foreshadowing.
There were some jokes I heard that I didn't remember hearing before.
One of the funniest scenes follows when Fix-It Felix Jr. says, "You're one Dynamite Gal!"
 |
| Ralph attends a "Bad-Anon" meeting - a support group for villains |
Two shorter pieces of funny dialogue are:
King Candy: [puts on glasses] You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses would you?
[Ralph smacks the King with the glasses]
King Candy: You hit a guy, with glasses. Well played.
Wynchel: Are you hurt sir?
King Candy: No, he just glazed me. Hoo-hoo.
Speaking of which, the donuts are named Duncan and Wynchel, a play on donut franchises
Dunkin Donuts and
Winchell's Donuts. Random: we later bought donuts from
Winchell's.
 |
| Felix (Jack McBrayer) |
It might be the musical score, or perhaps the great voice acting that, despite knowing how the story goes, I still got swept up by the range of emotion.
From Vanellope's car being built to her car being smashed. Then from their reunion to his plummeting skydive towards the Mentos. In fact, I was more drawn in emotionally this time when Ralph starts reciting the Bad-Anon affirmation. Frankly, I don't remember that moment much from the first viewing of the movie. Wreck-It Ralph says, "I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be then me."
I don't remember about last time, but this time I saw the movie and the audience had a lot of children. However, there was not much laughter. It's possible that the theater wasn't packed, but I also found the jokes were often puns and not easily understood by children. Children tend to laugh at jokes built around slapstick comedy as opposed to verbal humor. The movie also delves into more serious situations. That led me to realize that most animated Disney movies are not comedies. In contrast, the trailer for
Wreck-It Ralph had given me the impression this movie was more lighthearted. With all that being said, it's a great family movie.
 |
| Calhoun (Jane Lynch) |
Oh, I forgot to talk about the short,
Paperman, in my previous entry. Its a romantic short and something I noticed more this time is how the music drives the story and characters. I love the music and I love the short. Perhaps I'm in a very romantic mood.
As a final remark, this time I got to watch the full credits, up until the end when the movie goes to a kill screen which resembles the Pac-Man kill screen.
Trailers (3D): Despicable Me 2 (2013) : Banana |
Rise of the Guardians (2012) : This trailer didn't have Jack Frost. |
The Smurfs 2 (2013) : Teaser |
To the Artic 3D (2012)
 |
| King Candy (Alan Tudyk) |
20211020:
Today I watched the movie with Ben.
Instant Comments:
3: Are you going Turbo?
3: Love this bad guy meeting.
3: It is really weird though. Why does the good guy bad guy persist beyond the game? As Zangief said, hes a bad guy, but he's not a "bad" guy.
3: Oh Felix not only sounds like the actor but looks like him a bit [Jack McBrayer]
3: Is that cockroach from
Wall-E?
3: What game is Q*bert from? [Apparently
Q*bert]
 |
| Ralph finds himself hanging from a double-striped branch which is about to disappear out from under his hand. |
3: Ha! I recently saw Jane Lynch in
Only Murders in the Building; she was has a guest role
3: I didn't remember this cybug escaping
3: Haha. Double stripe.
3: There were two princesses with yellow and blue in background (Belle and Cinderella)
3: "Like fun you are."
3: How does everyone have a coin if you can only get a coin by winning?
3: Star Wars Darth Vader breathing
 |
| The racers of Sugar Rush, in front in pink is Taffyta Muttonfudge (Mindy Kaling) |
3: The Konami code
3: I got a little teary to see "You're my hero"
3: I totally forgot this point of realization that Ralph made (about Penelope on the game)
3: Candy-coated heart of darkness
3: I got super teary when Ralph recites the bad guy anon motto; the moment reminded me of the Bing Bong scene in
Inside Out
3=20211020
Released 20121102.
Watched 20121103 Theater. Rotunda Cinemas 9:20PM [Wreck-It Ralph 3D] $10.00
Watched 20130102 Theater. Regency Charter Centre [WRECK IT RA] 2:15pm 3D $5.00*
Watched 20211020 (Disney+)
Wreck-It Ralph (2012) Rich Moore. 101 min
Relevant Links:
Wreck-It Ralph (IMDb.com)
Fix-It Felix Jr. (Disney Games Website) (20211114: broken)
*This would be the first or second film I've paid for twice in theaters. I might have paid for
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire twice in theaters. I definitely watched it two or three times. This does not including re-releases. In that situation, I've paid for at least one of the
Lord of the Rings movies more than once.
Fix-It Felix Jr.:
I added a link to Fix-It Felix Jr. above (20211114: the link is broken), a flash game by Disney, which plays out much the same way as the video game plays out in the movie. You're Fix-It Felix Jr. and you walk from spot to spot trying to fix all the broken windows (with the space bar). Getting a pie grants a short invincibility and fixing double broken windows in one swipe. Hitting certain score values grants an extra life.
In the style of other old games, such as
Mario Bros.,
Donkey Kong Jr., and
Pac-Man, one repeats the same level over and over, only with increasing difficulty.
- Rate of brick fall increases
- Chance of brick breaking window increases
- Number of birds increases
- Rate of bird flight increases
- Number of fixed obstacles increases
Tips:
Birds stay on a fixed height.
Its easy to miss fixed obstacles.
The game isn't timed.
Birds disappear the moment you fix the last object in a stage.
Don't move too quickly into a bird's path. Chances are it won't have passed yet.
You only get 500 points per swipe. So with invincibility, you might be fixing two windows at once, but you get 500, not 1000 points.
Invincibility is to bricks and birds.
Playthrough 1: 00188500 [beginning of level 4]
Playthrough 2: 00249500 [middle of level 4]
