John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch and Alan Tudyk are the voice talent in this John Lasseter produced Disney animation about a video game character that goes AWOL.
Back in the 80s the video arcade had a game called Fix-It Felix Jr. Players controlled Felix (voiced by Jack McBrayer), a repairman whose job it was to fix windows broken by the bad guy Ralph (John C. Reilly). Now in the 21st century, somehow this video game still lurks in a corner of the arcade.
But Ralph is fed up with being the bad guy. Once the arcade is closed for the night, he slips away from the
game to Bad Anon in Game Central - somewhere out beyond the power sockets. But the villains support group doesn't provide Ralph with the answers he wants to hear, and eventually he goes "turbo", abandoning his game in search of a medal, which he feels will bring him the respect he deserves.
The first game he visits is the Halo-styled 'Hero's Duty', where he infiltrates a squad of soldiers led by Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch), and from there he goes to a racing game, 'Sugar Rush', where he encounters the glitch, Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman).
Directed by Rich Moore (The Simpsons, Futurama) and executive produced by John Lasseter (Toy Story 1, 2, 3...), this has all the verve of Pixar's classics, and easily rivals the best of them. Yes the Disney schmaltz does hit in the second half, which is tooth-decayingly, diabetes-inducingly sweet, but by then you're hooked.
Kids'll love it like it's half term. Adults will love it for the video game pastiche (I'm sure I wasn't the only one with a hankering to hit the video arcades after seeing it). Player 1 Press Start. 9/10
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