Film Review No. 50 The Lion King (PG)

Strong Points:
The photorealistic graphics are incredible
Some new jokes and altered lines work well...
A huge technical achievement
The songs and story still contain the magic
Timon and Pumbaa lift the film up to new heights, with their animal friends
Singing was great from all
Subverted expectations
Little extra scenes filling in the transitions were great and didn't slow the pace down

Weak Points:
...Although some lines were oddly removed
Some of the new song additions don't really live up to the originals
Animals aren't anthropomorphised, so there isn't much emotion around the eyes
Photorealism removed the ability of animation to have clever, non-realistic ways to show a shot

Some minor spoilers ahead:

Video Game Character of the Month - May 2019 - Aqua - Kingdom Hearts

Video Game Character of the Month

May 2019
Aqua
Kingdom Hearts

Overview:
Is it done? Can I come out now? Yes, that's right, dear readers, I've finally finished enough of Kingdom Hearts 3 that I feel comfortable searching keywords (pun intended) involving the franchise. And, therefore, I think it's time to give Master Aqua another award. And this one is even harder to achieve than the Mark of Mastery. It's the Video Game Character of the Month Award!
And now for a little bit of info on Aqua:
Major spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 44 Christopher Robin (PG)

Strong Points:
Amazing CGI
A great message
Funny
Some great bits of cinematography
Ewan McGregor plays Christopher Robin excellently
Inspired plenty of more games to play
Pooh's way of speaking
Christopher Robin's neighbour
Great chunks of nostalgia
Little bits of traditional animation
Classic songs make a reappearance

Weak Points:
Some of the animals are left out of most of the film
Christopher Robin's neighbour
The film sometimes relies on nostalgia too much, including with the time period - the entire film feels like a memory
Some of the darker elements

Warning: spoilers ahead

Review No. 143 Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth By Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage - PS4 (12+)

Strong Points:
Beautiful graphics
An interesting development on Aqua's character
Smooth and fluid gameplay
Good pacing
Brilliant soundtrack
Helps to explain odd plot holes from the previous games
And sets up Kingdom Hearts 3 nicely
Customisation surprisingly works
Good voice acting
The animation in cutscenes is top notch
You can straight away see Aqua's power

Weak Points:
Some gameplay elements such as the clock gears were little more than gimmicks
Yearned for more
Ice ramps aren't properly explained and a slight change in environment will affect them

Some spoilers ahead:

Review No. 142 Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Final Mix - PS3 (12+)

Strong Points:
Great battle system
Intricate deck building...
A large adventure which demands to be seen as a whole rather than three stories
The Final Mix adds even more story and battles
A nice selection of worlds
Great voice acting from most...
Helps to fill in gaps from the wider KH narrative
Music is brilliant
Mirage Arena is a fun experience
Lots of little collectables...

Weak Points:
...which is slightly at ends with the original portable design of quick play sessions
...Although the three main characters could do with a bit more expression
The three stories mean the overarching narrative isn't filled in until the end, so remember to read up on what you've done before
Slightly barren worlds
Not enough Unversed bosses
...Which aren't really explained as to why they are there
Music sometimes loops too often - Cinderalla's World especially
D-Link takes too long to load

PS4 photo due to sharing option

Video Game Character of the Month - July 2018 - Merlin - Kingdom Hearts

Video Game Character of the Month

July 2018
Merlin
Kingdom Hearts

Overview:
Ah, Merlin. While you have had many incarnations over the years across a wide spectrum of mediums, it is Kingdom Hearts where you are remembered most fondly by this writer. His bumbling but calm demeanour brought moments of peace to an otherwise frantic game series. He also introduced the series to The Hundred Acre Wood and, as the series progressed, was shown to have a vast array of powers, including the ability to train people in the ways of the Keyblade. For this, and many other reasons, Merlin is being given the Video Game Character of the Month Award today.
And now for some information on Merlin:

Film Review No. 39 Avengers: Infinity War (12+)

Strong Points:
One of the best Marvel scripts
Balances humour and drama
Great acting from all
Humanising Thanos
The ending
Slick battle sequences
Great cinematography
Superb CGI
Successfully balances cast of characters
New interactions between well-known characters
Doesn't get bogged down
Risk-taking

Weak Points:
Some sound issues - missing one-liners etc.
Some romantic pairings suffered from pacing issues
Other villains don't have the impact - should have been introduced before hand
Mark Ruffalo in the Hulk Buster Armour had some visual effects tearing

Spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 37 Black Panther (12+)

Strong Points:
A refreshing new type of Marvel movie
The gadgets
Colour palette - etheral
Great acting from all
Told its own story outside of political and cultural pressures...
...Although treats them with sensitivity as well
The right amount of humour
Wide open fight scenes and small, intimate duels
No CGI army to fight
Impressive CGI
Twists and turns

Weak Points:
Some of Michael B Jordan's lines fell flat
Took me a while to remember the opening was set in the past
Did they fight to kill sometimes?

Some spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 34 Star Wars: The Last Jedi (12+)

Strong Points:
Subverting the Star Wars tropes...
...Although still definitely Star Wars
Amazing CGI
Great acting from all
Back to puppets for the creatures
Porgs
Set piece after set piece
Final battle
Visual imagery
Opening battle's tension
Some returning faces
Risk taking
Benicio Del Toro's character
Andy Serkis's character
Tense throughout
The film shows a difference in style to T:FA but is still noticeably Star Wars
Focus on other characters
A conversation in two halves
Transitions between scenes

Weak Points:
A shouty start
Some odd bits of film (either too real or CGI)
Sometimes visual representations were questionable
Not sure if all the comedy will hold up
Death count was sometimes overly large

No spoiler review:
Go see it. Even if you don't really know about Star Wars, go see it. You won't regret it

Spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 22 Moana (PG)

Strong Points:

Simply astounding animation
Great voice acting
Disney Magic
Catchy and clever songs
Twists
Pork the Pig and HeiHei the Chicken
References to other Disney films

Weak Points:
Some lines felt shoehorned in - I'm not a princess
Felt like fewer songs than normal
Pork the Pig was there and then not
Would Maui have really taken the stone to begin with?

Film Review No. 20 Beauty And The Beast (PG)

Strong Points:

Faithful adaptation of the classic, with modern day extensions
Great songs - old and new
Amazing visual effects
Great acting
Funny
Nice changes to the story to fill in plot holes
Can stand on its own...

Weak Points:
Singing was sometimes a bit manufactured
But best experienced as a nostalgia trip
Some words were stilted/felt added on

Nitpicks:
Took me a little while to suspend my disbelief

Some spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 5: The Jungle Book (PG)

Strong Points:

Amazing CGI

Nice twist on the tale

Neel Sethi (Mowgli) was great at interacting with invisible creatures 

Well inputted songs 

Funny

Clever use of surround sound

Credit book scene

Subtle humanisation of animals

Those graphics!

Weak Points:

Slightly too long

Fight scenes were quite dark for the age rating 

End fight scene had quite a lot of variables which could've gone wrong

What was the punishment for breaking the treaty?

Could be seen as a Lion King reskin

Film Review No. 4 Zootropolis (PG)

Strong Points:
Very funny
Lots of references...
Brilliant animation
Amazing attention to detail
Strong social messages hidden in the fabric
Played on the stereotypes
Great for the times
Lots of scope for sequels
Lemmings

Weak Points:
Could be a bit heavy-handed for children
... some won't be gotten by everyone
Would've been nice to see all the different sectors
Some characters could've been focussed on more

Some spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 2 The Good Dinosaur (PG)

Strong Points:
Stunning set pieces, amazing animation and (really) great graphics
The old Pixar emotion
Humorous
Good voice performances
Touching story
Powerful music
Fully fleshed out main characters

Weak Points:
The first act seems to just be a transition from set piece to set piece
Side characters seem to be there just for the sake of a joke sometimes
The violence is sometimes a bit too in your face for a children's movie
The main dinosaur's colour scheme seems a bit out of place with the rest of the designs

Comments: Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom

Explore the Magic Kingdom they said. It'll be safe they said. What they didn't mention was the fact that Hades has gathered all of Disney's darkest forces and decided to attack. And, of course, it was up to me, my family and a bunch of Disney heroes on cards (oh, and Merlin) to save the Crystals of the Magic Kingdom from Hades' fiery grasp.

First Impressions: Brave

Well, I have to say that I was pleasently surprised by this one. Recently, I visited the Innoventions section of Epcot while on holiday with my family and, as some of you may know, there is a video game section at the end with some of Disney's choice tie-in games (so, Pixar basically). I didn't have much time and, so, only got to go on one game. While Satamer got stuck on an early level of Brave, I thought I'd be brave and jump right in with the final level.