WRECK-IT RALPH

Wreck-It Ralph, Disney's latest animated feature, might be the best videogame movie ever made. The film takes place inside the various games at an arcade. After the arcade closes down for the night the game characters are free to visit each other. The film features many cameo's from famous game characters like Pac-Man and Sonic, but the film follows the much putt upon Ralph (John C. Reilly).

Ralph is the "villain" of a popular Donkey Kong-esque arcade game in he which smashes up an apartment building, only to be thwarted by the games hero Fix-It Felix Jr. (30 Rock's Jack McBrayer). They've been doing this dozens of times a day for the past 30 years. At the end of every day Felix retires to a digital penthouse with a few more achievement medals and Ralph is forced to sleep in a nearby dump, a second class citizen everywhere he goes. One day Ralph decides he's not gonna take it anymore and abandons his game (this is called game-jumping) to find acceptance by winning a medal of his own.

At times, the film feels like a spiritual sequel to Toy Story with a healthy infusion of Tron. Indeed Toy Story director John Lasseter is a producer here. But there's enough personality for Ralph to stand on it's own. Part of that has to do with the work of writer/director Rich Moore. Moore, an animation veteran, has directed some of the better Simpsons episodes and the lions share of Futurama and injects a lot of that sensibility. For instance, part of Ralph's journey takes him to a gritty first person shooter, were he meets Calhoun (Jane Lynch), a brooding space marine who was "programed with the most traumatic back story imaginable."

Eventually Ralph's trek brings him to brightly a colored kid's racing game where the bulk of the film takes place. Here he meets Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), a spunky underdog, who's also mistreated by her fellow game characters, particularly by the games overlord King Candy (Alan Tudyk).

That world is amazingly designed. Vanellope's racing game is constructed entirely of perfectly rendered candy and pastries. Willy Wonka wishes his factory looked this delicious. But it's the variety of the different game's we see that help bring the film's world to life. The doesn't create one gorgeous world, it creates 3 or 4. My favorite was Ralph's game and all the little touches that go into selling it as a retro game. Like how the secondary characters all have choppy 16-bit style animations or how things always break in to pixel friendly shapes.

Beyond the visual razzal dazzle, the film has some nice twists (I really liked how the film handles the consequences of mixing games) and closes with an impressively complex action sequence, but despite all the cleverness on display, the film just cant shake an overwhelming feeling of familiarity. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about the film's ultimately conformist message. It's a very good videogame movie, I hope it spawns a franchise, but it's not a quite top-tier children's film.

The film is preceded by a wonderful little short film called Paperman, a silent rom-com about a man and woman who find love via paper airplanes. In addition to being a delightful piece of whimsy, the film is important on a technical level. It's rendered using new software that captures the look of traditional 2D artwork. The illusion is so convincing that you can often see individual brush strokes. It's a great example of how the traditional feel can live on in an industry dominated by new school methods.

Grades:
Paperman: A
Wreck-It Ralph: B+

TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL

The horror comedy Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil is a great showcase of how much a small twist in formula can alter a movie. At first glance it would seem to follow the Dead Teenager Movie formula to a 'T.' A group of sexy, ethnically diverse teens go camping in the Appalachian mountains. They stop at a gas station (it's even called "Last Chance Gass") where a clerk tells them not to go on and a creepy hillbilly stares at them. When the get to the camp they find out that there was a massacre on that very spot "20 years ago today!" Then, off course, they go skinny dipping. During which, it appears that a member of their group, Allison (Katrina Bowden) is kidnaped by the hillbillies.

If you think you know what's about to go down, then director/ co-writer Eli Craig has a surprise for you. Those creepy hillbillies, Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine), are not murderous creeps but a couple of really nice guys who are themselves on vacation at a near by cabin. They didn't kidnap Allison, they rescued her after she bumped her head. But the remainder of the college kids have seen too many horror movies to give them the benefit of the doubt.

This basic confusion sets the tone for the entire film. The kids try and rescue their friend and, one by one, manage to accidentally kill themselves in the process, which only serves to further cement the misunderstanding. Tucker and Dale think the kids are enacting a bizarre suicide pact, which is a pretty good explanation considering the circumstances.

Tucker & Dale didn't make a lot of money when it came out last September, but I wouldn't be surprised if it became a cult staple. It's premise is simple yet ingenious, but the film doesn't bet the farm on it's reversal. Craig focuses very squarely on the warm friendship between the two main characters.

The film is well cast. Tudyks comic timing is well known to fans of Dodgeball and Firefly. I've never noticed Tyler Labine before, though Wikipedia leads me to belive he's had a some cult success. I can see why, he brings a great deal of charm to what is essentially the lead role. Bowdon, mostly known for the airhead Cirri on 30 Rock, is quite nice here too.

A major subplot deals with Dales inabillity to talk to girls. When Allison drops into his life, he assumes that she'll reject him like all the others. But as she recovers at the cabin, they form a friendship that has sparks of something more. He had assumed that he wasn't good enough for him. A sentiment her friends would likely share even if they didn't think he was a murderer. A sentiment that lead them to assume that he was a murderer. It's a good metaphor, but it's the warmth with which it's executed that keeps the film going when the joke would normally be wearing off.

Grade: B+

Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil is currently streaming on Netflix Instant.