In the 8-bit arcades of yore, villians are flat characters–to say the least. With Wreck-It Ralph, Disney hopes to round one out for the sake of empathy, family fun, and a fresh roll of coins.The 3D animated feature goes beyond the CRT to show you the senstive, high-BMP side of Ralph (voiced by Jon C. Reilly), a belligerant Donkey Kong-like oaf whose career-bad-guy malaise (drummed up in the trailer with Talking Head’s “Once in a Lifetime”) drives him to quit his job as 8-bit villian.
He escapes to find heroic opportunity in “Game Central Station,” where a universe of game characters can apparently commingle and become sentient bots in more well-rendered titles. You can hear the supporting voices of Sarah Silverman, Jack McBreyer, and Jane Lynch and witness a line-up of classic bad guys like Dr. Robotnik, Bison, Bowser, and Pacman’s Clyde (the orange one). Continue?