Vert's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cuboid Jazz Monster]

...

... if there ever was an underrated piece of flash, this is it. I don't know how you did it, but you've managed to combine Miles Davis, a Godzila style movie, a drawing style similar to that of the nouvelle manga / Frédéric Boilet (although you might not even have heard of him or the movement) and a parody of anime into one great movie. It's a little scary, really, because combining so many diferent things like that takes the mind of genius or a madman. Allow me detail me review:

- Graphics were top notch. The overall nouvelle manga style you use (with rotoscoping?) looks great and is really interesting too, specially the way you clash slightly diferent styles for the backgrounds, characters and the monsters. The sparse but well used animation was pretty good, too. Overall, a great looking movie that's very original in its presentation style.

Also, great use of colours! By opting to colour the backgrounds, but not everything else, you create a interesting visual experience and nice contrast too. The character design of both monster is awesome, too, quite diferent from most.

- Music, well, it's freaking So What from Kind of Blue. I mean, what can I say about one jazz's greatest recordings of all time. And the strangest part, it fits the movie. It's bizarre to admit this, being the song that it is, but you've managed to make the theme song of a cuboid monster So What and it works. Yikes. Also, the 'ahhhh' scream you use is a stock one, right?

- The story was an obvious parody of anime and monster movies. The excessive and ridiculous number of chapters, many exactly the same as the previous, is obviously parodying the tendency of Shonen anime. The ridiculous large names of each chapter is referencing the tendency of animes in english to have huge names too, since they have to translate japanese concepts that are written (in japanese) in a few words, but have no equivalent in english, I'm guessing.

The fact that the cuboid jazz monster is villain in the past (and remains so, to a certain extent, as he's eating human beings!) and is the anti-hero in this movie is probably parodying the fact that Godzilla underwent the same process of villain turned hero, right?

Also, nice pacing to the movie, you build up to the climax well. It's also neither too short, nor too long. And the (short) action scene is grotesque, funny and bizzare, and still fits in, despite the mix-match you've created.

So, overall, a great movie, that mixes up so many diferent things and still works, with a excellent visual style, amazing soundtrack (of course) and lot's of clever references.

Cheers and kudos for such a great movie, it's a shame that (to the time of this review), it has only 2,400 views, it really deserves much more! I hope that you create more movies in the future, you're obviously a talented and creative artist.

[Future]

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... if any movie on NG deserves to be 'voted 5', this is it. I'll be honest, my admiration for this movie is so immense, I actually have dificulty building a constructive review, such as including criticisms and the like. I think the best way to review is to analyse in parts:

- In terms of grahpics, this movie sends a chill down my back every single time I see it. I kid you not. The neon aesthetics, without outlines, that you created for this movie use, is brilliantly original, even if likely inspired by Tron, and the visual result is both (literaly!) awe-inspiring and breath-taking.

I think that it all comes down to the black, monochrome surface on which you've drawn everything. It was a fantastic idea that pays off magnificiently, by highlighting everything else and making the neon effect seem even more powerful and interesting. I also like the way you use only a few colours in everything you draw (i.e., each object is made of 2-3 colours).

Also, I think that you create lights and work with them in a spectacular manner. The short intro, with the 'light dash' falling down and the subsequent explosion, is an example of this. This is also true of Rotten Antenna.

The pseudo 3D graphics you've created are also just amazing, downright fantastic! I mean, after I've seen this movie so many times, I can see 'the seams' in a few places, where it's clearly not 'true' 3D, but I distinctly remember, when I 1st saw this, thinking that you had probably used some sort of 3D program.

It's impossible to tell the diference sometimes. Take the glass shaterring scene, for example. I doubt any one who dosen't know wouldn't think it wasn't done in a 3D program.

I can't stress enough how amazing the drawings and animation look in this movie. And it's not just the main characters / vehicles either, the backgrounds too look brilhant. All in all, I think that the originality and vision you had when you created this movie was just something else (unriavled, too), and you managed to convey that vision magnificiently.

In fact, I dare say that this movie is, in the visual department, probably the very best flash animation I know off. You could debate if some movie by Adam Phillips, rtil, RobsH66 or some other amazing flash animators could be considered better, but because of the your vision, the aesthetics and the execution, perhaps this movie trumps them all.

- The music is pretty good! I mean, it's a little repetitive, but because you've coordinated the on-screen action with the music so well, by making transitions between scenes in absolutly perfect time, it makes the repetition simply disappear. I also think that your aesthetics choices fit the music perfectly.

- The way you coordinate and interwhine the storylines, which have a nice flow and are interesting, is also brilhant. In this relatively short song, you manage to tell us three diferent stories, and even give us a feel for some of the characters. We can actually get a feel of who the racers are, what sort of personalities they have, despite appearing only for a few seconds!

- The action scenes look really good and you make very good use of some diferent and clever camera angles! However, this is the only place where I can present some real criticisms. The action, despite being excellent, could have been slightly less static if you had used more dynamic camera angles, specially by changing the angle of visualization (i.e., looking 3D).

But, that criticism is slightly unfair, as it is immensely hard to change a camera angle like that in a movie drawn only in 2D. The one place you do this, in the 1st scene with the ships, it looks good, but it's very prominent that everything is in 2D, as you don't change the drawings enough to accomadate the change in angle visualization. And, honestly, the movie dosen't really need it.

So, this remains one of the most breath-taking movies (not just in flash, I mean in any medium!) there is. I love it to death and I honestly hope you find success as an artist, because you have immense talent.

Thank you for this wonderful movie.

Kudos!

[ACML III: Bliss]

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... a visual tour de force, yes, but a slightly jarring one. Despite any flaws the movie may have, this is still very enjoyable. Allow me to detail my analyses:

- Visually, well, that was pretty stunning for the most part. Your (over)use of 'special effects' in some sequences makes them a (near) fascinating visual experience. The title (Bliss part) is an excellent example of this use and how great it can be, I think it comes out stunningly well and really stands out (as does the menu).

Outside of these sequences, the results are more mixed, as is usual in collabs. I think that the main sequence (i.e., the ones depicting 'normal' events) sets a good visual path for the movie, which is maintained all the way by the first 'stream of conciense sequence' (even if having a male character with female characteristics is very jarring). The same can be said of the 'grabbing' sequence.

However, the next 'dreamlike' sequence feels slightly out pace with the rest of the movie for multiple reasons. The first problem is when the womans face becomes very prominent and, for some reason, she just didn't look right. I think it's the way she's designed, she just didn't look like the should (I know I'm being vague, but I can't really explain it much better).
The rest of that's artists sequence looked good and fit well with the rest of the movie (the tree portion is excellent!), but it's sad that one little detail made such a diference.

The second problem is the sequence with the outlines and 'scribbled' colours. I have nothing against that sort of art style, on the contrary, I feel that it can produce powerful images, but I think that it really didn't fit with the rest of the movie. Make no mistake, it's very well done (like eveything else), but it's just too diferent from the rest, I think, without a much stronger dissonace from the song (which might have justfied such a change).

Humm, well, I know I've presented a lot of criticisms on this aspect, but only because this is actually the movies greatest strength. All the sequences look great and are obviously very polished and well made, so major kudos too all the participating artists on this aspect, I don't think anyone of you let down the others! The criticisms are only that prominent because of these qualities.

- Musicly, well, I enjoy some of Muse's songs, but this isn't one of my favourites. Still, it's an ok song and I think that you managed to convey the overall mood of the song quite well and the visual - song coordination was spot-on. Oh, and of course, the songs outside of the title song were pretty nifty too, Winterwind is obviously a talented musician.

- The menu / pre-loader looks good, but it has one irratating problem. When I clicked on the 'about' button, I coulnd't find the button to close that portion afterwards!

So, overall, this is a great movie, with some stunning visuals, that lacks slightly only in a few details (the face and the whole man-female design) and in visual stlye that I felt was out of place. Major cheers and kudos to all involved, this is one of the best and most coherent collabs I've ever seen!

[These Pancakes Are Tiny]

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... this going to seem harsh, so please don't hate me for it. I think that was, well, technically awesome, but lacking in the story department. Allow me to detail my analyses:

- Graphics were fantastic, topnotch stuff that's really, really good stuff! I mean, your drawings are detailed, interesting and pretty stylish and I really like your drawing style! Your backgrounds, in particular, have tons of details (something that so few animations have) and the lip-voice synching was among the very best I've seen.

Oh, and your animation is fluid and pertty much excellent (face animation is great and the large faces allow for some really expressionate faces). Overall, this is your strongest point in the movie by far, although I do have a slight criticism regarding the placement of the character's elbows and food on the table at the end of the animation (I doubt most people will notice it, however).

- Voice acting was pretty good, being quite expressive and well recorded, nice use of sound effects, aboce all the videogame sound effects, and the (sparse) music was ok. No real criticisms here.

- The story, well, that's where things get a little complicated. I imagine that you intended this to be a humorous piece, right? Well, that's the thing, I didn't really laugh, nor find it really that funny (I guess I did crack a smile). Maybe it's me and you'll receive accolades for the script of the movie, but it just seemed to lack substence and/or 'the funnies', making the movie feel slightly pointless.

On the other hand, I do have to give you a lot of credit on making something pretty original, which is something that should always be praised, above all in a place like NG.

So, overall, this is a movie that is excellent technically, with great animations and drawings, lots of polish overall, good sound work, but feels lacking in the story department, even if it does have a nice dose of originality. Nevertheless, kudos for a pretty good movie!

sexysexybicycle responds:

Great review man. Good points. The way I see it, humor is a funny thing. It's completely subjective and different for everyone. For this movie, I chose to focus on the characterization and relationship between these two brothers rather than set out to tell an epic story on some grand scale or write a bunch of Family Guyesque jokes. But it definitely isn't punchline funny. Instead of jokes, I tried to highlight and present the humor found in everyday life situations.

Thanks for the good review my friend.

[Portal Kid and the Turkey]

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... not horrible, but not very good either. It's certainly better than most people's first flash, but it could use quite a bit of work. Allow me to explain.

- Graphics, well, pretty mixed. The animation was was almost bad enough that I wanted to blam the entry, because of the amount of jerkiness, you really need to make things alot smoother next time. The drawing quality was also pretty poor, stick figures aren't the most complex of things, although the originality of the movie helped in this aspect (i.e., it wasn't a completly typical stick movie) and the turkey rocked! Also, next time, try to make your scenes last slightly longer, they felt rushed.

The one saving grace was the backgrounds, in that you included them, they were not too shabby and, above all, they are quite creative. I was actually interested at the diferent places the action ocurred and they were well integrated with the rest of the action.

- Music was standard videogame soundtrack turned rock track fare, which can be awesome or poor depending on who records it. In this case, I thought it was poor, but meh, it wasn't bad either.

- The story was standard stick fight stuff, but the diferent settings helped somewhat. If your going to make a stick fight movie (and I don't see the point), at least try to mix things up a bit. Why not try to create more context next time? I.e., give us reasons for the stick figures to be attacking one another. Try to avoid Dragonball Z steriotypes such as fireballs / kamehamehas and 'rushed' movement too.

So overall, pretty poor, but with some promise. Try to make things (a lot) smoother and better drawn next time, as well as making things more original, and you could make a pretty good movie, I think.

[The Greatest Idea Ever!]

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... funny, but I think you may have dragged the joke a little too far. The idea itself isn't horribly original, but I think you managed to give an interesting enough spin. But allow me to detail my review:

- Graphically, that was pretty much on par with your best work, which means that it's pretty good. I really like your drawing and animation style, its pretty much unique and always refreshing to see, even though you're not the best animator out there (but you are good, just not Adam-Phillips-like-good). Your animation, in particular, is pretty smooth.
I also specially like your character designs, they look really nice. The one thing I think you could improve slightly are your backgrounds, which could use a little more detail.

- Music was pretty good, with that definitive retro feel that you like to use, as were the spot-on sound effects (although, due to Jerry, the alarm clock sound was slightly traumatazing).
The voice acting, on the other hand, was kind of mixed. The voice acting was good, very good, being clean, eloquent and with interesting mannerisims, for the most part but one or two voices sounded slightly similar, as if they were done by the same voice actor, despite not being the case. Not a big issue, but slightly jarring.

- The timing and overall story of the movie was a little off. I mean, you have a good joke and you manage to present it in a good way, but it's pretty much one joke, excepting the bizarre non-sequitur with the drugs (which I thought was completly out of place and wasn't funny) and I think you stretch tht single joke just a little too far.
Ok, I know that your objective here isn't just to "tell a joke", but it seems that way sometimes during the movie, which means that something just isn't quite right. I think that if you had shortend the movie a bit, maybe remove about 30 seconds, it would have been better.

- The overall polish and presentation was pretty good, as always. You always make sure that everything is presentable and it shows.

- On a scientific note, how could you claim that the non-inertial black holes could possibly destro... I'm kidding. Sadly, judging from the reviews below, a lot of people aren't and taking a silly flash movie way too seriously.

So, overall, we have a pretty good idea / joke that's presented in an interesting way, with very good graphics and soundwork, but that is stretched out somewhat. Cheers!

[Me Bill]

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... an altogether too bleak and pessimistic tale of the loss of childhood, as far as I understood it. But some of the details where pretty nifty and I still enjoyed the movie, even if it lacked a bit of subletly (again, I think). Let's get detailed:

- Graphically, that was pretty good. I liked the design of the characters and the backgrounds and I think that overall grey tones of the movie worked. The animation was pretty smooth and well done too. Oh, and the ball looked great! Some nice special effects there. This is the movie's biggest strength, really.

- Music, well, it somehow fitted the movie (and dammed well too), but it felt strange at the same time. I mean, it's a fundamental part of the story you tell but it felt awkard at the same time. I guess I can't explain it much better... Still, the coordination between the song and the on-screen action was flawless.

- The story you tell, well, I thought it's was a little to explicite, to be honest. You could have been a little more subtler on the hints towards what the movie was trying to convey (the teddy bear was a dead give away, as was the photo sequence after the end). But, then again, maybe that was your intention.

I just feel that if you're going to treat a subject matter (going from child to adult) that's been done so many times before, you should perhaps try and be more subtle about it, as people are probably going to expecting it when they realize that the story is a metaphor.

Still, some of the subtler hints, such as the stiched mouths, the waving hands of the factory and the singing parental figures, where very interesting indeed. And, in the end, it works.

So, in the end, a well made movie, specially the graphics, telling a story / metaphor that (I feel) could have been more subtler, but, nether the less, works. Cheers!

Oh, and if I'm (completly) wrong in my interpretation of what the meaning of the story is, than please forgive all my comments regarding it and, in that case, I have to tell that either you've hidden the real meaning extremely well (in that case, kudos!); or you've completly missed your mark (in that case, boos!).
=]

[Professor Layton pt. 3]

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... funny, but does it go a bit to far? I mean, I certainly laughed, specially in the beggining, but I feel that the movie comes dangerously close to crossing the line, sometimes. Let's get detailed:

- Graphicly, well, it was pretty much on par with your previous Layton series, which I feel that isn't your best work, mostly because of the backgrounds and because the animations aren't the best you've done either. However, the camera work is, again, pretty nifty and the details such as how the woman reacts even when she's not in frame or the great subtitles, are top notch.

- Voice acting is over the top as always and has some pretty brilhant lines (I won't say which so as to not ruin it for others), even if Luke's voice does become somewhat grating. The sound effects (i.e., the sound of stuff breaking), is adequate and well used. I also think I'm getting more used to the whole "two voices and the same time" thing and, in fact, I'm beggining to like / see it's merits!

- Humour wise, that was pretty dark, but also pretty funny. It's strange, really, the previous Layton movies have all been as such, but this one somehow feels even more over the top and almost cruel, somehow. Maybe it's the violence towards Luke, or the reaction of the woman (still haven't played the game, so I have to call her a "woman"), but it one or twice I nearly cringed.

But, there is some pretty funny stuff going on here too, be it in the 'clues' portion, some of the wonderful lines and the subtitles. I do, however, feel that's it's quite similar to the Layton 2, so I'd recommend trying to mix things up a bit more for the next movie.

Overall, the movie is quite funny, if dark and close to crossing the line, with good voice acting and good, if not your best, graphics. Cheers! And good luck with your exams (as per your news post).

Skaijo responds:

Thanks for the indepth review. :3

Humor:

I figure that I'm pretty well capable of stupid humor--so the Layton series is me trying stretch my dark comedy skills a bit. My two goals so far has been to make sure the main character always ends up in a worse situation than when the animation began, and to make the process as uncomfortable as possible. I hope I made you squirm a bit. :3

I'll watch the line more carefully. I'd honestly not want to see Luke get hurt either.

Graphics:

I didn't put much effort into the graphics just to keep the project light and straightforward. It allows for quicker work sessions around my schedule and keeps me finishing animations while the jokes are still fresh in my head.

VA:

I really wanted to improve the VA this time, which was bit static-ridden in the last part. Also, with some editing, I think it's a bit easier to pick out lines more clearly than in the last. I think I need to work a bit more on a consistent volume--as well as increase my SFX library a bit more. (Typically--I just use my own mouth sounds for SFX's I didn't have, but it didn't sound right this time around).

If I make a 4th, I'd like it to be more similar to pt 1 in that I use characters I've made up instead of just parodies of characters in the original game.

[Stickman Inside]

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... not bad, but could be much better, making for a pretty mediocre movie, sadly. Allow me to explain.

- The overall animation and drawings were just about adequate, although you did have one or two 'special effects' (such as the 'grey circle things') that were slightly better than average. But the lack of polish was horribly evident. I mean, the stairs weren't even properly drawn, they had 'extra lines' that were both distracting and could have been easily removed.

- The music was slightly better, but still pretty much average. I mean, it's apropriate for this sort of movie (and a step up from the horrible cliched music you normally hear), but it could have been slightly more interesting.

- The utter unoriginality of the movie was what really let's it down. Not a single element that you used has been done before, many, many times before in fact, up to and including that sort of dialogue. Try to be more creative, please! Use some original elements. Even the cake wasn't a particulary clever idea.

So, in short, not bad, but could have used a lot more polish (XiaoXiao 3, that's from more than 6 years ago, is more polished than this...) and desperatly needs more original and creative ideas.

Darkwind28 responds:

And that's what I like! To see what has been done correctly, and what hasn't. About that unoriginality- you see... I made myself some kind of... Stickman Bible or something. You can see it's "elements" in my History of Stickmen series. And that contains this way of talking. I mean... it was always fun for me. And somehow fitted my idea of Stickman. Well, about that cake- I know xD. I just wanted to make it simply, with no special thinking about originality, but I promise- the next one will be better. Thank you for your comment. ;)

[Eternalization]

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... 14 / 16 years old and you both have this sort of artistic vision? I'm very impressed. But the exectuion was lacking, somewhat. Let me get technical:

- Graphicly, well, the drawings were very inventive, most the most part, and quite original. The backgrounds, I think, deserve a special kudos, eventhough they're just some random textures.

But, the overall drawing and animation quality felt slightly lacking. Some drawings, in particular the hibrid black building / creature with white markings was very detailed and well drawn; but others, in particular the other black creature thingy, felt slightly poor.

It shows that two diferent people ended up combining their efforts, since there is a clear division in style and quality, sadly. This is the one aspect I'd try to work more, next time, so that it feels more integrated.

- Great music choice! I felt that it really added to the movie and makes things move along well.

- No real story, as much as I can tell, so I won't comment on that, but I didn't get much of a feel for whatever sort of allusions you were trying to make, if any. Lengthwise, it was pretty good, although maybe it could have been slighter shorter.

Overall, a fine experimental movie, that deserves major kudos if both of you are truely so young as you profess, since it shows some interesting and mature visions that aren't easily created. It just could have been better drawn and animated, really. Cheers!

MorrowDays responds:

yeah we're teenagers.

I think young folk often flock to experimental stuff because its more fun to play around than to spend ages writing a good story and then animating it well. if its experimental, you can just try things out.

thanks for the review