John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch in the Rich Moore movie ‘Wreck-It Ralph’

Computer animation mixing video games, motorsports and strong familial messages around friendship, loyalty and figuring out your own feelings brings us to some of the better magic of the Walt Disney Company. We look today at the drama, adventure and beauty of friendship with the directorial debut of Rich Moore in the movie Wreck-It Ralph (2012).

(From left, Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz and John C. Reilly as Wreck-It Ralph in the Rich Moore movie Wreck-It Ralph).

The movie itself is set in Litwak’s Family Fun Center & Arcade, owned by Mr. Stan Litwick as portrayed by Ed O’Neill. When the arcade closes for the night, the video game characters leave their individual game and socialize through a power strip called Game Central Station. The social life of the video game characters comes alive when we learn that the 30th anniversary of Fix-it Felix, Jr. specifically will exclude bad guy Wreck-It Ralph, portrayed by John C. Reilly.

(From left, Jack McBrayer as Fix-It Felix Jr. and Jane Lynch as Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun in the Rich Moore movie Wreck-It Ralph).

Given the interaction between characters from different arcade games in Game Central Station, garnering respect by getting a medal from the arcade game Hero’s Duty becomes a goal for Ralph. Ralph steals a medal from Hero’s Duty, mounting an escape into the kart racing game Sugar Rush, where he deposits a Cy-Bug from Hero’s Duty and, while stuck in Sugar Rush has made landed Fix-It Felix, Jr. temporarily out-of-order. With his game not functioning, Felix leaves his game and allies with Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun, whose goal is to track the Cy-Bug on track to become a virus. Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch portray Felix and Calhoun, respectively.

(From left, Rich Moore as Sour Bill and Alan Tudyk as King Candy, aka Turbo in the Rich Moore movie Wreck-It Ralph).

Meanwhile, Vanellope von Schweetz steals the medal from Ralph to buy her entrance into the Sugar Rush qualification race that will, if she performs well enough, will let her race in daily games in Sugar Rush the next day. Since Venellope has a glitch that causes her to move and teleport erratically, King Candy rules that Venellope cannot race. While Ralph agrees to build Von Schweetz a new car and work with her to improve her racing skills, King Candy hacks the source code for Sugar Rush, gives Ralph the medal back, and does other deceitful things to turn Ralph against Venellope. With a storyline developing for Calhoun and Felix during this time, King Candy’s assistant, Sour Bill, imprisons Ralph. Venellope von Schweetz, King Candy and Sour Bill were portrayed by Sarah Silverman, Alan Tudyk and director Rich Moore, respectively.

(From left, Joe Lo Truglio as Markowski, Dennis Haysbert as General Hologram and Ed O’Neill as Mr. Stan Litwak in the Rich Moore movie Wreck-It Ralph).

There are further moments of discovery built into the storyline at that follows, granting a satisfying telling for kids and adults alike. We are introduced to the fictional game TurboTime a bit later into the story. We are offered references to legitimate games, including Altered Beast, Dig Dug, Frogger, Pac-Man, Paperboy, Pong, Q*bert, Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter, and others. The onward and upward thrust of the storyline from this place in the story ties the multiple strings of storyline together in a cute, emotionally satisfying storyline that rewards kids and adults alike to a story that reinforces friendships while offering comeuppance in appropriate ways.

(From left, Katie Lowes as Candlehead, Mindy Kaling as Taffyta Muttonfudge and Jamie Elman as Rancis Fluggerbutter in the Rich Moore movie Wreck-It Ralph).

The movie concludes with characters having the best versions of themselves revealed. The animation was detailed, vivid and visually dynamic in drawing an imaginary world that felt legitimate. A subsequent movie followed the original, which tells you the audience was there with the first pass. Story credit for the movie goes to Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Jim Reardon. The screenplay was written by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee. I grant Wreck-It Ralph as directed by Rich Moore 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, September 10, 2022

Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning and Kyle Chandler in the J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg movie ‘Super 8’

It isn’t every day that we see what we recognize today as two names in big box office moviemakers from American film collaborating to make a movie. Eleven years ago, this came to pass. J.J. Abrams directed and produced the Steven Spielberg produced movie Super 8 (2011). Abrams wrote the screenplay for what feels to be a nostalgic look back at childhood and place mixed with the feeling of a thriller coupled with monsters.

(From left, Gabriel Basso as Martin Read, Ryan Lee as Cary McCarthy, Joel Courtney as Joe Lamb and Riley Griffiths as Charles Kaznyk in the J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg movie Super 8).

The story of Super 8 follows a group of young teenagers in the fictional town of 1979 Lillian, Ohio. Filmed in Weirton, West Virginia and surrounding areas, the group aims to film a homemade movie using super 8 cameras and film available at the time. The group, including Joel Courtney as Joe Lamb, Riley Griffiths as Charles Kaznyk, Ryan Lee as Cary McCarthy and Gabriel Basso as Martin Read, capture a train derailment while filming a movie scene overnight in their fictional Ohio town.

(From left, Kyle Chandler as Deputy Jack Lamb, Joel Courtney as Joe Lamb, Elle Fanning as Alice Dainard and Ron Eldard as Louis Dainard in the J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg movie Super 8).

A subtext of the movie includes the mourning of loss that has occurred before the movie has started. For Joe Lamb and his father, police deputy Jack Lamb of the Lillian police force, as portrayed by Kyle Chandler, lost a mother and wife Elizabeth to a workplace accident. Alice Dainard and her father Louis, as portrayed by Elle Fanning and Ron Eldard, respectively, are cast in the awkward position of being linked to that loss for Jack because Elizabeth was working a shift for Louis when Elizabeth died. Jack blames Louis for Elizabeth’s death.

(From left, Riley Griffiths as Charles Kaznyk and AJ Michalka as Jen Kaznyk in the J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg movie Super 8).

Joe and Alice become emotionally close, despite the above reality and Joe’s coping with the loss of his mother. As the train derailment destroys the location where the teenagers were making their film while also separating them temporarily, they regroup to find their gravely ill biology teacher, Dr. Thomas Woodward in the wreckage. Crates of strange white cubes are found as well, which Woodward warns them to forget and ignore. The kids flee an Air Force convoy, with Colonel Nelec finding an empty super 8 film box in his team’s perusal of the wreckage. Glynn Turman portrayed Dr. Woodward. Noah Emmerich portrayed Colonel Nelec.

(From left, Joel McKinnon Miller as Mr. Kaznyk and Jessica Tuck as Mrs. Kaznyk in the J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg movie Super 8).

A series of weird events commence from here, which includes suspicious behavior by Nemec to the detriment of deputy Jack Lamb professionally and the personal relationship between Jack and his son Joe. The teenagers, meanwhile, engage the help of Charles Kaznyk’s older sister, Jen Kaznyk. The support requested aims to help address the loss of pets, irregularities in electrical service, and other activities that follow the train accident. AJ Michalka portrayed Jen Kaznyk. The story develops from here with plenty of adventure to sustain the interpersonal narratives established with these characters.

(From left, director, producer and screenwriter J.J. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg in support of the J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg movie Super 8).

There is much to appreciate and enjoy in the Steven Spielberg style of movie that is Super 8. The focus on childhood experiences and viewpoints reflects the strength of the storytelling. There’s feeling and cleverness whose aim reaches for the likes of E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982), The Goonies (1985) or Stand by Me (1986) without necessarily landing on the magic of any of these. The film does feel to me like the most Steven Spielberg movie I’ve seen that was directed by somebody else, which in this case is good. I grant Super 8 as directed by J.J. Abrams 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, January 15, 2021