WRECK-IT RALPH

WRECK-IT RALPH
Written by Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston
Directed by Rich Moore
Voices by John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch

Wreck-It Ralph: I’m bad and that is good. I will never be good and that isn’t bad. There is no one I would rather be than me.

I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be very happy if every day you went to work only to be despised and misunderstood by everyone around you. Thus is the plight of one reasonably oafish, apparently stinky, video game character who goes by the name of Ralph, WRECK-IT RALPH, to be more precise. He has no friends; he sleeps in a dump; and he has freakishly huge hands that seem destined for only one thing, wrecking stuff. Here is the worst part. This has been his day in and day out for 30 years! As miserable as Ralph’s life is for him, his attempt to turn it all around is a great delight for all of us.

Ralph is the “bad guy” from a classic arcade game called, “Fix-It Felix Jr.”. As Ralph (aptly voiced by John C. Reilly) destroys a building full of innocent people, Felix (voiced by the apparent go to guy for innocent, yokel types, Jack McBrayer), with his trusty magic hammer, comes along to fix everything. When he’s done, Ralph is tossed off the building and into a pile of mud. When he realizes he hasn’t even been invited to the game’s 30th anniversary party, Ralph simply leaves it on a mission to change the way people see him. Ralph has had enough of being a bad guy and wants to be good for a change, but what he really needs is a lesson in personal acceptance. Naturally, Ralph starts wrecking stuff in other games because he has yet to accept that wrecking stuff is in his nature. If Ralph were crossing a river on the back of a frog, no matter how well intentioned he may be, he would inevitably wreck that frog before they reached the other side.

WRECK-IT RALPH is a unique and imaginative take on the world of gaming. Classic video game characters, from Sonic the Hedgehog to Pac-Man, come alive after the arcade closes for the night, and travel between games through dozens of electrical wire train tubes, that converge in a central station that deserves to be called grand. And as they come to life, so does the film, a remarkable effort by first time filmmaker, Rich Moore. There were times I questioned just who the film was made for though. I seriously doubt young kids would know who Q-Bert is but yet, more often than not, the humour was aimed primarily toward a younger sensibility. Despite some minor focus issues and some overused family friendly themes (don’t kids know that they just need to be themselves by now?), WRECK-IT RALPH is great fun all the same. It may not get a perfect score but it definitely makes the leader board. Pretty solid bragging rights for a first time player, I think.

GLEE: Season 2

Dear Glee,

I mean everything I am about to say to you with love. Your third season begins this evening and I have high hopes for the changes you've made. You've branched out your writing staff and have sworn to focus more on longer story arcs instead of one-off theme episodes. You've also decided to reduce the number of songs per episode, so as not to come across like an iTunes jukebox each week. It's not that I don't like to hear all the talented members of New Directions belt them out so often but storytelling has been taking a seat in the back of the choir room for quite some time now.

I've just finished watching your second season on blu-ray. I have to admit, it wasn't as uneven as I remember but if you don't fix some of your problems soon, you will start to lose your audience. That said, there were some fantastic additions to the GLEE lexicon in the second season. Highlights for me include Gwyneth Paltrow as Holly Holiday. I wish Paltrow wasn't such a big movie star because she would make a perfect regular on your program. Not only is she hilarious but she can also hold a note or two. Next up, the introduction of Blaine (Darren Criss) and the Warblers. It was about time the New Directions got some real competition. And of course, having Blaine around allowed for the best gay kiss I've ever witnessed on television. There was no hype for it; it simply just happened. My mouth fell to the floor when I saw it because I feel like I've been waiting my whole life to see such a romantic and honest moment between two male television characters. I'm not going to lie; I wished I was Kurt (Chris Colfer) in that moment.

You are often criticized for being too gay, whatever that means. I don't think that's true; I just think you spend more time developing Kurt's troubles than anyone else's. In the entire season, only Kurt's bullying storyline felt true to me. It is an important subject and one that I think you tackled sensitively and thoroughly. Unfortunately, with all your energy placed there, the rest of the cast was left to bounce back and forth between random couplings that often seemed like they had no basis in any reality whatsoever. It's hard for me to care about characters when they don't seem to really matter to you either. Oh and, please, give Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) something to do this year. Her once ferocious character is now just a flat joke (who honestly should have been arrested by now considering how many students she flings down stairs).

I miss how much you used to shock me, GLEE. Lately it seems you just lull me into a state of acceptance instead. Your sophomore year is now behind you. You let your junior year success go to your head and just rested on your laurels all the way through last year. It's time to get serious though; it's your senior year. If you don't find your focus again, I'm not convinced you'll graduate at the end of the year.

Gleefully yours,
joseph.