“Wreck-It Ralph” is a heartwarming movie for all ages. With the vocal talents of John C. Reilly as Ralph, Sarah Silverman as Vanellope, Jack McBrayer as Felix, Jane Lynch as Calhoun, and Alan Tudyk as King Candy, this movie proves itself to be funny for both kids and adults. “Wreck-It Ralph” teaches kids valuable life lessons about challenging labels like “good” and “bad” while showing that each person is their own biggest judge.

“Wreck-It Ralph” was a beautifully animated movie that creatively portrayed how life might be in an arcade after the kids have gone home. Once the arcade is closed, the characters can game jump and visit one another by going through their cable chords into Grand Central Station (the power strip). In Grand Central Station, they even have security as Surge Protectors to prevent items from one game going into another, which is comically shown when Ralph tries to take the cherries from Packman back into his game. There is a Bad Guys Anonymous meeting in Packman led by Clyde, the blue ghost of Packman, where the “bad guys” get support from each other since everyone else hates them. The games themselves range from the older classics like Sonic to the newer games like the HD Hero’s Duty, which creates a very diverse gaming spectrum.

“Wreck-It Ralph” follows “bad guy” Ralph through his journey of trying to be a hero. Ralph is unappreciated and unloved within his own game, Fix-It Felix Jr., so he decides to show everyone he is a hero by winning a medal like Felix does all the time. Ralph game jumps into a first-person shooter game called Hero’s Duty to win a hero medal, but he accidentally unleashes a bug (a literal virus) into a candy-coated car racing game called Sugar Rush. In Sugar Rush, he meets Vanellope, a troublemaking “glitch,” who steals his medal so she can finally race in Sugar Rush. While grudgingly becoming friends with Vanellope, Fix-It Felix has teamed up with Calhoun from Hero’s Duty to track down Ralph before their Fix-It Felix Jr. game gets turned off and the bug/virus multiplies in Sugar Rush. The movie has some surprising twists that will keep you guessing until the very end.

“Wreck-It Ralph” has talented comedians as the main characters, brilliant graphics, creativity using the arcade as the setting, and relatable insecurities that the characters go through. However, the time line of the movie was a big drawback, in my opinion, because it all took place within one day. Ralph went on many adventures in that one day, which I feel made the storyline implausible; if the movie took place over a longer period of time would have been much more realistic.

The way the characters met and interacted also struck me as unrealistic; what are the chances that the first person Ralph meets in Sugar Rush ends up being his best friend?  And what are the chances that the first woman Fix-It Felix meets outside of his game he falls in love with?  However, these minor drawbacks do not detract completely from the brilliance of the overall message the movie shows. While challenging preconceptions of “good” and “bad,” the movie also clearly showcases the importance of true friends and appreciating those around you, which makes this a real treat for everyone.

Rating: 4/5

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“Hotel Transylvania” is a hilarious must-see movie from start to finish. With an all star cast consisting of Adam Sandler as Dracula, Andy Samberg as Jonathan, Selena Gomez as Mavis, Kevin James as Frankenstein, Steve Buscemi as Wayne the werewolf, David Spade as Griffin the Invisible Man, and CeeLo Green as Murray the mummy, the movie is an absolute treat for all ages.

Mild Spoilers Ahead!

The movie defies “monster” expectations by having humans be the villains and the “monsters” be the victims. The story revolves around Count Dracula building a hotel to be a safe haven for monsters (and his infant daughter, Mavis) in 1895. Dracula’s wife was killed by humans, so he is adamant that nothing will happen to their precious daughter.

The movie jumps forward to the present and is now Mavis’s 118^th birthday. Despite her age, Mavis is, for all intents and purposes, a teenager. As typical teenagers who have overprotective parents, Mavis is eager to explore the outside world, particularly the human world. After Dracula allows her to go to the nearby village, which he has constructed and filled with zombies impersonating humans, Mavis decides that humans are terrible and she never wants to leave the safety of the hotel again. Dracula is now content with the knowledge that humans will never harm Mavis…or at least he is until a human named Jonathan stumbles into the hotel.

Jonathan is the typical young backpacker who wants to see the world while living out of his backpack. He is spontaneous and carefree, which instantly attracts Mavis, who is unaware he is a human. Dracula disguises Jonathan as a monster so his hotel’s reputation will not be harmed by the fact that a human was able to invade their territory. Jonathan takes the monsters on a wild ride to rediscovering the concept of fun and freedom, and ultimately challenges every misconception they have about humans.

Perhaps what makes this movie so great, besides the all-star cast, is the believable and relatable storyline of a father trying to protect his daughter because he loves her so much, while the daughter wants nothing more than to be free. The movie clearly portrays what a parent will do for their child in the name of love, and it shows the sometimes painful side of letting your child make their own mistakes. The movie also challenges against making judgments about others who you do not understand, which is a very important lesson for kids to learn.

“Hotel Transylvania” is a heartwarming, hilarious story that instills important life lessons into kids, which makes this movie an absolute must-see.

Rating: 4.5/5

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‘Frankenweenie’ was an overall disappointment and is definitely not meant for children. It started out strong, but the movie quickly deteriorated with how far-fetched it was becoming and finally crashed and burned in the last scene when it becomes evident that Victor Frankenstein has not really learned anything throughout his journey.

However, the movie was slightly redeemable because of Tim Burton and the voices of the actors, in addition to the references to other horror movies. Tim Burton strikes again with stunning animations set behind a stark black and white landscape. While serious for the majority of the movie, it does have its funny parts, especially when there are references to old horror flicks and characters such as Mrs. Frankenstein, Dracula, Igor, the Invisible Man, Godzilla, and Gremlins. The main characters are voiced by the talented Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Charlie Tahan, and Winona Ryder, who all brilliantly portray their characters in the movie.

The story follows elementary school kid Victor Frankenstein trying to find the perfect science fair project when his beloved dog, Sparky, gets hit by a car. Devastated, Victor decides to try to make Sparky come back to life by harnessing electricity and using the wind and lightning storm outside to his benefit. Lo and behold, it magically works and Sparky comes back to life, to Victor’s joy. However, Victor decides to try to hide Sparky. Not surprisingly, Sparky is seen by the Igor-like classmate, who demands to be taught how to bring animals back from the dead. The spreading of this top-secret knowledge brings about chaos as the race to get the best science fair project causes the kids to make less-than-wise decisions about what they wanted to bring back to life.

While the characters are interesting and vivid, the storyline rapidly deteriorates (until the audience is tempted to just get up and leave the theater) because of the immense implausibility, not to mention the depiction of the adults. The parents, especially Victor’s, never have any idea what is going on with their own kids and hardly lift a finger to help when their kids are in mortal peril. All the parents in the movie are passive to the point of absurdity, while the elementary school kids save the day and the town.

Even though ‘Frankenweenie’ is a heartwarming story of how much a boy loves his dog, the intense emotions it portrays is inappropriate for kids. The theater was filled with crying kids when Sparky died the first time and when it looked like he was going to die again. Since the majority of kids have some sort of animal, they easily connect with Victor and how they would feel if their pet died. Since Victor was able to make Sparky come back to life, kids might believe that their pet can come back to life, too. The horror sequences at the end of the movie, when so many scary animals are being brought back to life, is too much.

There is no real lesson to learn from ‘Frankenweenie.’ Throughout the movie, it seems Victor is making progress with understanding death, but he ultimately makes little progress. He is still so obsessed with keeping his dog alive at the end of the movie that kids do not really learn how to healthily cope with the loss of a pet. While ‘Frankenweenie’ is not all bad, it is one of the movies that should be questioned as a “kid’s movie.”

Rating: 1/5

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