Stats time!
Sadly the mobile games never seem to keep track of play time. My phone can keep track for 10 days, but I never tend to finish these in that amount of time.
User Rank 7
Character levels
Iroha 23
Akira 8
Tsuruno 1
Hinano 1
Sasara 1
Shizuku 1
Yachiyo 1
Kaede 1
Natsuki 1
Emiri 1
Manaka 1
Asuka 2
Kako 2
It’s time to look at an app game I downloaded a while back. I remember seeing this one as a twitter ad and figured that I may as well check it out. The posters looked nice and the Madoka series has always been excellent so I was down with seeing what the side story would be like. It’s a fun game that I would probably stick with if there was less to do, but from what I played it is a very complete title.
The game’s story follows a girl named Iroha on her own magical girl adventure. There are a lot of parallels to the show as she meets up with a very aloof magical girl who’s like Homura, a happy one dressed in yellow like Mami, a tough red colored one like Kyoka, etc. So…the story isn’t very original I’ll admit. Iroha’s memories are all in disarray as she doesn’t remember her childhood friends and this seems to directly be related to whatever wish she made with Kyubey to become a magical girl. Iroha wants to find out the secrets of her past, but she doesn’t have any idea how to do that. It may be related to a mystical law of forsaken friendships. As Iroha tries to find out about her past she also helps other magical girls learn to get along and beats up witches in the process.
With these gatcha games you never want to get too invested in the plot because it’s just never going to finish. These games are made to basically never end or if they do end it won’t be for many years. America actually got this game real late so in Japan there are a bunch of sagas out but even there the story isn’t over yet. You just gotta roll with the premise and then get ready for a bunch of inevitable filler. Still, if the adventures are fun then that’s not a problem. I thought the story was pretty reasonable. By default it’s the weakest RPG plot I’ve experienced in the mobile, but the filler isn’t quite as tedious as in Integral Factor. At the very least you always feel like things are happening.
We also do get a true opening that is fully animated which was really cool. The visuals are definitely on point and the soundtrack is awesome even if a little limited. You’ll be hearing the witch theme endlessly but it’s just so catchy and epic that it’ll rope you in. It makes every fight feel epic even if you’re just fighting the same old guys over and over again. The chapters follow a classic formula of fighting 3-5 waves of minions before you get the next round of cutscenes. On a technical level this game definitely shines through.
The gameplay is also very easy to use. You pick one of 3 attack types for each of your 3 characters and then take down the opposing forces. Using the same kind of attack more than once can give you a bonus and naturally there are also elements to keep in mind. You won’t really have to worry about tactics in story mode as at least where I was up to it was very easy. I imagine in PVP or other online modes that it would be a lot more important. The gameplay is very intricate if you are trying to master it though. There are a ton of mechanics which I barely even scratched the surface on. I recommend a lot of studying when you’re first starting up the game.
That’s the only tough part about the mobile RPGs. There are so many things to remember and keep track of. I managed to learn it all for Dragon Ball Legends and Fire Emblem, but I’m sure if I went back I probably wouldn’t remember it as well. The main menu screens are downright confusing here as there are over a dozen different kinds of things to collect and they all have different purposes. You can get lost trying to find things here and since the game barely explains anything you’ll want to run to Reddit right away. Reddit’s always a great database for these mobile games if there is something that you need to know. My main advice is if you do plan on playing this for the long haul, don’t spend or buy anything for the first month or 2. That’ll give you time to really understand the game rather than spending collectibles on things you’ll never actually use. Make sense? It’s definitely something I do with all my mobile games now even though I don’t tend to keep any of them for the long haul except for Pokemon Go.
Overall, Magia Record is definitely a fun RPG for fans of Madoka or people who just like this style. As with most mobile games like this one there is almost endless replay value. New events happen every week and the story is extremely long as well. There’s a lot to like here and the game was developed with a lot of care so there are no areas that feel slapped together. It would take a lot to keep me in a mobile game for very long though and while I love the franchise, I am overall still a bigger fan of FE and Dragon Ball. If you’re a big fan of Madoka though this is really a solid one for you to stick with for a while. One big thing here is that it’s a free to play with an energy meter that is almost nonexistent. Unless you are playing this for many hours at a time you won’t have a problem with being told by the game to take a break for a while. This is the kind of Free to Play game that does the industry proud.
Overall 7/10
Stats time!
Play Time 3h 25m
PS4 Trophies 18/51
Parts 15/18
It’s time to take a look at the blue bomber’s last hurrah! After the first 8 Mega Man games there was such a long gap until the 9th game that I’m sure a lot of people had begun to lose hope in it ever coming out. Well, Mega Man 9 and 10 did eventually come to grace us with their presence, but they were digital only and really fell under the radar. That all changed once 11 came out. This time it got a lot of mainstream attention and a physical release. It’s not an amazing title or anything like that, but it does bring you right back into the nostalgic world of Mega Man and succeeds in what it was aiming to do.
The plot is pretty basic as Wily remembers a time where Light rejected his idea and decides to make it come true in the present. It’s a double gear system that makes a robot both stronger and faster. Light realizes that this invention actually is brilliant and quickly gives it to Mega Man as well. Mega must now take down these corrupted robots and stop Wily once and for all. Can he pull it off or has Wily finally surpassed all of them?
It’s a very bare bones plot and there aren’t any fully animated cutscenes. Mega Man 11 is definitely going for a basic approach so that you can just think of it as another installment, but with pretty graphics. The actual campaign is also very short as a result. It’s about 3 hours give or take which isn’t bad considering what kind of game it is. It’s just like the older ones in that regard as you fight all of the bosses once and then you head on to the final level. Each level can range from a few minutes to around an hour depending on how long it takes for you to beat it. So while 3 hours is reasonable if you’re a Mega Man veteran it may take you considerably longer if you are new to the series.
As mentioned earlier the graphics are definitely very nice though. The character designs are very bold and colorful. The stages really pop out at you and the soundtrack is also pretty solid. I wouldn’t say that it is particularly memorable, but there’s definitely nothing to complain about in that respect. You’ll be too engrossed in the levels to worry about it. The levels do have some really tricky sections though. I dare say that the levels are a little less forgiving than in previous games. It’ll take everything you’ve got to complete these with the 3 lives that you are given. Torchman’s level took me many lives and game overs before I finally beat it. However, the game was a cake walk from there.
The reason for that is Dr. Light’s Lab. After losing the first stage so much I had enough screws to buy all of the upgrades in the store. That includes double speed, longer lasting power ups, and much more. I also bought a bunch of beets which save you from falls and maxed out on energy tanks and lives. Hey, if it’s in the game then using it is fair game right? No boss can beat you when you essentially have 10 life meters. It’s also not like I actually needed it for a bunch of the bosses. Some of them you can still just beat up without those extras anyway. They all have patterns although they are admittedly harder to react to than in previous games because of the double gear system. These guys are playing for keeps.
I also think it’s a good thing that the lab was here because the levels definitely could have gotten frustrating otherwise. The actual levels are a little too long so when you get a game over and have to start from scratch it feels a bit tedious. I’d actually say that it would be more tedious than in Mighty No 9 which never got to that level. That said, I would still take this game over Mighty No 9. That one may have had the more expansive story but this one still has the better gameplay. Capcom did a good job of designing the game and making sure that the lab covered any of the suspect parts during gameplay. Once you’re fully powered up then you can really jump into the action.
There isn’t a whole lot of replay value in the levels except for gathering trophies. In fairness, that should take you a reasonable amount of time because there are over 50 trophies to obtain in this game. I’m sure that some of them will be very difficult as well because the Mega Man games are perfect for that kind of challenge. It’s always nice to have an incentive to keep on playing and Mega Man 11 definitely delivers on that front. There’s not much more to say about the game except that it’s a peaceful/nostalgic trip down memory lane. I definitely hope we do get more Mega Man games in the future although I definitely admit that I’d like to see more of a plot or at least a longer game in general for 12. This was like the test run so next time we need the AAA experience.
Overall, Mega Man 11 is definitely a game that I recommend checking out. If you start to lose a lot of lives in the beginning don’t worry about it. You keep all of the screws that you obtain even when you die so that means you’ll eventually have enough to buy whatever you need. The game is quite generous with the screws so you could potentially buy everything (Not counting items which aren’t unlocked yet) by the end of the first level. I recommend buying the upgrade that gives extra screws first. It’s a rule of thumb for me that I always buy the upgrade that gives extra coins/exp first since it’ll help you for the remainder of the game. Mega Man 11 may not be very ambitious but it does remind you that just having solid gameplay can always take you far.
Overall 7/10
Stats time!
PS4 Trophies 2/36
It’s time to look at the recent Mega Man show. This one was definitely a different take on the legendary character, but one that worked pretty well nonetheless. It’s nice to have the blue bomber back in any form. Season 2 has not been announced yet and as the days stretch by it looks less and less likely. Still, hopefully the show will be back because the show definitely had some potential. In the meanwhile at least it did last for a full season.
The show starts by introducing us to the world of Mega Man. It takes place in the future where humans and robots co-exist in peace. A big war between the humans and robots happened a while back with the humans winning which is likely why they have the upper hand. Robots now live to serve them and can’t hurt humans. Lord Obsidian does not like that though and starts convincing various robots to turn evil. The Good Guild exists to quell such rebellions, but their skills may not be enough to stop these guys.
Fortunately, there exists a kid named Aki. He’s Dr. Light’s robot and while everyone just thinks that he is an ordinary kid, he actually has the ability to turn into Mega Man thanks to some help from a little robot who lives in his head called Mega Mini. The only person who knows about his secret identity is his sister Suna. Keeping the balance between his human and robot self is tough, but it is definitely something that Aki believes he can handle. No matter how many robots go against him Mega Man will be ready to save the day.
The whole thing about Mega Man having to keep his secret identity is definitely an interesting choice. It’s not something that Mega Man typically has to deal with, but within the setting it does make sense. The main problem though is that you never feel like the show thought this one through. There are various aspects here that the show never delves into, but you can’t help but feel are super relevant. Here’s your first question. Aki is a robot that Dr Light built to be an ordinary kid. So, how did Mega Mini come into existence? If Dr Light invented him then surely he already knows Aki is Mega Man right? If Light didn’t build him, who did? Mega Mini clearly has a whole terminal set up in Mega Man so someone designed such an area.
The second issue is that AKi’s ability to turn into Mega Man is something that had to be programmed. There’s also no way that Light wouldn’t have noticed this whenever he did Mega Man’s diagnostics to make sure he was okay. I think the avoid tripping itself up like this the show should have just had Light and Suna know from the start. It really wouldn’t change a whole lot in the show anyway and it would have simply made more sense.
Ah well, the school scenes are still reasonable. The best part of the show is naturally the action, but for the most part the classmates aren’t bad. The only one who is terrible would be Peter. While the show is mostly tame with the crude humor, there is one episode where Peter has a runny nose the whole time which was definitely gross to look at. He doesn’t really have a purpose in the story either so if you cut him out then nothing would really change. He definitely wasn’t needed here. Meanwhile Ashley is good although the small romance that the show tries to throw with her and Mega Man is unnecessary. You really don’t need any romance like that in a Mega Man show. It’s the classic story-line where Ashley likes Mega Man but not Aki so he is effectively competing with himself.
Then you’ve got Wily, but he’s very different from how he is in the games. Here Wily is a kid so they may be going for more of a Harry Osborn and Peter Parker type dynamic than Wily vs Light. I definitely expect Wily would have turned evil in the next season if we ever get that far. Wily’s not bad, but I can’t say that he is all that interesting either. Meanwhile Suna is a dependable ally. She always does her best to support Megaman and does cheer him on whenever the blue bomber falls under another spell or isn’t acting very rationally. Suna also has her drones so she can contribute a little during the fight scenes. I’m not sure why they switched out Roll for Suna, but it doesn’t really make much of a difference in the story. I also would say that Suna is a more likable character than Roll.
We can’t forget Mega Mini, he’s Mega Man’s main sidekick during the series. He is one of the comic relief characters of the series and most of his dialogue is about making the quick one liners to help boost Mega Man’s confidence. I definitely don’t think he was needed in the story and his sort of romance with Hypno Woman was definitely not a keeper. Then you’ve got Rush who doesn’t have a huge role in the story, but is still pretty fun. Dr. Light comes across as a little shady here. He wants to make the world a better place for humans, but I wouldn’t totally trust him if I were a robot. He has the Mega Key which is dangerous for everyone and tends to keep a lot of secrets. The fact that Light can actually fight it out with the robots physically is definitely very cool though.
It’s time to look at the main character of this adventure. Mega Man is your classic hero who is just trying to live life as a normal robot. For the most part he has already adjusted to living alongside humans but occasionally at school his robot self will show its inexperience to an extent as he can be a bit oblivious about things. The show showed a lot of restraint in not making him exaggerated. He can be a bit cocky at times, but at the end of the day Mega Man’s character is pretty much what you’d expect. He’s a hero that you can count on.
One thing that does hurt a bit is how much the show loves to mess with his personality by having him absorb other robot master powers. It’s a huge weakness to be honest. In the old games he could just absorb them but in the show they changed it so that he gets part of their personality inserted into himself. This naturally leads him into a lot of wacky situations where he becomes super nervous, super grouchy, hungry, etc. These scenarios are never quite as funny as the show seems to think it is. The humor in the series really isn’t that bad, but it’s at its best when it isn’t about Mega Man being corrupted. Alas, it happens to him in almost every episode yet he never seems to learn. Every episode he seems to be surprised that it worked. There’s also the fact that it rarely seems to be necessary to save the day.
Then you’ve got Obsidian who is the main villain of this show. He has a secret identity but the show lets you know who he is almost immediately. It’s the kind of secret that the characters in the show don’t know but the audience does right away. He’s definitely a fun villain although his motives are really all over the place. He thinks that humans and robots shouldn’t get along so in his human form he tries to get them to rise up while as a robot he leads all of the robots to destroy the humans. Ultimately by getting the secret weapon in Light’s house he would be able to start the war, but it would be so much easier to just show up and start blasting everyone. His power level is quite high so there is almost nobody who could stop him in a straight fight.
His design is really cool so the show did a good job with that. He’s actually a better version of the usual Wily that you would expect. Then you’ve got his right hand man Namagem. I admit that I thought he would end up being Wily the whole time so the show did dodge my expectations this time. I do think there’s a bit of a missed opportunity with his real identity or maybe I should say that it’s more that I didn’t care for the design so much. I’m sure he will be changing a lot if the show ever comes back though. He’s a fun villain to have around although his power level definitely fluctuated quite drastically. Sometimes he would be almost as strong as Obsidian and other times he would have a hard time with normal robot masters. I don’t think even the show knew exactly how strong he would be.
His fights with Mega Man are some of the best in the show though. I’m not sure exactly which fight I’d put as the best in the series but it would either be between these two or a fight with Obsidian. I definitely look forward to him showing up more. Then you’ve got one of the iconic villains, Fire Man. He’s the classic not very smart but fairly tough character. Fire Man may have been one of the first villains to lose, but he is still treated as a fairly big threat once in a while which is definitely nice for his fans. Of course you can also just argue that Namagem simply couldn’t be taken seriously by the end so Fire Man went up by default.
Then you’ve got one of the show’s original characters, Chaotique. Now she is a scene-stealer. Her ability is super speed to the extent that she is even faster than Elec Man which is impressive. She seems to be able to keep the speed up for longer while Elec Man is more about quick splashes of speed. The only problem with this naturally is that she is way too powerful to actually be stopped by anyone. The show surprisingly writes pretty well around this so it never gets to be an issue. Her character development also goes in a different way than what I expected so that was pretty neat. We don’t really know what’s going on right now since we only have the villain’s word to take on her status. She would definitely be the person to watch out for in season 2.
The rest of the robot masters are a little less remarkable. Drill Man has a pretty emotional origin story about how he had to give up his dreams when his robot design was changed for drilling. It’s played for laughs to an extent, but if you really think about it his story is really tragic. Hypno Woman and Blasto Woman are some of those villains who may be evil, but seems redeemable right away. Hypno Woman’s not particularly ruthless and in a way her illusions allow everyone to lead a peaceful life. Then you’ve got Blasto Woman whose character is hurt by her plot with Mega Mini and in general I don’t think she was one of the better show exclusive characters. I actually mixed both of these characters up while writing this review and had to go back to fix the names.
Wave Man is decent, but pretty generic and never really came into his own. I dare you to even say what his character personality was by the end. Then you’ve got Ice Man who is supposed to be fairly misunderstood and as a result is not very impressive as a villain. He’s simply too gullible. Cut Man at least has his perfection thing going. He’s also super easy to manipulate but at least the guy had a more tangible goal and did a better job of actually getting in there and getting the job done. I would not trust him to cut my hair for a second though so I don’t really get how he got his own store. I mean, people are more used to the robots in this world but still……I dunno.
Air Man got some of the lowest amounts of screen time among all of the characters. He does have a really cool scene showing how high he can fly though. I’d say that he’s low key one of the tougher robots here. Then you’ve got Chemistry Man whose whole character becomes a lot better thanks to his voice. His voice is amazing and right away gets across that he is a jaded professor who is upset at the world. It’s all the city’s fault and not his. You have to respect the guy’s one track mind. Guts Man is a little disappointing here because all he can do is eat a lot. It’s an interesting gimmick I guess, but it means that he spends most of his time eating instead of fighting. Even with that it’s not like he’s easily the worst version of the character. I’m not a big fan in general, but he could have still been improved here.
Then you’ve got Elec Man who definitely makes his presence felt with his incredible speed. He’s another fairly broken character who would absolutely dominate the main cast if not for plot convenience and the like. You just can’t hope to beat overwhelming speed like that without some really cool abilities of your own. He was one of the better villains.
Wood Man’s interpretation was also pretty interesting. He’s basically a paranoid ninja from the war who never quite returned home in one peace. It’s further foreshadowing at a war that we’ll probably never get to actually see, but had a really cool premise otherwise. It’d be nice to see some more stories of how the war was back in the day. Then we’ve got Man Man who is a big fan of the blue bomber. He’s a nice tribute to the original box art for the games. You know what kind of character he will be from the start, but he’s handled well. He’s a very genuine character who does his best to help save the day.
Fully Charged definitely has a soundtrack that does the series proud. It gives us several remixes of the classic Mega Man theme and we get other 8 bit tunes during the little cartoons that pop up during the episodes. I also liked the “Meganize Me” theme that played during the transformation. These songs aren’t fancy or anything, but they’re catchy which I think is the point in this context. They’re tunes that just help the overall atmosphere and considering that you’ll be hearing the Meganize theme over and over you definitely want a nice jingle.
The animation is less impressive although I wouldn’t say that it’s too bad. There are really 2 kinds of CGI style, blocky and realistic. Typically blocky is more colorful and makes for nostalgic viewing like the Transformers machinima style while the more realistic style would be something like Beware the Batman or Final Fantasy Advent Children. Those are able to hit higher heights with the action scenes and can give you smoother action scenes. They both have their uses even if neither is very likely to be able to handle hand drawn animation. (Final Fantasy pulled it off though)
I like the character designs and we do get some real action scenes here. Fully Charged definitely delivers more than most similar shows like Pac Man and the Ghostly Adventures. Still, you can tell that the CGI isn’t quite there yet as the background doesn’t actually change. There is rarely any collateral damage even when attacks hit buildings. This may be a budget thing but it does mean that you can’t take most of the characters seriously as real fighters. They also can’t be that strong if someone like Dr. Light can take them down. Still, the show looks good overall and while hand drawn would have been nice to see, the graphics won’t make you avert your eyes or anything like that.
Overall, Mega Man Fully Charged is a very standard show. It makes for a fun watch, but there isn’t much to it beyond that. I don’t really think this is a show people will be talking about once a few years have passed. Honestly the show just ended and people are already barely talking about it. It was a fun take on the series though so I’m still glad that we got it. The 15 minute size definitely hurt it though. There’s only so much that you can do in 15 minutes and I’ll always stick to that. 30 minutes is just a much better way to present a good story and you can build up to the climax much more efficiently as well. Considering this, the show did a good job of making the final 2 episodes pretty climactic. I’d recommend checking out Fully Charged. It’ll take you for a fun ride and hopefully it does eventually return for a season 2.
Overall 7/10
All right guys, it’s finally time to take a look at one of the newer Madden titles. Madden is easily still my favorite sports title out of all the big EA games and 17 continues to impress. While this installment isn’t quite as impressive as some of the older ones, it still had all of the positive fundamentals that we have come to expect from the series. It’s certainly a steal considering it was only 3-4 bucks.
The gameplay is the same Football mechanics as the older ones at least in a grand scope kind of view. The goal is to score more points than the other team by getting a player with the football into the opponent’s end zone. Alternatively you can just kick the ball in. You’re really going to need to be able to survey different parts of the screen at once especially when throwing passes. It’s a very intricate game and you do need great reactions to pull this off. Part of why the game is so satisfying is because it needs all of those skills. You can’t pick up the game and suddenly become good, you’re going to need to work on it. There’s definitely a lot to learn too since you’ve also got other sides of the ball like defense, kicking, and running.
While not much has changed since the last Madden they did retool the kicking gameplay once again. Now you’ve got a meter that goes up and down which you have to stop twice. I definitely preferred the old system where you would just flick a lever up and down. I suppose this one is a lot trickier though, but I don’t think you need to over complicate field goals. It also makes the meter pretty crazy when you increase the difficulty. That’s not new, but I still disagree with it since I want a challenge on the field when upping the stakes, not a challenge to fight myself!
Accelerating is a little less obvious here so the game is a little more like a simulation than arcade style. I miss zooming around the field, but I do get the logic and it works well enough. The tackling is still on point and you can see how the game is really well polished in all areas. The gameplay is just a lot of fun provided that you like the sport of Football. It accurately portrays how the game goes down. When you’re playing you feel like you’re in total control so the game succeeds here.
It goes without saying that the graphics are pretty incredible as always. Everything is just so lifelike and while EA may not have the best reputation they do always deliver on this front. As for the soundtrack, it’s less obvious than usual. You’re really not going to be paying it much attention anyway since you’ll be in the game by that point. Now the presentation is where its at and the game is stunning there. It really feels like a real game with how the announcers introduce the teams and we get a nice pre game set up. Likewise you get a good set up for the playoffs and super bowl.
There are a lot of modes beyond the quick games of course. You can practice or jump into the online modes. There are a lot of ranks to go through so if you play online then you’ll probably be around for quite a while. Learning all of the playbooks will take a while and naturally obtaining the Platinum is quite difficult. These games may come out every year, but one title is enough to hold you for several years to be honest since there is just so much to do. There’s also the fact that every game is different so like a fighting game there is basically unlimited replay value here.
Due to the nature of the game there isn’t a whole lot to say but I’ll end off with my tips on how to take the computers down a few pegs. I was able to take them down until All Madden difficulty after all although at that point they cheesed me out. One thing I don’t like about All Madden is that your players start to choke. They begin dropping passes and fumbling all over the place which doesn’t feel like a real difficulty spike. It’s more like your players start breaking down as if they’re 1st year rookies going into their first playoff game. So ignoring that, my strategy for winning was a bland but effective ground game. I’d run it on 1st and 2nd down and then pick up the final 3 yards over the place. Then I’d mix it up with a first yard pass sometimes. I would win in very low scoring games like 17-10 or something like that. The computer has a hard time fully shutting down the run so you’re almost guaranteed to get 2-3 yards up the middle each time.
On the other hand, if you go around then you’re more likely to lose yardage but you have a decent shot of getting a big gain. I prefer consistency so I go up the middle and you’ve also got the shot of making a big gain so the way I see it there isn’t much of a downside to this. Just keep plugging away and eventually you’ll get some kind of win. Defense is also important, but I don’t really have any tips for that. What’ll happen will happen with that one.
Overall, Madden 17 is definitely a game that you’re going to want to jump into. It’s only 2-3 dollars so there is really no downside to making the purchase. By the same token you can also just skip to 18 which is basically the same price and have close to the same experience. It’s really up to you to see what you want to do, but there’s no bad option. While I do think they should speed up the gameplay a bit like in the old days it is still very balanced. I think the problem of the low acceleration is that the running back feels like just an ordinary player as opposed to the speedster. It also gets rid of the quarterback advantage which is too bad because I loved scrambling for every play and getting a bunch of yards. I guess it was pretty broken to be honest though. The quarterback was unbeatable in some of the older games.
Overall 9/10
It’s time to take a look at the remake that came out recently. The original film was one of the weaker Disney classics for me so I was ready to see if the remake could fix that. Fortunately it was up for the challenge. I’d actually put Aladdin as one of the best remakes and holds its own/even beats other heavyweights like the recent Maleficent film which I was impressed with. Aladdin’s a very high energy film and it paid off.
The film starts with a guy telling his kids a story about the olden days. We cut to what is a normal day for Aladdin as he slips through the streets grabbing whatever he can. He’s a thief who needs such things to scare by as his country isn’t exactly one of the more luxurious ones. One day he notices a lady having some trouble so he helps her get out of the jam. Unfortunately due to a misunderstanding with his monkey stealing her pendent she dashes off. Aladdin tried to repair the damage but he is soon captured by the Jafar and forced to enter a dangerous cave. He secures the lamp and will now get 3 wishes, of course Jafar won’t forget about his wishes for power anytime soon. Can Aladdin impress Jasmine and stop the kingdom from being plunged into chaos?
Right away the film got off to a really strong start here. The chase scenes with Aladdin right from the beginning are great. The scenes have a lot of energy and with the song it all flows together nicely. It’s always risky to have the best scene show up this early on in the film, but I think it’s good because first impressions are important. It’s just nice how casually Aladdin is basically taking on a full platoon of troops and singing about it. He also does a good job of directing Jasmine as well and showing how well he has mastered the city and all its alleyways. He’s basically a genius.
Aladdin definitely makes for a really solid lead even if he does weaken a bit towards the end of the film. He gets corrupted awfully quick when he becomes a prince and I feel like there were a lot of ways he could have gotten himself out of the situation earlier. If he was going to lie anyway, why not just admit that he was pretending to be a prince to impress Jasmine later on? I think she probably would have been impressed as to how he could pull that off since he had such a large troop of fighters behind him. I’d also argue that Jafar even deciding to mess with Aladdin is super risky because if those troops were real than Agrabah would have been doomed from the start.
Jasmine’s a fun heroine and definitely a character who has also been very improved from the original. She’s very determined to become the next sultan and also stands up to Jafar and the others. Jasmine gets a fun song towards the end about how she won’t be quiet anymore and gets to quickly exhibit her time stop powers until the song ends and you realize it never really happened. The thought is what counts though. She may not have grown up in the streets like Aladdin, but she’s definitely got that toughness about her.
Then you have Genie who steals the show as expected. It was a tall order to try and top Robin Williams from the original so I think adding in Will Smith was the perfect option. His style of humor is very different, but ultimately very charismatic and fast which works really well. His powers are still impressive although the way that his powers work is still awfully loose. At the end of the day he can still do whatever he wants and is just pretending to have to work on the rules. It seems to me like he just can’t go against his owner, but otherwise he can do what he wants. If I were Aladdin I’d be tempted to ask for a wish back, but at the same time he is still alive so being grateful is more important in this scenario. Genie is definitely here to look out for Aladdin and does a great job of looking after him. Without Genie Aladdin would have been doomed.
The film does a good job of mixing in a lot of good humor to supplement the action and adventure. The jokes land and the film is just written really well. They certainly didn’t phone it in here which is key. It would have been easy for the movie to just try and borrow all the original jokes and such but coming up with a completely new script is always good. The film’s still a direct remake and all, but it brings its own unique flavor to the mix.
Then you’ve got Jafar who is a much better villain than he was in the original. In that film he felt more focused on the marriage to Jasmine than his actual aspirations. Here it is flipped and he really just wants power to capture everyone else. He’s the kind of villain who while not relateable is just very interesting. It makes sense why he would have a bit of a power complex here since he started at the bottom of the social totem pole and now wants to go to the very top. I also thought his character had more layers here since he actually kept his thief skills and is a legitimate threat to the other characters. The scene of him pick pocketing Aladdin was handled very well.
There’s the Sultan but there’s not much to say about him. He gets mind controlled the whole time as expected. Abu doesn’t get to do a whole lot and mainly just gets Aladdin into trouble. He does save the lad from making a critical mistake in the cave of wonders though so I’ll give him some props, but he basically nullifies this after that by actually falling for the trap.
Iago doesn’t get the witty dialogue that you’ll remember from the original which is unfortunate. I think the film could have gone all the way with him if it really wanted to. At least he did get the super form though so that was neat. Then you’ve got the character made for the film called Dalia. She’s basically Jasmine’s best friend and just like how Genie supports Aladdin she helps Jasmine in this journey. I’m not sure about the random plot with her and Genie though. That romance was a bit weak, but for the character Dalia was definitely a standout. She’s definitely the kind of character that you want to have by your side. Dalia is very loyal and supportive.
Then you’ve got Hakim who also gets a bit of a big role here. He is quick to change sides though and while the characters gets his redemption arc it doesn’t work all that well. It just seems a little too late in the game for him by this point. He’s not really my kind of character but I’ll still give him some credit for making the right call even if it was late.
The first half of the film is definitely more dynamic than the second half, but I wouldn’t say there is any part of the film where it totally loses steam or anything like that. The dance scene with Aladdin being manipulated was also pretty fun. I don’t think that the back flip was overdoing it to be honest, but he definitely did show everyone up. All of the songs are also a blast. It seems like the film is using some kind of auto tune or audio adjustment to give everyone a certain kind of voice though so I wonder if the characters actually sound like that. It’s a sound that works well though so no complaints here.
Aladdin doesn’t hold back on the special effects either. I think part of what makes the film work so well is that it just looks great. The musical numbers feel grand as a result and especially the “You’ve never had a friend like me” song is awesome as a result. The special effects are really akin to that of a big blockbuster movie (Which this film basically is) and I dare say that this may be the best musical out there. I don’t really know how you would go about topping this one.
Overall, Aladdin was definitely a success. It’s a very fun film that has a lot of replay value. I think a good bit of credit here goes to the great script/writing. There are a lot of clever moments and even some callbacks to the songs. One good scene is when Genie points out that Aladdin’s never had a friend like him as opposed to vice versa. The only annoying part here is really how quick Aladdin was to betray Genie. It’s definitely something that will be annoying on a re-watch and all since Genie was so helpful the whole time. Still, if you’re looking for a great film to watch then this is the one to check out.
Overall 8/10
DReager1.com 