Yeah, not a fan of the Shut Up and Drive scene either. But I suppose that’s what the kids want these days - mediocre adrenaline-action with big names doing the acting and/or music.
I liked Vanellope, actually. I’m afraid that when Ralph said “you’re adorable” I was in agreement. The “Shut Up and Drive” segment didn’t make an impression on me either way, I had no idea that the background song was popular. Or even that there was a song rather than just background music, I’ve forgotten already.
For me, this was the first Pixar-level film from a studio that wasn’t Pixar. I agree, it wasn’t Monsters, Inc., but it wasn’t Cars 2 or Brave either. The set design for Sugar Rush was extremely creative, and it’s interesting how much attention to detail went into it, such as the way the Niceland characters moved, as mentioned upthread.
I’m not disagreeing with your point, but I would say that Kung-Fu Panda is also a Pixar-level movie.
And How to Train Your Dragon. That one was the first where Dreamworks really knocked it out of the park for me.
Looking forward to seeing Ralph this weekend though.
I think you guys are insane. There’s no way that Wreck it Ralph is at the level of Monsters Inc, or the first half of Wall-e.
Glad you qualified “first half” of Wall-e, since the injection of non-animated Fred Willard into that was one of the worst things I’ve seen in any animated film. Painfully unfunny and out of place.
Anyway, for me it’s roughly:
Tier 1
The Incredibles
Ratatouille
Monsters, Inc.
Toy Story 3
Wreck-It Ralph
Tier 2
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Up
Tier 3
Finding Nemo
A Bug’s Life
Tier 4
Cars - Loved the concept, actual film was a pure children’s movie, lacking the usual Pixar writing.
Wall-E - Fred Willard.
Within any tier, I’m not 100% certain of the rankings, and Wreck It Ralph is just barely tier 1, but still I’ll rank it above anything in the lower tiers.
Are you doing only CGI movies? Because Iron Giant.
Absolutely amazing movie, but not Pixar, which seems to be what Gus is comparing Ralph to.
You could say that but I think we all know the truth.
Yeah, I was only looking at Pixar, since my original comment was it was Pixar-level. That said, Iron Giant didn’t leave that much of an impression on me, though I know it’s well-regarded. I’d have to watch it again to form a firm opinion of it, right now all I remember is “I am not a gun!”
Also, Kung-Fu Panda was tier 4 at best. Like Cars, it’s hardly distinguishable from the general run of animated children’s films.
YES YES YES.
But I would reverse Bug’s Life for Ratatouille and Toy Story 1 & 2 for 3. Hell, I never even bothered watching TS3 past the “hang gliding” scene because I realized I did not give a damn.
Wow, some of you bitches is COLD…
I read a list (wish I could find it now) of the top ten Pixar movies of all time, and Kung-Fu Panda was listed at number three. (And yes, the guy who wrote the article knew it wasn’t really a Pixar movie.) The characters, the animation, the story…all top-notch, in my opinion. I would put it up there in Tier 1.
But seriously: Finding Nemo in Tier 3? Please! That could be Pixar’s best movie.
Reading all this talk about which of these animated movies is the best tells me they did something right beyond just making fun films. Pixar and the other animated studios have not only made films that everyone thinks are good; they also made them different enough that different ones float to the top depending on personal preference. Sounds like a well-balanced portfolio to me.
I didn’t care much at all for Monsters, Inc. at the time, but for all the love it’s getting here, with people saying it’s better than Up or Wreck-It Ralph, maybe I really need to go back and revisit that one…
I saw this last night, and while it was entertaining it wasn’t as good as I expected. I’m not sure I can put my finger on exactly why that is, but there are small things that just seemed incongruous, particularly the end-of-movie reveal of the villain which seemed more of a tacked-on afterthought. For the most part, I think the issue I had with it was that Ralph had no “journey” to go on really. He started off a good guy, he ended up a good guy, and throughout the process the only lesson he learned was that his talents had use other than being “bad”, which wasn’t much of a lesson to learn since he started the movie convinced that he could be a good guy anyway, so it was just a matter of finding the niche where “wrecking” was useful.
All that being said, it was visually delightful and, damn, would I pay good money for Sugar Rush… that was a great setting for that type of game.
No, he didn’t start off as a good guy, he just wasn’t a bad guy. I think he learns several lessons over the course of the movie, self acceptance and self sacrifice being at the fore. At one point Ralph chooses to be the bad guy in order to do good, and even though he is being misled at this point he is making a hard choice for (mostly) the right reasons, he just didn’t have the facts of the situation. And the villain was hardly and afterthought, it was foreshadowed right at the start, and serves as a counterexample to Ralph to some degree.
I saw this last night with my g/f. I’d say my only complaint was that it wasn’t as laugh out loud funny as I was expecting, but it was still definitely a great movie, and the writing and setting on the whole were very clever. Excellent casting too for all the voices and smart to model the characters after the actors playing them.
I really loved this movie. Watched it, and immeditally had to watch it again. So good. The sad parts made me cry, and I am a cynic bastard.
I agree with that: He starts off doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, then does the wrong thing for the right reasons, then finally does the right thing for the right reasons. That’s as good a thesis as any!
And I agree that the villain was foreshadowed perfectly. But that’s always the risk, isn’t it? You foreshadow too much, and people complain that it was obvious. You don’t foreshadow enough, and people complain that it was a “tacked-on afterthought.” I guess you can’t please everyone!