Ruben Brown

(no spoilers) I feel like everyone rating this show poorly doesn’t understand that it’s not supposed to be serious. You can’t name a show “The woman in the house across the street from the girl in the window” and NOT be comedic. You should definitely approach this show from a comedy standpoint first before a psychological / thriller one. If you want a dark intense thriller that’s serious 99% of the time, then this is not the show for you. The way the show approaches comedy is quite subtle but very funny and pays off. They play into many movie cliches in a comedic way, the title for example, very clearly plays into the “woman in the window” or “the house at the end of the street” -esque titles because they’re so abundantly overused in the thriller genre. A lot of the exaggerated tropes and cliches like this are found in the dialogue, so if you aren’t paying attention, they’re easy to miss. The jokes aren’t always shouting at you like in the Santa Clarita Diet for example, but they still have a really good balance of serious-ness and lighthearted-ness. As for the story itself, it’s not A+, but you also have to remember that the show doesn’t take itself too seriously. A lot of moments that could be very intense and gripping in a proper thriller show are snuffed out by comedic moments and I think this is where a lot of people lose interest. For me personally I think it only adds to the show as a whole, because like I said, it’s comedy first, psychological thriller second. Overall, I really enjoyed the show. It did a great job of making me laugh even when the jokes weren’t blatantly obvious. I really like how the episodes are only a half hour long too. It makes for an easy binge and I easily finished it in one evening, and wasn’t bored once. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a laugh, and a story that doesn’t fail to keep you intrigued.

This movie was incredibly “meh”. The writing and pacing were just horrible and at some parts all I could do was laugh because it was just tragic. They give no time to develop the characters so they end up being literal cardboard cutouts (one of them is a priest, one is an influencer, etc.) and that’s the most backstory you get. I’m not exaggerating. One of the new cast members was slightly further developed (and I mean *slightly*), but it’s like they gave the new cast members a single plot note and nothing else to work with at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if the character sheets read something like “he is a priest” or “she is an influencer”. There are also a lot of setups for Chekhov’s gun and then they never come up again. As an example, they briefly show how the priest character seems to have a drinking problem when he’s first introduced. Oh? Perhaps an interesting storyline they could reveal? Might he talk about how the drinking has affected his life? (literally the bare minimum). Well spoilers! It’s never brought up again because, more spoilers! They don’t develop the characters! They speed through every scene so damn fast. And it fondly further makes everything feel so much more unrealistic. They have these impossible puzzles to “work out against the clock” except the clock is set to maybe 5 minutes so all every scene amounts to is just the main character thinking out loud and hammering out every answer within maybe 10 seconds of getting the question or clue. It’s ridiculous. If the movie was set in a dystopian future where everyone had AI implanted in their heads, then I’d believe it. Now, I can look past all the unrealistic parts of the movie to avoid plot holes such as the rooms and their gimmicks, the probability of so many different things, etc. But every time someone (and while under serious pressure) ponders on some impossible question or clue for mere seconds before coming up with the answer I can’t help but roll my eyes. That’s the most unrealistic part of the movie. Aside from the points mentioned, there is an underlying sub-plot that leads to a “twist” at the end. Now this storyline, and how it ties into the game actually has a good base and it could’ve been done well. But again, it was ruined by pacing. There are little subtleties throughout the movie that hint at what’s to come, so it’s set up for a good storyline but when everything comes to a climax during the last 10 or so minutes it just flops. Not only is there just an abundance of exposition, but it’s also done so speedily, like the rest of the movie, that it’s hard to even follow what’s going on. It’s a shame, because I was excited to see Indya Moore was in this movie, and while her acting was great, I was only left disappointed by a terrible script. The movie also started out pretty okay and while the acting was a little one note here and there, when they finally were launched into the games it felt like a really good start. If they just didn’t rush every scene then the movie could’ve been much better but it was ultimately ruined by poor writing and pacing.

I think the main problem people have with this game stems from when they compare it to older Paper Mario games. While I can agree that it doesn’t hold a flame to the likes of TTYD, as a stand-alone game it is amazing. Firstly, the game does an amazing job of making you feel immersed. The paper world is fully realised and the mechanics and scenery work really well to emphasise that everything is paper. The world is so colourful, that you can’t help but smile when exploring. The world is so well put together that the areas near-seamlessly transition together (it’s very reminiscent of older Paper Mario games). This is a huge improvement from the level select in Color Splash. On top of that, the OST is incredible. It just hits all the right spots and every area’s theme fits perfectly. The combat is surprisingly fun. It focuses mostly on the puzzle aspect of moving the rings, but still manages to combine it with a good amount of combat/tactics. I never really got bored of fighting, something which became apparent in Sticker Star for example. The only downside I can think of is there isn’t much of an incentive to battling. While you do get coins from every battle there is no levelling system, so naturally, there is no XP. Much like Color Splash, this games dialogue and humour is exactly what you’d expect from a Paper Mario game. At times silly with some bad puns (obviously catering to children) but also at times well written dialogue and references. I as an adult have had quite a few good laughs. I’m a sucker for any type of collectible in a game, and the collection aspect of Origami King really fills that niche. There are toads to save, holes to repair, secret areas, and other various collectibles to find around every corner. It really feels like the filled this game to the brim. The story itself is pretty basic (it’s Mario after all). You have to go to different reaches of the world to [get/do something] to save [peach/the world]. But regardless of this formula, Origami King still keeps it fresh. It reminds me a lot of Kirby’s Epic Yarn, but instead of everyone getting turned to yarn, they’re getting folded into origami. While I don’t think Super Paper Mario’s story can be beat, I think the direction Nintendo has taken is a good one. Overall, this game surprised me. I saw a lot of die-hard Paper Mario fans not entirely happy or excited for this game, so my expectations were low. But as I played through the game my enjoyment for it only grew. While there are many things I’m sure people would be quick to change about Origami King, I personally think it does a phenomenal job on it’s own. 9/10.