Wreck-It Ralph
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: November 2, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 3, 2012
Wreck-It Ralph is smart, funny, sweet and sassy. And that's just Sarah Silverman's character... The movie is a treat for kids and the parents they drag to see it. Or maybe it'll be the other way around. Either way. It doesn't matter how you get to it. Just get there.
100
The New York TimesA.O. ScottNov 1, 2012
Manages to be touching as well as silly, thrilling and just a bit exhausting. The secret to its success is a genuine enthusiasm for the creative potential of games, a willingness to take them seriously without descending into nerdy pomposity. I am delighted to surrender my cynicism, at least until I've used up today's supply of quarters. Read full review
100
TimeMary PolsNov 1, 2012
The most inventive and entertaining family movie I've seen this year, packed with wickedly smart humor and joyful animation. Read full review
100
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonOct 31, 2012
It's a wildly exciting ride, the fastest-moving, most enthusiastically kinetic kids' action film since "The Incredibles." Read full review
100
VarietyPeter DebrugeOct 26, 2012
With plenty to appeal to boys and girls, old and young, Walt Disney Animation Studios has a high-scoring hit on its hands in this brilliantly conceived, gorgeously executed toon, earning bonus points for backing nostalgia with genuine emotion. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyNov 2, 2012
The movie's subversive sensibility and old-school/new-school feel are a total kick. Read full review
90
NPRScott TobiasNov 1, 2012
Replace the toy box with the arcade machine, and Wreck-It Ralph is basically a repurposed "Toy Story" movie, suffused with the same mix of adventure and nostalgia and themes of friendship and the existential crises that come with age. A cynic might dismiss the film as reheated leftovers. But that cynic would be wrong, because those leftovers are delicious. Read full review
90
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondOct 31, 2012
Consider it a force in the Best Animated Film Oscar race. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweOct 26, 2012
With a mix of retro eye-candy for grown-ups and a thrilling, approachable storyline for the tykes, the film casts a wide and beguiling net. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigNov 1, 2012
With Halloween bags still brimming, it's an ideal time for the inventive candy-colored fun and wicked humor that is Wreck-It Ralph. Read full review
85
Paste MagazineScott WoldApr 3, 2018
The world of Sugar Rush itself merits some mention, too. Deliriously inventive and pulsing with life, it almost seems a shame a real video game wasn’t developed from its blueprints; it’s a world in which one wants to linger. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKeith StaskiewiczOct 31, 2012
There are more videogame cameos and winks than you can shake a Wiimote at - even the Konami Code, the gamer's paternoster, makes an appearance - but the real success of the film is its emotional core and the relationship between the two misfits. Read full review
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallOct 31, 2012
The movie's first half is its funniest, as Moore sets up this alternate low-resolution universe. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnOct 29, 2012
Beneath the pixelated gags, the stakes are relatively familiar. However, much of the humor in Wreck-It Ralph riffs on the nostalgia associated with real games. Read full review
80
EmpireSimon CrookFeb 4, 2013
A "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" for the joystick generation that, despite a mid-act dip into generic Disney territory, high-scores on laughs, invention and 8-bit affection. Read full review
80
Total FilmStephen KellyJan 21, 2013
A Disney flick that feels like on-form Pixar, blending knowing humour and sophistication with a large helping of heart. You'll want another go. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfOct 31, 2012
The metaphor is clever, injecting real-life risk and reward into these beautifully artificial vistas, scored to composer Henry Jackman's Nintendo-worthy beeps and bloops. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerNov 14, 2018
Twice now Reilly and Silverman have helped to give a cartoon’s happy ending real emotional depth. And twice now, they’ve made their characters so endearing that some fans may feel oddly conflicted about the prospect of undoing those endings just to see them again. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Dave McGinnNov 2, 2012
It's impossible not to feel a strong sense of nostalgic amusement, if not sheer delight, at the comings and goings of all these characters. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyNov 1, 2012
Colorful, noisy, and pixel-deep. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJody MitoriNov 1, 2012
A lot like video games and candy: light entertainment but fun while it lasts. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianStephen WhittyNov 1, 2012
If you're a gamer, another level of humor opens up, as a variety of characters make surprise appearances throughout the film. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 1, 2012
Moore brings a video junkie's passion to the movie game, and it's hilariously infectious. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezNov 1, 2012
Wreck-It-Ralph is a gorgeously rendered story that will play just as well to children as to their parents, albeit for different reasons. Playstation and Xbox junkies will be equally pleased. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 31, 2012
There's something very old fashioned about the core ingredients of Wreck-It Ralph; these blend well with the "hip" elements. Still, I can't help but wonder whether this is all just one big product placement for something aimed at the home video market. It seems like a game designer's wet dream. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertOct 31, 2012
More than in most animated films, the art design and color palette of Wreck-It Ralph permit unlimited sets, costumes and rules, giving the movie tireless originality and different behavior in every different cyber word. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithNov 1, 2012
Visually dazzling, intermittently funny. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 1, 2012
I found the first 30 minutes of Wreck-It Ralph a lot of fun, the second and third 30 minutes progressively more routine. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 4, 2012
Still, it does eventually become a bit tedious, and for all the breathless kineticism of the film's second act, you may find yourself twiddling your thumbs. It's a cool game, to be sure, but watching someone else play it gets old after a while. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 2, 2012
John C. Reilly provides the voice of Ralph, and he's every bit as good as you'd expect in the role. It's Sarah Silverman, however, as his unlikely sidekick, and rescue subject, whose considerable charm threatens to steal the show. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanNov 1, 2012
Emphasizes action and eye-popping visuals over emotion. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternNov 1, 2012
It's a lovely pretext for dazzling visuals, yet the production is diminished by the clumsiness of an 8-bit script. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 1, 2012
It's pure plastic product from plot line to the pro forma 3-D to the tidy moral lessons - ersatz family entertainment as disposable as it is diverting. It made me want to go read a book. Read full review
50
Village VoiceNick SchagerNov 1, 2012
As with its narrative, Wreck-It Ralph's themes don't develop by branching out in wild, unpredictable ways; instead, they simply become narrower and more monotonous. Read full review
50
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthOct 27, 2012
Yes, the idea is unique. But they aren't quite ready to shake off what has worked for them for years -- namely making girls want to be special and popular, and boys strong and heroic. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 9, 2013
For me, it never came to life. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 31, 2012
Sweet enough but in the end a bit of a corny-syrupy wipeout, this is middling family-night fare, but it never even comes close to the emotional or technical wizardry of Pixar's finest moments. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineJohn SemleyOct 28, 2012
Nothing but broad, pandering indexes tailored to appeal to the arcade wistfulness the film never even bothers to convincingly evoke. Read full review
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