Yay! A really good family movie that you should be taking the kids to (rather than the not-so-family-friendly movie Fun Size that young‘uns brainwashed by Nickelodeon may be clamoring to see). Wreck-It Ralph is reminiscent of one of my favorite animated movies of all time, Toy Story (1, 2 and 3). Wreck It doesn’t quite rise to TS levels, but it gets pretty darn close – and you don’t have to be a “gamer” to get sucked in.

Here’s the basic story: Wreck-It Ralph is about the ‘bad guy’ in a popular arcade game who’s tired of being the bad guy. He’s been at it for 30 years. His main job is to wreck stuff so that the game’s perennial good guy, “Fix-It Felix, Jr.” can swoop in with his hammer and save the day.

One night, after attending a hilarious support group for video-game bad guys, Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) decides to go rogue. He abandons his own game and sets out to prove himself a hero in another. But his game-hopping antics have an impact on the entire arcade-game universe. Can he set things right before it’s “Game Over” for the whole lot of ‘em?! I’ll never tell.

The characters and the voices are a hoot – from Jack McBrayer channeling his 30 Rock Kenneth voice for the part of Fix-It Felix, to Jane Lynch (Glee) as a tough-as-nails Sergeant in the combat game, “Hero’s Duty”, to Alan Tudyk as a scene-stealing punster known as King Candy in the game “Sugar Rush”. Sarah Silverman is perfectly cast as a precocious candy-coated-cart racer, Vanellope von Schweetz, who forms a special bond with Ralph. Their relationship is filled with sweetness and sarcasm, and it ultimately gives Ralph his best shot at being a real hero.

Wreck-It Ralph is fun for girls and boys, young and old. It’s got a good message, a good heart. And you may even tear up a bit behind those otherwise-worthless 3D glasses. Check it out.

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