Welcome to Alternative to What: a weekly column that tries to find a great alternative to driving to the multiplexes. Based on releases of that week, the selections will either be thematically related or feature recurring cast and crew. The goal is to help you better understand the diversity of cinema and hopefully find you some favorites while saving a few bucks. At worse, this column will save you money. Expect each installment to come out on Fridays, unless specified.
THIS WEEK:
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
- Alternative To -
Big Hero 6 (2014)
It seems redundant to say, but Disney has been on a roll the past few years. They have won Oscars and have even paired up with Marvel for an enviable deal. With this weekend's Big Hero 6, they release Marvel's first animated film, which looks to have all of the charm and wit of an average cartoon with the superhero magic of the franchise. It does seem a little annoying to keep seeing these names pop up everywhere, but for fans, there's nothing better. However, if you don't want to rush out and see the film in theaters, you might as well check out the other action packed kids' cartoon (which also has a score by Henry Jackman). It is a cartoon that seemed to come out of nowhere and asked the audience to question its stance on video games.
That's right. Wreck-It Ralph may be a fictional character and one that is considered the villain in his own story, but it becomes a sympathetic journey that explores disabilities and hierarchies in a video game world. It is subversive in its progressive nature, but boy does it work. With a great cast lead by John C. Reilley and Sarah Silverman, the comedy comes fast and for video game fans, the references are enormous, rarely stopping long enough for anyone to name them all. Who is real and fake? You'll have to guess yourself.
The reason that the film works is because it is a creative take on old concepts. Ralph is an outcast and has to deal with defeat in embarrassing ways. There's an awful lot to it. Beyond the inventive hop-around of the video game worlds that also discusses the evolution of the format, it is a tale about how we should all accept each other, no matter where we're from or what it is that we're doing. It also helps that it is just really fun and features an unhealthy amount of puns related to candy. There's so much that the film gets right that it doesn't matter what its shortcomings are. Compared to the bland familiarity of Frozen, this is a masterpiece of style and substance, at least for a children's film.
The recommendation seems rather obvious this week. In fact, Big Hero 6 does seem like it would easily fit next to Wreck-It Ralph on any viewing party. The only one more on the nose is The Incredibles. However, I decided to stick within studio and give an answer that I personally like a whole lot. It has the madcap joy and creative animation technique that unfortunately most of Disney's non-Pixar films have been lacking. Even the framing of each visual cue has an excellent video game homage mixed with just plain common sense beautiful cinematography. It covers so many bases that it is amazing that it works even without knowing a whole lot about video games, as is the case with myself.
In time, Wreck-It Ralph will likely be hailed as Disney's best output for the decade (so far, anyways). It comes in a time when the studio is able to compete at a healthy rate with Pixar and has even beaten them at a few turns. It does seem unfortunate that its reputation is in the shadows of the bigger and "flashier" films such as Frozen, but considering the craft and underlying messages, this is actually a really good movie. I am not entirely sure how Big Hero 6 will play out, but if it is halfway as good as this, then it may be one of the better Marvel movies of recent years, especially as their quality wanes in favor of two hour exposition trailers.
Comments
Post a Comment