So for my birthday, I got... basically everything on my Amazon wishlist. 
Because, let's face it, who has any idea what else to get me? (I sure 
don't... Not stuff that anybody can afford, anyway.)

I remember being astonished when I heard that Ice Age 2 existed. When 
they made number 3, I thought they had to be kidding. But each film 
seems to be better than the last. So, naturally, when I discovered that 
#4 exists now, I added it to my wishlist.

As it turns out, the film is... disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it's 
not *awful* or anything. It's just not especially entertaining. I'm 
still unclear on what the main villain was actually trying to achieve, 
or why he got so angry. The intro was quite weak. And while the existing 
characters are as lovable as ever, none of the new ones engage me 
particularly. I'll probably never watch it again.

So next we have Monsters University. This is either a worthy successor 
to the brilliant Monsters Inc, or an ill-advised money-grab attempt. 
Thus I was a little bit hesitant to put it on my list. Having watched 
it... well, it's certainly no obligatory rushed-out sequel, so that's 
good. It does have some heart to it, and it's interesting to see the 
characters you know in completely different roles. But overall... it's 
just not especially entertaining to watch. I keep expecting stuff to 
start *happening*, and it never really does.

And that leaves us with Wreck-It Ralph. Again, from the premise you can 
immediately see that this is either going to be entertainment gold, or a 
cynical attempt to milk money out of the popularity of retro-gaming. 
Again, I hesitated a little in listing it. However, having watched it 
three times in as many days, I think I can safely classify this one as a 
winner.

Partly it's because Vanellope von Schweetz is just adorable to listen to 
and to watch. Partly it's because King Candy is hilarious. Mostly it's 
because it's interesting and action-packed and entertaining. I love the 
soundtrack; they didn't try to make it all bleepy and "oh look it sounds 
retro!", they simply added just the right amount of synth to make it 
sound cool. And I still chuckle every time I see the guards outside the 
castle changing "oreo".

There aren't too many films where I sit there and *watch* the credits 
just because I like the soundtrack that much. I'm probably going to have 
Sugar Rush stuck in my head for some time now. The visuals are pretty 
impressive too. Again, they didn't do that whole "let's make it all look 
blocky and pixelated" thing, they made it look cool. I love the idea of 
an entire world made of candy... I almost wish this was an actual game 
that you could actually play.

...almost. It is a *racing* game, after all.

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