Okay, now that was just a fun movie.  Sometimes, when you have what’s ostensibly a kid’s movie, you get what basically amounts to a pile of juvenile humor. Granted, Wreck-It Ralph had a few such moments (duty/doody), but in those cases they came from the adorable little girl, so it just felt much more organic than when you had adult characters doing the same.

And then you have the references, oh the references. I think my my favorite from the entire movie was when the key to getting into the Sugar Rush source was the Konami Code. That was just fun, although I wonder how many of the younger crowd realize just how far back that goes (it’s actually older than I am). Then there was the entire half-finished abandoned track (those are always interesting to find in games) and the Diet Coke and Mentos volcano. I wonder if heating Diet Coke actually has an effect?

Overall, I think Wreck-It Ralph managed to do to video games what Toy Story did for children’s toys. It gave them a world to live in and made it make enough sense that you could actually believe that it was happening. So long as you could hold on to your suspension of disbelief and not go to far into details (like why didn’t the game characters just act out more or why didn’t the players respond more when they did?), it’s a completely reasonable world.

Actually, that was pretty much my only negative, that some of the “rules” in the game world seemed kind of forced. For example, the idea that you only respawn in your own game was kind of neat but there never really seemed to be any weight to the idea. And the big ending, where the entire game can be reset if only they finish that one certain task… that felt weird. Why would that have any bearing on the code of the game? And what about why she didn’t seem to actually get reset at all (or at least had some sort of Neo-level control over the game after that and could switch back and forth at will).

Still, for what it was it was a great movie. I laughed, I cried, and most importantly I had fun. And that’s what it’s really all about, isn’t it? Overall, it comes in at a very solid 3rd place, just edging out The Dark Knight Rises. I highly recommended it, particularly if you have kids. Also, this isn’t something I’d normally say, but go on a weekend. This is the sort of movie that’s even better with a full theater, soaking up the energy of the kids in the audience.