I knew very little about Wreck-It Ralph when I went to the screening but the posters looked very intriguing with their mix of old and new video game characters. Plus it’s always exciting to see a new Disney release.

The film really has something for everyone who at some point in their life has picked up a gaming control pad and got lost in a digital world where they can be a hero for a few hours.

Ralph (voiced by John C Reilly, Chicago) plays the villain in an old fashioned retro arcade game called Fix-It Felix Jr. With his hulkesque hillbilly looks and huge hands (ideal for smashing things) his job is to wreck an apartment building in old fashioned Donkey Kong style. But hurrah! Felix Jr. (voiced by 30-Rock’s Jack McBrayer) is on hand to repair the damage with his magic hammer and wins the day. Poor old Ralph ends up defeated and thrown off the building by the residents.

Ralph is fed up with playing the bad guy and the final straw comes when he isn’t invited to the games 30th anniversary party by Felix Jr. and the other residents of the building. He has even signed up to a support group called BAD-ANON where other gaming villains sit in a room and tell their woeful stories (see how many characters you can spot).

Just because he is a Bad Guy doesn’t mean he is a bad guy and he wants to be the Hero for a change. However, his life takes a different turn by a chance meeting with a soldier from a new, more modern, high definition action game called Hero’s Duty. The game is a mixture of Halo meets Starship Troopers meets Call of Duty where the ultimate goal is to win a hero medal by defeating the Cy-Bug creatures. Ralph decides to leave his Fix-It Felix Jr. game and crosses over to the Hero’s Duty game machine by travelling through the snaking arcade power cables via Game Central Station subway route. But there is a risk. If a character is killed outside his own game then he can never come back.

Disguised in heavy body armour Ralph encounters the tough no nonsense Sergeant Calhoun (voiced by Jane Lynch, Glee, Role Models) complete with every school boys fantasy, a Lara Croft type curvaceous body. After winning his medal Ralph makes a hasty getaway in a Hero’s Duty space craft but crash lands in a go-kart racing game called Sugar Rush set in a land of candy aimed at the younger arcade audience. It’s here the film takes a different turn. Ralph meets an impish 9-year old character called Vanellope von Scheetz (voiced with great fun and wit by Saturday Night Live comedienne Sarah Silverman). Similar to Ralph, Vanellope is also shunned by her fellow gaming characters because she is a Glitch, a malfunctioning player. The pair make an unlikely team and set out to help each other find their destiny.

This is the 52nd animated feature from the Disney studios and has come up with a nice twist on the video game theme. I wasn’t too sure where the story was going to start with but in typical Disney fashion the film is a heart warming lesson in friendship.

I very much doubt that the main characters will have the longevity of some of the previous Disney heroes and villains but hats off to the writers for not making the film too syrupy. Sarah Silverman was a good choice bringing her wise cracking humour to the Vanellope character.

The film was directed by Rich Moore who directed many episodes of the Simpsons and Futurama which gives it a slight edginess but still has enough going on for the little seat kicking cinema goers. Although, some of the old video game references and cameos from Sonic, Street Fighter, Pac-man and Mario may go a little over their heads.

Three out of five bonus points.

Wreck-It Ralph comes crashing to cinema screens February 8, 2013.