Month: April 2023

The Owl House Season 3 review

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

This review contains spoilers for The Owl House so please watch the show before reading. Season 3 and the whole show has come to an end and while it was shortened thanks to Disney, I still think Dana and the people that worked on the show managed to pull it off. For this review I will discuss each episode in their own paragraphs.

Thanks to Them: I liked seeing Luz’s friends try to adjust to living in the real world much like how Luz learned to live in the Boiling Isles. It reminded me a lot of the first half of Amphibia season 3 which made me think this is what season 3 would’ve been if it was a full season. I also loved seeing Luz’s relationship with her mother develop. I was worried that the whole Luz helping Phillip and Hunter being a grim walker would lead to the always hated “Liar Revealed” cliche but fortunately it didn’t. Luz’s friends know that Phillip tricked her and that she couldn’t have known that Phillip would become Belos. Flapjack’s death legit shocked me and broke my heart. I honestly think this is my favorite episode of season 3 and I kind of wish we had a full season to see what situations these kids would get into.

For the Future: Unlike the first episode, this episode focuses more on the supporting cast characters. Willow’s arc about trying to be optimistic even though she’s not was very well done. I think Dana took a little from Steven Universe there. I love that unlike Bill Cipher, the Collector isn’t really a villain, he’s just a child with God like powers that doesn’t really know right and wrong. I also love the design of Luz’s palisman. This is the weakest of the three episodes which is fair since this act’s kind of like a breather before the finale.

Watching and Dreaming: This finale puts more focus on the main trio Luz, Eda, and King. I like that instead of just being this giant battle this episode just has the trio show the Collector some of the places and events that took place there and helping learn about people. This finale shares a lot of beats from the Amphibia finale such as the main character dying, meeting a very powerful character that helps resurrect her, getting an ultimate power outfit, and both end with a time skip. It is odd that we didn’t get to see more of Belos’s backstory and his brother Caleb but at this point Phillip was beyond redemption and there probably wasn’t a reason to make him sympathetic. Also Hooty doesn’t get a line which is weird. Still, this is up there with Sozin’s Comet, Take Back the Falls and The Hardest Thing as one of the best series finales I’ve ever seen. It managed to perfectly wrapped up everything and gave every character the proper ending they deserved.

Seriously go see this show if you haven’t. The Owl House is not just one of the best Disney cartoons or even the best animated shows of the 2020s, it is one of the best cartoons of all time. I will miss these characters and world.

“Thank For Watching”

The Super Mario Bros Movie review

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

It’s a me, JacobsonCinema

The Super Mario Bros Movie’s plot is pretty much what you think. Two plumbers named Mario and Luigi come across the Mushroom Kingdom but Luigi ends up getting captured by Bowser who wants to marry Princess Peach. So Mario teams up with her to stop Bowser. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a video game film more faithful than this. The whole movie is full of easter eggs and references to the series that I won’t spoiler because a lot of them are very clever. It really did feel like the people that worked on this movie really loved and respected the Mario franchise and were really excited to work on this movie.

When the cast was announced back in 2021 it was a bit controversy especially Chris Pratt as Mario who’s actually decent as Mario. The one voice that really didn’t work for me and a lot of people was Cranky Kong. The big stand outs in the cast were Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, and especially Jack Black as Bowser. Jack Black really sounded like he’s been wanting to play Bowser all his life and he’s enjoying every minute of it. In terms of animation this is probably Illumination’s best-looking animated film. I am really happy that they didn’t give the characters the Illuminations makeover like they did with the Lorax and Grinch and instead stayed faithful to the original designs.

Like most video game films however, there are some problems. This movie has a lot of pop songs that we’ve already heard in other movies that really don’t fit the scenes they play. An example would be when Mario and Peach are driving through the Kong Kingdom while “Take on Me” plays. What’s worse is that there was supposed to be original music that would play here but they just picked this unfitting song. I also think the film is a bit too short and the pacing is also bit too quick. I think a longer runtime would’ve let the audience see more of the Mushroom Kingdom.  

The Super Mario Brothers Movie is the best Illuminations film since the first Despicable Me film and one of if not the best and most faithful video game film adaptions of all time. It is superior to the 1993 live action film in pretty much every possible way. This is a love letter to Mario that was given so much respect. Everyone who is a fan of Mario or video games in general will love this film.

Verdict:

+Easter eggs and references

+Faithful and respectful

+Great animation

+/- The voice talent

-Pop songs

-Too short

Score: A-

Mario: Thank You so much for reading my review

The Greatest Video Game Crossover ever!

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

The Super Mario Brother Movie releases today and I wanted to talk about a video game crossover that I discovered last year in the form of a webcomic called Everyone Is Home by WoodenPlankStudios. The Everyone is Home webcomic is an affectionate parody of the Super Smash Brothers franchise where the Smash fighters do day-to-day stuff. Sure, it’s neat to see these characters fight each other in the games but this webcomic really took it to a new level. This webcomic is chuck full of easter eggs, well written comedy, well drawn art in each panel, and everyone feels completely in character. The main attraction of this webcomic however is the “Reviving the Smash Characters” arc.

This arc begins at an E3 party introducing the next Smash fighter. Sephiroth proposes a toast but it turns out that he poisoned everyone’s drink. So it’s up to Incineroar and Kazuya to try to revive the other fighters and stop Sephiroth. This story arc is where this webcomic is at it’s most creative and fun. It’s really fun to see characters from different franchises interact with each other and a lot of them have great dynamics especially Incineroar and Kazuya. There are even other non-Smash characters are show up like Halo, Doom, and Celeste. The ways they revive the fighters are both creative and funny.

I have a soft spot for webcomics but Everyone Is Home might is one of if not my favorite webcomic of all time. It’s creative, funny and faithful to the source material. This really feels like a love letter not just to Super Smash but to video games in general.

You can check out this webcomic here: https://www.woodenplankstudios.com/