Wreck-It Ralph

Wreck-It Ralph - Dir. Rich Moore (2012)

If Brave was Pixar's most Disney-like movie, then Wreck-It Ralph might be Disney's most Pixar-esque film to date. The comparison is easy to see since the concept could succinctly be described as Toy Story for video games.

Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the villain of an old school arcade game modeled after Donkey Kong. He's a burly brute who is forced to live in the city dump while his nemesis, Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer), lives in luxury in a high-rise apartment with his fellow Nicelanders. Ralph trashes the building, but Felix always manages to fix the damage before Ralph is tossed acrimoniously into the mud. Poor Ralph is tired of playing the antagonist, especially when he constantly sees the other Nicelanders lavish accolades for Felix. To paraphrase Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Ralph's not a bad guy, he's just programmed that way.

Ralph game jumps into a violent, high-tech first person shooter called Hero's Duty to win a medal and prove he can be a hero. From there, he winds up in Sugar Rush, a candy-themed racing game where he meets little Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), who is shunned by the other racers and their monarch King Candy (Alan Tudyk) for being a glitch. Meanwhile, Felix and Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch), the lead in Hero's Duty, set off to find Ralph before the arcade permanently unplugs their game.

Wreck-It Ralph features a wealth of video game references, many of which will go over the heads of younger viewers and casual gamers. At one point, Ralph attends a support group named Bad Guys Anonymous with M. Bison, Zangief, Kano, Dr. Eggman, King Bowser, and one of the Pac-Man ghosts. Other cameos include other Street Fighter characters (Chun-Li, Ken, Ryu), Sonic the Hedgehog, Frogger, and the paddles from Pong. King Candy has a vault with a giant Nintendo controller as the door with the combination set as the Konami Code. Novelty duo Bruckner & Garcia, best known for their 1982 single "Pac-Man Fever," were plucked out of obscurity to write a Wreck-It Ralph theme song. There's even graffiti with internet memes like "Leroy Jenkins was here" and ”All your fortress are belong to us." The most heartbreaking moment in Wreck-It Ralph is the appearance of Q*bert and his supporting cast, who have been rendered homeless after their game was unplugged.

In lesser hands, Wreck-It Ralph could have rested on simply stringing together one pop culture reference after another. However, there is genuine heart and humor to the story thanks to director Rich Moore, who has helmed some of the best Simpsons episodes. He can count "Cape Feare," "Marge vs. the Monorail," and "Lisa's Substitute" on his resume. Moore worked on the script with another Simpsons alum Jim Reardon, Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids), and newcomer Jennifer Lee. The results of their work impart tried and true themes of friendship and self-affirmation. The majority of the film is set within Sugar Rush, which may seem like the least interesting world that they could have explored. Yet, the animation is gorgeous and the writers find clever ways to work in renowned food products, such as a volcano of diet cola with Mentos stalactites.

It is here that the movie also explores the budding camaraderie between Ralph and Vanellope, both of whom are considered pariahs within their respective societies. Thanks to the voice actors there's a real tenderness to the characters. John C. Reilly is perfectly cast as the lovable lug while Sarah Silverman brings her trademark caustic (though sanitized) humor. Jack McBrayer is another spot-on casting choice as the "Aww, shucks" Fix-It Felix. Alan Tudyk steals the show as the loopy King Candy with a gusto impression of Ed Wynn.

It may be hyperbole on my part when I say Wreck-It Ralph comes exceedingly close to reaching the heights of Disney's renaissance era when they were pumping out The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. Wreck-It Ralph is not just the best animated film of the year, but one of the best Disney productions in years.

Rating: **** (*****)

The Five-Year Engagement

The Five-Year Engagement - Dir. Nicholas Stoller (2012)

Director Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel first worked together on the short-lived television series Undeclared, which was produced by Judd Apatow. They firmly established themselves in feature film with their smash-hit comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Though Stoller worked with Segel again on "The Muppets," he was only a writer and executive producer with James Bobin of Flight of the Conchords fame directing. The Five-Year Engagement is their first official follow-up to Sarah Marshall as they once again explore the volatile minefield that is the adult relationship.

Five-Year Engagement begins where most romantic comedies end with the proposal. Tom Solomon (Segel) is a successful sous chef making a name for himself in the trendy restaurant scene of San Francisco. He's been dating psychology student Violet Barnes (Emily Blunt) for a year and pops the question during a romantic rooftop dinner with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. A wedding date is set and invitations are sent out, but things hit a snag when Violet gets accepted into the post-doctorate program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. They decide to move to the Wolverine State and postpone the nuptials until she receives her degree in two years.

Violet rises through the ranks of grad students after proposing an experiment to study self-control issues with stale donuts (an offshoot of the Stanford marshmallow experiment) that serves as an obvious metaphor. On the flip side, Tom has a miserable time dealing with the cold weather and lack of job prospects. He's stuck making sandwiches at a deli. The couple drifts further and further apart as the audience wonders whether or not these wacky kids will eventually tie the knot.

Of course, they do, which shouldn't come as a shock unless you've never seen a movie before. While the parts have been rearranged, the underlying spine of the film remains true to formula. As stated in the title, we know it will take Tom and Violet five years before they can enjoy wedded bliss. However, sometimes it's the journey that counts and not so much the destination. The Five-Year Engagement takes a meandering route towards the conclusion and falls into the trap of many Apatow productions by just being too long. The movie runs over two hours all while the story is crying out for a peppier pace.

Segel and Blunt have previously played romantic interests in the embarrassingly bad Jack Black vehicle, Gulliver's Travels. Luckily, they get better material here and display an easy chemistry with each other. The script is even keeled and doesn't paint either one of them as the villain in the relationship. However, they are written rather blandly until the comedy is ratcheted up into slapstick realm. At one point, Tom descends into a self-pitying spiral to the point he's grown muttonchops and shuffles around in a bunny suit.

Engagement scores major points thanks to a supporting cast flush with talented performers. First and foremost are Chris Pratt as Tom's best friend, Alex, and Alison Brie as Violet's younger sister, Suzie. Their impulsive affair acts as a counterpoint to the cautious relationship of the protagonists. Pratt is the overgrown man-child that is the classic Apatow archetype, but he's a nice guy deep down and not nearly as dim as the character he plays on Parks and Recreation. Though it's disconcerting to hear Brie speak with a British accent, she displays the same comedic gifts that have made her a hit on Community. Pratt and Brie also have great chemistry together and it almost makes you wish the movie had been about them instead. Brie and Blunt participate in the picture's most inspired gag in which they argue in the voices of Elmo and Cookie Monster. Second place goes to a running joke where the passage of time is marked by the death of one of Violet's grandparents.

Another NBC alumnus Mindy Kaling shines as one of Violet's fellow grad students along with Kevin Hart, Randall Park, and Rhys Ifans as their professor. Some of the funniest lines come from Tom's new Michigan friends, Brian Posehn as a geeky co-worker with an encyclopedic knowledge of pickles and Chris Parnell as a domesticated husband teaches Tom the delights of deer hunting and knitting. Rounding out the ensemble are Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver as Violet's mom, David Paymer & Mimi Kennedy as Tom's parents, and Dakota Johnson as a young and sexy party girl. Plus, watch out for cameos by Kumail Nanjiani, Molly Shannon, and Tim Heidecker from Tim & Eric's Awesome Show.

The Five-Year Engagement could have benefited from some judicious editing and a quicker pace. Also, anyone thinking this will be as rambunctious as Bridesmaids may be in for a disappointment. Still, the winning cast and some humorous moments sprinkled throughout make it a notch above the standard rom-coms.

Rating: ** (*****)

No Strings Attached

No Strings Attached - Dir. Ivan Reitman (2011)

After unfurling the majority of their high profile releases for the holidays and awards season, studios slowly trickle out the leftovers in the first few months of the new year. You can rest assured that a crappy romantic comedy will always be among the bunch to kick things off on a sour note. In 2009, it was 27 Dresses and Leap Year in 2010. The torrent of bad rom-coms in 2011 opens with No Strings Attached, the flipside to When Harry Met Sally. While Rob Reiner's film posited the question of whether men and women could be friends without sex being involved, No Strings Attached is all about men and women having sex without emotional attachment.

Natalie Portman is Emma, a medical resident working 80 hours a week. Ashton Kutcher is Adam, a production assistant on a Glee-esque TV show. A prologue opens the movie showing how Emma and Adam first met at summer camp and how they would bump into each other every few years. It's a blunt way to tell the audience that these two were destined to be together. One day, Adam gets dumped by his girlfriend for his father (Kevin Kline), an aging sitcom star. In response, Adam gets drunk and somehow wakes up naked in Emma's apartment. They quickly have sex and Emma decides to use Adam on a purely carnal level. He eventually desired a more meaningful relationship, while she is reticent for anything long-term.

Rare is the romantic comedy that is rated R. The script, written by Liz Meriwether, originally began as a raunchy female buddy comedy entitled Fuck Buddies. The screenplay managed to make Hollywood's Black List (a compendium of hot, unproduced scripts) in 2008. However, committee filmmaking rears its ugly head. You can tell the story was rewritten and rewritten to make it more palpable to mainstream audiences. The original version featured the female protagonist describing a sojourn to Napa Valley as a "dick tasting trip." The final film contains just enough of an edge so that the males in the audience aren't too embarrassed about seeing an Ashton Kutcher movie without the words "Dude" and "Where's My Car?" in the title.

Portman has generally avoided these types of films, but seems like she's looking to shed the good girl persona with her recent performances here and in Black Swan. While she brings a bubbly personality and a winning smile to the role, the novelty of a horny, foul-mouthed Portman wears thin because the material isn't particularly funny or genuine. Kutcher is bland through and through, doing nothing memorable whatsoever. Where the leads fail, the supporting cast shines. The movie really belongs to the secondary characters, including Olivia Thirlby as Emma's younger sister and Greta Gerwig and Mindy Kaling from The Office as two of Emma's friends and roommates. Gerwig gets the most substantial role and it's great to see the former matron of the mumblecore movement receiving more high-profile work. Let's hope she isn't forever cast as the kooky best friend (i.e. Judy Greer). Also good is Lake Bell, who displays deft comic timing as a nerdy and talkative co-worker of Adam's.

Hmm…there's an idea for a picture, a story revolving around the tertiary characters in a standard rom-com plot. It would do to romantic comedies what The Other Guys did to the buddy cop movie.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Despicable Me

Despicable Me - Dirs. Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud (2010)


Despicable Me is the first film from Illumination Entertainment, Universal’s new animation division headed by Chris Meledandri, the former president of Fox Animation. It’s also the first supervillain-centric movie of the year with Dreamworks’ Megamind coming out in November. Despicable Me was co-directed by European animators Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud from a script by Ken Daurio & Cinco Paul who previously wrote Horton Hears a Who and The Santa Clause 2.

Steve Carell adopts an indiscernible Slavic accent to voice Gru, a criminal mastermind who considers himself the world’s number one bad guy. In his employ are an elderly inventor named Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) and an army of Minions, diminutive creatures who look like Oompa Loompas crossbred with Twinkies. With their assistance, Gru devises a scheme to steal a shrink ray in order to hijack the moon and hold it for ransom. More importantly, Gru hopes to finally impress his hard to please mother, played by Julie Andrews in anti-Julie Andrews mode. Gru’s plan is derailed when the Bank of Evil refuses him a loan and the shrink ray is stolen out from under him by the nerdy Vector (Jason Segel). A dweeb with a bowl cut and an orange track suit, Vector is the new number one whose fortress is impenetrable.

Meanwhile at the orphanage for girls, three adorable little moppets named Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) sell cookies door-to-door for the stern Miss Hattie (voiced by Kristen Wiig, modeled after Edie McClurg). Noticing they can enter Vector’s domain uninhibited, Gru adopts them and before you know it, his icy exterior is melted away.

Despicable Me isn’t the type of multi-layered film that Pixar has mastered. It is fairly one-dimensional, but that one dimension is incredibly entertaining. The movie goes for the gusto as much as possible. If they’re going to have three cute, little girls, they’re going to make them as cute as humanly possible. The same can be said for the movie’s use of 3D, putting the audience on a rollercoaster and throwing various objects at the screen.

Is it as good as Toy Story 3 or How to Train Your Dragon? No, but Despicable Me is well worth seeing on a big 3D screen.

Rating: ***