Time to look at the modern remake to the original Lion King. The original is definitely a classic with one of the most impactful deaths at the time. I don’t think anyone ever truly forgets Mufasa. Well, this remake is mostly beat for beat although it does add a new subplot of sorts which I liked. In the end it isn’t able to do anything as effectively as the original though and does lose the head to head. As a stand alone film it is good though.
The movie starts with Simba finally being born. His father Mufasa is the strongest Lion in the land and resides as a King who was restored order to the world. The Hyenas don’t like this but everyone else enjoys the planet as it is. Animal Land would likely point out that this happiness cannot be sustained as even Simba points out that they have to eat their friends at times since the Lions are meat eaters. Mufasa explains they try not too eat too often like that though. Well, Mufasa’s brother Scar is not happy about this. He wants to be King and it’s implied he even liked the Queen but lost out. Well, he quickly murders Mufasa and tricks Simba into running away. Can Simba return to reclaim the throne or is it game over for him?
I suppose Mufasa’s role is rather small in the grand scheme of things but he’s always a fun character. One thing I really like about him is the amount of raw power he has at his disposal. He takes on a whole squad of Hyenas and is always ready. It’s a shame that he had to die here since the land had a bright future under him. I would enjoy an alternate reality path where we see what would happen if he stayed as King. That said, I do think he was a little too lenient on Scar the whole time. Ignoring obvious threats and such. I think at the very least he should have warned Simba a little more.
A good chunk of the film is the journey as Simba finds out what it is like to live in the wild. Pumbaa and Timon help him with this even if their advice isn’t always very helpful. They believe that life is meaningless which is…rather a depressing outlook when you think about it. They have a lot of fun scenes though and do have Simba’s back. Simba may have started out as being rather gullible and such but by the end of the film he’s definitely improved. I can see him being a fun character in the second film. I wouldn’t say I’m a big fan in this one.
The best character in this film has to be Zazu. You really feel for the guy the whole time because he’s trying his best to uphold the rules and keep everyone on the straight and narrow. At the end of the day the issue is that everyone rebels against him. Additionally Zazu’s really just a little bird when you think about it so it’s not like he can fight. That makes him even more brave. Especially when you have someone like Scar around. Scar’s a solid villain as well. He’s got a plan and knows how to execute it. The whole thing is handled really well as shown by how easily he took over without firing a shot. Scar has charisma even if he lacks brute power.
Then you have Nala who is Simba’s best friend. She didn’t get a big role in the original after finding Simba so that’s why I liked the inclusion of a Hyene leader with an actual personality. They got to go at it during the climax of the film and of course I won’t turn down an extra fight. It was a nice way to wrap things up. Nala’s also a solid character since she was pro actively trying to save the Lions the whole time. In general the climax is a lot of fun with solid action and a dramatic backdrop. It’s hard to really top that.
One thing I couldn’t help but think about though was why there weren’t really any other Male lions in the pack. Part of why Scar took over so easily is because there was nobody to resist him but why was that the case? If there had even been a handful of guys there they should have been able to take down Scar and his obvious rebellion. In fact, based on how few lions were around it seems to be like the Hyenas should have easily invaded long ago. Their numbers are far greater than the Lions and they could just pick them off at any time. there is a strength gap of course but nothing too crazy there either. I dunno, but it felt noticeable.
The graphics are definitely top notch. You could really think that this was live action at times which is really impressive. In terms of realism it’s hard to really say that any film can top this one. It helps that there are no humans around of course but it’s super impressive no matter how you slice it. Unfortunately it’s still not able to beat the original film in this category which came out over a decade ago. The reason being that realism will usually be crushed by an animation style that just goes all in. The original film has more color and life to it. I still remember the comparison videos popping up everywhere and it is true that the original just feels a lot more exciting and looks sharper. It’s to be expected since it was hand drawn but if you don’t compare this to the original then you should still be able to appreciate the look.
I wouldn’t say any of the songs in particular stand out to me but they’re solid enough. The songs have a nice up beat flavor to them and there’s always something happening in the background to pay attention to. As for the fact that the film revolves around animals fighting each other, the film had a good amount of restraint with not letting this go too far. You can still expect some of course and we even have a scene where Scar is eating an animal while subtly threatening the lions which is pretty intense. That was probably the most noteworthy scene to me. In part because you can totally cut it out and nothing changes. So this aspect doesn’t hurt the film as much as it potentially could have but I think it could have jumped another star otherwise.
Overall, The Lion King (2019) is a good remake. It’s fairly similar to the original one with the extra fight at the end being the only big change I would say. Even then calling it a “big” change is probably an exaggeration to be honest since it’s not like it affects a whole lot. If you haven’t seen the original or you saw it a long time ago and want a fresh version then this is a good one to check out. Otherwise there just isn’t any reason to recommend this over the original so I would say to just go and watch that one instead. It’s always the risk with remakes. If the original one was better then you may as well just watch it again instead of seeing the new version.
Overall 6/10
At long last I’ve made it to the final entry in the Mario & Luigi series. It’s definitely been quite the journey playing through all of the installments. To date my favorite one has to be Bowser’s Inside Story. That one just had the perfect blend of humor and fun gameplay. Each game has its own charm though. Paper Jam does end up feeling like a big step down from the last games with its story but it’s nice that we have Paper Mario around. I would still say it beats the original game in the series which was Superstar Saga but it ends up losing to all of the sequels.
The game starts with Luigi trying to fix a hole in the library but unfortunately he ends up opening a book to the paper universe. Everyone comes flying out of it including Paper Bowser. Now the Mario bros have an extra enemy to worry about and a lot of scared toads. Fortunately Paper Mario is here to help out as well. From there the plot goes in a rather standard fashion as both of the Princess Peach versions are kidnapped by their respective Bowsers. Can the Mario Bros and Paper Mario save them?
There’s one thing this game can’t capitalize on unfortunately and that’s the whole crossover aspect. The issue for this game is really that none of the main characters can talk and Peach isn’t around a whole lot. Usually in a crossover I want to say at least 50% of the fun is from seeing the unique character interactions. You can’t get any of that here. Both Marios basically act the same and Paper Luigi doesn’t even appear so we can’t see what he’s up to. Paper Mario does outshine the standard version a lot here though as he saves their lives multiple times. He is the guest star though so it makes sense. To balance things out I would say that Bowser does perform better than his paper version though.
When we do get dialogue it’s typically pretty fun though. The best scenes are naturally involving Bowser as he continues to act as a supportive father to Junior. I’ve really enjoyed how this series has humanized Bowser. He’s still a villain but he has a lot of personality now. When you think about it, the plot here is almost literally the same as every big Mario game as it’s just Bowser kidnapping Peach. That’s the most unfortunate part about this but at least the script is good so the story won’t drag on or anything.
The gameplay is your standard turn based system from the previous games. You can jump, use your hammer, special abilities, and other such techniques as needed to win out in the levels. I like how the system is active so you can actually learn enemy movements and attempt to dodge their blows. It gives a little more life to the system although at the expense of each battle taking longer. It’s always been a pro/con kind of thing. The only thing I don’t like that has always been the case for the series is that leveling up takes forever. This is due in part to the enemies not dropping enough EXP and the battles taking a long time. I spent at least 5 hours just on leveling up, possibly more time than that. I’m cool with leveling up for the most part as I just zone out and have music playing while leveling up or things like that but it takes really long to get anywhere at times.
For this game’s new gameplay feature we have giant paper mache battles where you get to take control of a figure and attack your opponents. I admit this one isn’t very fun but you don’t have to do a whole lot of them to it’s not bad. Each game always has some kind of backup gameplay and I’ll take this over the Dream Luigi style from the last one. It uses whole new gameplay mechanics and such so I can definitely appreciate the work there.
Paper Jam is shorter than the last few Mario & Luigi games but it’s still a reasonable length. It should take you 20 hours or so to beat this one. There is also a lot of replay value as you try to earn a lot of collectibles and beat the Arcade missions. I expect doing all of this will take you a very long time to be sure. At the very least you should reach 30 hours and that’s a pretty generously low estimate. Considering that you can get this game for a pretty good price now, it’s definitely worth the purchase price.
The graphics look good as expected. The level designs are very likely. The character models are on point and the soundtrack is also decent. It may not have the same pop as the last two games but it works well enough. You still feel a good amount of energy in the stages which is the important thing. It does feel a lot safer though which is inline with the more standard story. The last games had final boss themes like something out of Final Fantasy but the themes here don’t have that grand scale anymore. It’s too bad since Mario & Luigi used to really be able to go all out.
Overall, Paper Jam is a solid finale to the series. I can see why a lot of fans may have felt disappointed when the game’s trailers first came out since it is a big downgrade story-wise but the gameplay is as sharp as ever. If you look at this game on its own merits then it certainly holds its own. You’ll have a good time playing through the game and at the end of the day that’s what counts. I definitely hope we do get a new Mario & Luigi game at some point. There’s certainly more you can continue to do with this style.
Overall 7/10
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