Vert's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fallen Angel Ep. 1 (Pt1)]

...

... Mein Gott. The backgrounds, the vehicles, the atmosphere. Just amazing. And almost unrivaled. I mean, there are one or two criticisms that I'll make at the end of this review, but let start with the postive.

- The backgrounds are some of the most amazing I've ever seen. Although they don't quite look life-like, they are amazingly detailed and crafted, with a fantastic look. I'd say that only Adam Phillips is on the same level of background quality such as yours, they're astonishing. I mean, the sky alone is stunning at every scene.

- Your vehicles, although clearly 3D, are incredibly well integrated with the movie that only twice (when the car is moving and when the missile is launching), did they feel <very slightly> out of place. They are very well made and complement the overall feel of the movie brilhantly.

- The atmosphere. Just wow. I think that you scale up the sequence of events brilhantly and although the inital scene is slightly underwhelming, what happens afterwards the title is fantastic. You give us a feeling of plausability and danger that's brilhant. The radio sequence, just to give an example, is spot-on in making things seem great.

In fact, I really feel you nailed this aspect. It's obvious that you storyboarded the movie, given the choice (and excelent!) camera angles you use and the perfect flow the movie has. Maybe this (overall) aspect overcomes even your amazing backgrounds?

So, these 3 aspects are the what elevates this movie so high and makes it feel like nothing short of a professional animation. But there's plenty of other qualities, such as the good choice of music, the excelent sounds effects (you use them perfectly!), the overall polish and details, hell, even the length of the movie, although shorter than I wanted, was better than I had hoped and gave us plenty of story development and much to look foward to.

Still, I do have one or two criticisms. Although significant, please don't feel that they detract from the movie too much, since the positive aspects easily surpass them.

- The FPF animation of Sarah at the beggining was below the quality of the rest of the movie. It's not a terribly big deal and it's still pretty good, but it does mean that the intro is slightly weaker than the rest. If anything, this is the aspect you should try to improve most, even though the movie dosen't suffer from it.

Or, better yet, let me put it like this: the FPF is pretty good, by most standards, but was weaker than the other animations you use through the movie (such as explosions).

- I disliked, to be honest, the new character design for Sarah, since I felt that the old design was better looking. This is just an aesthetic issue, really, and no big deal, but I prefered her older look. Although, on the other hand, she's much more detailed now.

Can't think of anything else to add, really. This is surely among the most impressive, well made, polished, <insert adjective here> and downright amazing movies to ever come out on Newgrounds (hell, the internet!) and you deserve nothing less than massive kudos, cheers and congratulations for producing such an amazing flash. Honestly.

[Hallucinaliens]

...

... well, techinacly, that was a fine movie, but it lacked a little something. Allow me to explain in detail.

- Graphics were great, with quite detailed drawings and smooth (with the exception of the Groople chasing the squirrel) animation. Also, the sheer inventiveness of the movie was well reflected on the drawings, that convey a sense of unfamiliarity (although the aliens themselves felt slightly cliche). The backgrounds are possibly the most positive aspect in this regard.

However, the final sequence, that mixed 3D with the more traditional 2D animation you use felt a little out of place, although it was technicly impressive, since you coordinate both types of animations well.

- The music was very appropriate and fit the movie well, although maybe a little too subdued at times. The sounds effects, however, were spot-on.

- Lenghtwise, it was neither too short nor too long, about right for the "story" you told. But I felt that the movie lacked in the story department. I mean, I know that it wasn't your intent to produce anything very deep or to have a more coherent story, but I felt that given the interesting setting you created, something more deep could have been produced.

Maybe it's because the whole "drug trip" short story has been done a so many times already. Albeit, I have to admit that you did give that tired cliche some unique twists and presented the material well.

So, overall, I felt that you managed to achieve your (sadly limited) objectives pretty much spot-on, with a quality, polished movie that reflects your talents. It was sadly neglected when it originally came out, hopefully now it will receive the attention it deserves. Cheers!

VillainousTurtleSLC responds:

Hey thanks for taking the time to write such an excellent, well thought out review!

[fuzzle fun 01]

...

... well, that wasn't too bad, by any measure, but it certainly wasn't very good either. You clearly have some skills at drawing, as can be seen by the somewhat interesting character design you created, as well as animating , as could be seen by the little action that occured (albeit, you obviously hid the feet of the "walking thing").

However, the whole movie felt little more than a random scene with lots of padding. Where was the point of it all? Where was the story? The humour? It didn't really convey anything. Try to script out something more interesting next time, and try adding sound effects to the on-screen action.

You've shown NG that you can draw and animate, now show NG that you can also thing up of something interesting.

joelyboy responds:

well this aint ment to have any story.

just some random stuff. iv got another one with the fuzzle characters aswell.

im just practicing stuff for an art style. oh and that character was g bean
from leafworthy.

[Metropolis Circuit]

...

... I've always had my misgivings with you, rtil, for reasons that you most likely don't remember (and I shall not go to into now). And I remember when this flash first came out, last year; I felt, as a first impression, that although it was technically amazing, it somehow lacked soul. That's most likely why I choose not to leave a review at the time. As of late, I've decided to start trying to leave more reviews, so I opted to start with this movie.

And let say something straight out: this movie really is technically amazing. It can compare with the very best animations out there; I'm talking Adam Phillips-like quality. To be more precise, the animation quality is simply astounding, you did a massive amount of FPF and it pays off beautifully.

But not only that, you also managed to produce extremely high quality drawings too. The backgrounds, for example, are ridiculously well drawn and in a style that fits the on-screen action perfectly (unlike other movies), giving off a great sensation of ambience. I like the overall use of blue / purple tones that you use throughout, it fits the movie well.

Character design is also top notch; they have a slight Jet Set Radio feel, while still feeling quite unique and interesting. In this aspect, it's all about the details, such as the tape on the nose or the headphones. One slight criticism I could make is the whole male fully clothed / female showing skin design, but that's not really a big deal.

Also, love the camera work! You pick some great angles to show of the action AND you change said angles during action scenes, something that's particularly hard to pull off well (and you do, you really do!). The lighting effects (the sun, the trails) were also pin point accurate.

The overall polish of the movie is amazing, really, I mean, the spray paint intro alone is above many NG movies. I mean, the polish is of the sort of quality that we'd expect from a professional movie, done by a team of animators, not a single person. It's quite obvious that you really put your heart and soul into the movie and it shows off. To sum things up, the overall aesthetics of the movie is simply brilliant.

Also, nice choice of music (but see below) and I'm quite impressed with the way you managed to coordinate between said music and the on-screen action.

So, after all these compliments, what can I criticize (and all good reviews should present some criticism)?

Well, I still have one major problem with the movie: it somehow lacks something. I'm not sure what, exactly, but maybe it's the music (it lacks a little oomph, if you know what I mean); or the lack of story / character development (the movie feels a little too much like a "tech demo", if, again, you know what I mean...); or maybe it's the lack of other human characters during the movie (the town feels a little too deserted, where is everybody?).

I'm sorry that I can't really pin point what's missing, but it's that little something that stops this movie from surpassing, for example, Waterlollies or the There She Is! series. On the other hand, maybe it's my own prejudice from the past... I'm really not sure.

Anyway, this movie stands tall in the ranks of NG and you mightily deserve kudos, accolades and cheers for this momentous piece. It really is amazing and is the sort of movie that makes me proud of NG. Cheers and I can't wait for the next movie in the series!

rtil responds:

well it certainly lacks a story which is why i'm working on the series now :9 anyway thank you much for the review

[AMIG0]

...

... great stuff, Andrew, although WALL-E comparisons are inevitable (if a little unfair). Let me do a breakdown on everything:

- Graphicly, that was very, very good. Great animation and drawings, eveything was pretty much spot on (specially the animations, be them tweens or otherwise) and I'm particulary impressed with the level of detail you've put. I mean, the mini 3-D animations that appear (top left) when the robot is looking must taken quite some effort and they barely appear for more than a couple of seconds! That shows lots of dedication.

I'm also impressed with the emotions that the robot manages to show, despite not having, well, a face. The only grahpical aspect that didn't seem as good were the backgrounds, to be honest. They somehow felt slightly out of place, being drawn in a diferent manner from the rest.

- The sound effects were above average. I mean, there was some repetition, but they still complemented the movie very, very well. A small example, the ping pong sound when the ball falls down was great!

- Story wise, I must admit that I did see where the movie was going before the ending actually occured, but that I was "lucky" more than anything (i.e., you didn't tell us the ending beforehand) and that didn't take away the joy of movie. Still, the story has been done before (a few times) in similar ways, but the overall polish that the movie has makes it more than worthwhile to see. The story also had pretty much the right length and a nice flow.

So, pretty much a top notch work, all round! But regarding the WALL-E comparisons, they inevitable given of the timing of the release of this movie (and because I'm assuming you were inspired by WALL-E), but they are a little unfair because this movie stands well on its own rights.

Kudos for a nice, simple and enjoyably movie!

TmsT responds:

Thanks for taking the time to write the big analysis. I agree that the backgrounds weren't quite up to scratch as I'd never tried that style before, and had very little idea of where I was going with it, but I don't think it was because of their contrasting art style that they were weak. With the characters having no "outlines", I had to do backgrounds that were very different so that the robots could have a similar colour scheme to the environments and still show up clearly. I'm exploring the "scan-n-brush" technique further and want to keep improving at it. Maybe next time I'll do backgrounds that are more interesting than just piles of trash, lol.

I deserve all the WALL-E comparisons I get. While the idea of lonely robots inhabiting a junkyard is by no means a new idea for a story, I mean, what was I thinking, putting this movie out there NOW of all times? Sometimes I like to be cheeky like that. >:3 The only specific WALL-E "nod", as such, in this movie, is the title.

[Rotten Antenna]

...

... well, it was fantastic, really, but somehow not as good as your previous works, for a very simple reason (which I'll get to). But allow me to do more of an detailed analyses:

- The overall animation and drawing quality were very, very good. Actually, scratch that, it was amazingly good. Some of the images that you create, specially regarding the sun rise / fall and landscapes, are nothing short of breathtaking. Really evocative stuff, with great use of colours (i.e., the contrast you create between black and other colours is wonderful) in a semi-monocromatic way. Overall, just amazing, really.

The animation, on the other hand, was more of mixed bag. Some animations, such as the 3-D rotation, the shadows, the 'opening of the sky', were excelent stuff that show just how good you are with both motion and shape tweens (not that I ever had any doubts about that, Future uses both in amazing ways).

However, the FPF stuff was sometimes a little rough. I mean, some of the FPF was excelent (the walking up the stairs, in particular, was just about perfect), but the detailed, close-up FPF (the faces animation, for example) was a little awkward, because they simply didn't look as good as the rest of the movie.

- The music was pretty much perfect for the movie, even if a bit 'grating' the first time you hear it. But it fits the mood perfectly and the flow of the movie was excelently coordinated with the music. Again, it's all very evocative and interesting (and diferent!) and just amazing.

And I guess that pretty covers everything, since I can't really comment on much else. So, in short, this is a amazing movie that's very evocative and well made and polished, but lacking slightly on the animation of a few things.

I have to say, after seeing your movies, I can't help but feel that you have a natural talent for this sort of thing. I can imagine you becoming a famous artist in a few years from now, easyly. Kudos for all yuor great stuff!

[Professor Layton pt. 1]

...

... nice to see your latest movie, Skaijo! And I was just about to PM you asking if you were working on something, the coincidence is almost creepy. Fortunately, the movie's a keeper. =]

Anyway, I'll keep this short and sweet:
- The movie had some very nice use of different camera angles, the "bottom looking up" being particularly different and interesting.
- Some nice drawings and animation.
- Great voice acting as usual, with the "...Hey, I'm going to *** in..." and the "...b**** c***** is <pause> totally bad..." parts exceptionally well executed!
- Very funny, even more so the second time you see it! And the movie has a nice flow too.

It also parodied the Professor Layton pretty well (the "puzzle screens" come out perfectly!), as far as I can tell, never having played the game but seen gameplay videos and screenshots before.

I do have some criticisms, however:
- The backgrounds were far less detailed then from your previous movies and the fact they lacked colour (I know that it's a doctors clinic, but they have some colour) made the movie at little "blander". On the plus side, this is only a criticism because I've come to expect more of you!
- The fact that the voices sometimes played out at the same time, although realistic, was slightly confusing.
- I also found the cell phone part, although funny, slightly clichéd and slightly out of place with the rest of the movie.

So, over all, although not your best movie, it still was pretty dammed good! Cheers and kudos, and I hope this movie gets the recognition it deserves!

Skaijo responds:

I appreciate the good and lengthy review (as always), Vert! :D

I am working on a major project, but this animation, as far as style goes, had a goal of maintaining a simple look. The varied camera angles helped me from approaching a level of laziness.

I'm very glad you liked the VA. <3 Next time I'll get opt for more different sounding voices. Usually for recordings like this, the best lines are the ones done as Ty is slipping out of character. So when I compile the best of the clips, the characters sound more similar than I like, which makes overlap difficult. I'll keep that in mind.

The cellphone gag is a way for me to add at least one joke that people who've never heard of Prof. Layton will understand. As with my Yotsuba animations, I just tend to throw out my jokes like pasta on a wall and hoping that something sticks.

I recommend you check out Prof. Layton if you ever get the chance. : 3

[The Last Hour: Chapter 9]

...

... right, this might sound a little harsh, but for reasons that will come forth, this is definitivly my last and final review for your "The Last Hour" series. So I'm going to kindly ask that you no longer send out any more PM's requesting reviews, ok? On the other hand, I will give you a detailed review.

Right, let's start with the good. The voice acting for this movie shows improvement when compared to previous efforst, specially in regards to recording quality. However, it still sounds 'forced' and is exagerated, not to mention the fact that your voice actor has the voice of a pre-teen.

Also, the animation and drawing quality of this movie is a definitive improvement over the last movie I saw. The drawings were much more detailed and overall better, the look of the planet was pretty good, even the ship had some style.

However, if I'm not mistaken the leg animation at the end was traced, right? I so, then I should tell you that tracing dosen't really improve animation techniques and you should really try to get the hang of things without using it. If not, then I'm sorry for the accusing on doing so and, in which case, I'm greatly impressed by how your animation has improved. It's much, much better than before (although the ship could use better animation).

The biggest problem with this movie, however, is it size. It's short. It's beyond short. It's mindboggling short, made worse by the fact that the intro is probably longer than the movie although, thankfully, you've included the vital skip button.

However, the fact that after 9 chapters you're still making movies that ridiculously short, despite being told before by several reviews that that is completly unacceptable, means I'm forced to conclude that you simply don't care. Which is a shame, since you have shown significant evolution and I belive that you can become a good flash artist in the future.

But this disregard for your viewers means that I've stoped caring too. So I'm going to give you one last piece of advice: make your movies longer. It's as simple as that. It dosen't have to last 10 minutes, but a movie as short as yours are have to have something significant to be real movies.

Allow me to explain. A movie that lasts twenty seconds can be considered reasonable (for example) if it is a humourous movie, or is extremely intense (action wise), or has beggining, development and an end (there are other possibilities too). Your movies, in comparison, are all ridiculously short developments of an ongoing story, having none of the previous elements.

So, in short, you really have improved and I wish you luck, but I'm not going to review any other movie from your "The Last Hour" series. Please don't PM me again requesting a review as such, unless you want to be blocked.

Jaiba responds:

Hey

I know you've doubt my work before, but let make show you one final movie to redeem myself. Let me show you for one last time that I do listen to my reviewers and I do respect you. I'd admit my old work wasn't all that good, and I was just learning, but after working hard for countless hours I finally bring you something i'm proud of. This is the last chapter of the season for this series. Let me tell you some improvements on the movie. THERE IS NO INTRO, NONE AT ALL. NO ANNOYING BORING INTRO. It just starts right away, it is exactly 3 minutes long. Full of intense action, better voice acting, great music that syncs with the movie. It's almost like a music video. Much better drawings and special effects and you will see that. Frame by Frame and more. I think this movie will change your mind about me, and I hope I can get back some of my old viewers who I upset. Please give this last movie a chance. If you think it is spam or crappy you can block me and never ever watch my movies again. If however you think it's acceptable, please give it a review i'd appreciate it. Please, please watch and review it. This is my last movie for the season. I can promise you it will be a vast improvement from my other movies, heck you won't even think I did it, but yeah it's all me. I'm sorry that I wasn't too nice to my reviewers. Please forgive me. I was arrogant and wrong.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view /457202

-Jaiba

I'm sad you feel that way, but Chapter 10 is going to change your mind. I won't PM you or anything anymore, but you will notice it, so you can review it if you want to or not, but it will be noticed. Jaiba productions won't take short cuts. No unions and long hours of work will produce things that will rival the best. Chapter 10 may just be the last chapter of the season. So you all will get your wish of us to stop making movies and develop more skills. But before we do that. Chapter 10 (Redemption) will prove just that, we will redeem our selves like the Phoenix we will rise again, and change your mind.

-Jaiba

[asdfmovie]

...

... that was suitably random and funny! Nice use of non-sequiturs certainly brought a smile to my face and quite a few laughs too. But let's get technical:

- The graphics were very simply drawn, but were quite polished and had a 'clean' look. A bit more detail could have been nice, but might have clashd with the style you used. The animation was spot on, very nicely done.

- The voice acting was very good. Just over the top, but not excessivly so ("Daddy!"), so that the humour worked pretty well. This, with the humour, was the best aspect of the movie.

- The use of sound effects and music was sparse, but well placed, with adequate sound effects (i.e., the gun shot sounded as such etc.). The music was itself pretty good.

All in all, quite simple, but still a very nice execution of good jokes, with abundant use of non-sequiturs, which make for a fine movie! Cheers!

glasscake responds:

Thanks man!
The 1st Detailed comment ive had! xD

[The Last Hour: Chapter 5]

...

... let me honest with you: you've finally shown some real improvement. Although the movie was far, far from perfect, certain elements were improved, such as the voice acting, which was slightly better then before, the animation was a bit more elaborate and the drawings were a bit more detailed. Don't get me wrong, all these things still are quite poor, but have improved from before.

Above all, you reduced the intro length to something quite reasonable (i.e., you explained what happend in other movies briefly) and you put a skip button. All these things are a definite sign that you're making an effort.

But the movie still was way too short. I mean, from what I've seen in your previous movies, you'd need about three of your movies together to achieve something satisfactory.

In short, you've finally shown real signs of improvement, but you still a lot of practice. And practice is, literally, what you need, together with (even) more effort into each movies. I.e., next movie, try making it about twice the length of this one, with more polish to everything (specially the drawings and animation) and keep at it.

Jaiba responds:

ah very fine criticism indeed your review has been noted. jaiba productions and my crew are at work to improve. thank you for watching.

-jaiba award winning producer