Wreck-It Ralph (PG)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a family film in need of an audience must be in want of something that appeals to the adults as well as the children.

That Jane Austen was ahead of her time.

And she was spot on, because this is one of Wreck-It Ralph's strengths.

For the intended audience, there's the sweet, smiley, fast-paced action.

For those paying for everyone to attend, there's enough geeky game references to make you chuckle (keep an eye out for the original gamer tennis stars...), as well as a healthy smattering of wise-cracks and one liners for the less game-savvy.

Essentially, the story is about a game character (Wreck-It Ralph - voiced by the brilliant John C Reilly) who becomes disenchanted with being 'the baddy' and sets off to another game in search of recognition and reward.

One thing leads to another, friends are made, villains unearthed, cars made of sweets are raced and all's well that ends well.

It's all pretty standard fare.

What makes it stand out from the crowd is the gaming knowledge it carries with it, and the voice talent brought on board.

As with all animations these days, it's the voices that maketh the movie - and along with Mr Reilly, we have the effervescent Sarah Silverman, the stern Jane Lynch and the crazy Alan Tudyk.

The interaction between the characters is brilliant, and each actor brings their pixels to life in fine style. And the pixels are also wonderful. Created with clear and understood knowledge of the gaming world Ralph, Vanellope (Silverman), Felix (the charmingly sweet Jack McBrayer), Calhoun (Lynch) and King Candy (Tudyk) are allowed to go about their adventure in a universe that is both believable (if you can have believable make-believe) and knowledgeable.

The use of music, too, is 'on message', with Rhianna - clearly an artist the target audience will be aware of - being used to good effect during the car race.

If there are any negatives about the film, it's that it's a tad sugary. It won't trouble the diabetic community in the way, say, a Puss In Boots or a Tinkerbell might, but watching it too often will rot your eyeballs.

But there are laughs in here, there are knowing smiles and the odd mental round of applause for the creators.

It's bright, it's loud, and kids will love it - just like all good arcade games.


POST CREDITS EXTRA:
Well, kinda - what else was I gonna call this bit? DVD extra? Extra Popcorn? Rewind?
Actually I like the Popcorn one.
Anyway, that's not the point. Having had time to think about this review a bit more, I began to wonder - was it too glib? Did it just gloss over the film? Did I fail to dig beneath the surface?
So I thought about this.

And I read a laughable Guardian Blog (forget who wrote it, I was too busy shaking my head - lets call him Bungo) bemoaning the fact that Ralph (the implied bad guy here, according to Bungo, only he's not - someone else is) wants to be a good guy. Where have all the bad guys gone in kiddies' animation, he wails.

Sorry, but if this is what's bothering you right now, get out more. Have a sweetie and go for a paddle in the sea. The world is too big and scary for you.

Ralph may be the 'bad guy' in his game, as are the other game characters he meets at the support group, but that's just part of the film.

And the film has its own bad guy, like as what ol' Bungo was a crying for.

And then, the more I thought about it, I realised that you don't always have to look beneath the surface. Sometimes there's not even anything below there anyway.

And that's not always a bad thing.

Take Wreck-It Ralph. Might as well, it was the cause of Bungo's Blog and my review, so makes sense. There are themes of friendship, helping each other, that we all have our role to play but that role doesn't have to define us (who knew zombies could be so wise). And there's a teeny twist at the end that, I suspect, will make the wee ones grin with glee.

And that's it.

And that's fine.

The world's a baffling place at the best of times. Sometimes it's nice for a film - and a KIDS film at that, lest we forget - to just be a film.
Oh, and should Bungo ever happen upon this - RALPH IS NOT THE BAD GUY! Remember that bit at the end? Where the guy who was the guy suddenly starts showing himself to be not that guy? HE'S THE BAD GUY!
(This will make sense when you've seen the film. Sadly it'll be lost on ol' Bungo Blogger, 'cos he either didn't watch the film that far or didn't get it.)
Oh, and there are no monsters in Scooby Doo either. It's always the caretaker in a wig.
Right, time for some Coco Pops.