FightingSeraph's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Black Dynamite vs Pootie]

Those layouts look promising!

To be honest, I am not familiar with your work, but do know something good when I see it. Plus, this reminds me of some of the things that were made back 2000-2003. Impressive yet authentic and sincere; elements that are lacking in the vast majority of frontpage submissions since 2008.

Animation: While this isn't as fluid as Jake Hollander, SunnyGOES, Ferguson Winston, and Adam Philips; the layouts in this cartoon are excellent. All of the poses are dynamic, solid, and had a bit of roughness that added to the atmosphere. In addition, the selective colors reminded me of Razzo's* old work, which is a plus in my book. (*=Blanco y Negro and Kong)
Audio: You did a great job on the choice of music, but most of the voices were rushed. I think a pop filter may help with that.
Content: It may not have much of a plot, but the premise of this was enough to get the point across. Thus, the no filler approach that made Blaxploitation films popular worked in your favor. Of course, what really made this shine is the direction. It has shown me that you have the eye of a director. Kudos for using underused subjects, which is also a plus.

The Good:
-The Layouts are excellent and the animation showed potential.
-Good music
-Adept direction
-Nice tone
-Underused subject

The Bad:
-Voices sounded rushed
-Not the best animation, nor was it the worst

Overall: Here's a nine from me. (4.5/5)

Neochilds responds:

Thank you kindly for your honest and well written review of my work, I take the good with the bad and aim to produce another great production down the line. Hopefully when I have more time to dedicate to another project such as this which allowed alot of flexibility. Having the range to do almost what I want with no limits was a plus which is sometimes good and bad but I choose what element worked best for my subject matter. Thanks again for the review I appreciate your time in doing that dude.

[BLACK SUNSHINE]

Much funnier than your string of game skits.

This is pretty much Newgrounds' equivalent to Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarves. It's well done yet extremely polarizing at the same time. Of course, there's Captain Ig'nant, but let's not get off track.

Graphics: I have nothing to say about the animation other than the Afro dude's skipping looked odd. I mean, his right arm was synchronized to his right leg. Perhaps this was an oversight that happens to every animator now and then. Aside from that, your layouts and colors were great as always.
Sound: You did a great job on the music selection, and the voice acting was superb.
Content: This has easily been your funniest cartoon to date! Truth is, I thought that your cartoon output for the last two years has been disappointing, which is pitiful when factoring in your unique style. However, I think you have redeemed yourself with this. In addition, this was also well-directed when compared to those *shudder* "Fail" cartoons that you have done. (I suggest that you steer clear of internet slang for movie titles.) Oh, and if you REALLY want to offend people, try making a cartoon about Obama and Romney sixty-nining each other.

What's Good:
-Great voice acting
-Funny
-Original
-Political incorrectness done right
-Good music

What's Not-so-good:
-The Afro dude's skipping looked awkward.

Overall: Proof that people who contribute can redeem themselves. A nine would be suitable for this short. (4.5/5)

Gonzossm responds:

Thanks for the critique :) Glad you overall enjoyed it lol

[TheWhiteHouseFireof2012]

I concur with Voltage!

To be honest, it takes a lot of balls to mock Obama when you consider the risk of being chewed out by his supporters. To put it another way, he's no different from Bush and Romney factoring in that he supports the things that they were in favor of. (Examples: The bailouts, the War on Drugs, No Child Left Behind, and the Patriot Act.) As a Libertarian, I support the Flash and its message.

Graphics: It may not be the most dynamic animation around, but I like how you had frame-by-frame for gestures. Plus, I like how you caricatured Obama, along the scene composition. However, for future projects, it would be advised to study classic cartoons and basic drawing/animation principles.
Sound: The sound effects may have been sparse, but they fit perfectly. However, Voltage is right about the voice acting; it needed to be funnier.
Content: While there's plenty of material to mock, the gag involving Obama's bailout support was pretty funny. Thus, this cartoon explains why subsidies in any form will only do more harm than good. It kills me that people on here act like the Democrats can do no wrong when that isn't the case. (Ditto for the GOP supporters.) If you do any more political satire, I suggest that you take it a lot farther with Obama sixty-nining Romney, Al Gore getting a handjob from Steven Colbert, and Sarah Palin doing it with Nancy Pelosi.

The Good:
-Poignant
-Funny
-Small file size
-Well directed

The Bad:
-Not the worst animation, but not the best
-Needs funnier voice acting

Overall: Here's a nice nine from me. (4.5/5)

DarkMatter responds:

Thanks alot for the extensive review, I appreciate the honest analysis of my cartoons and the high score!

[Draggin' Brawl Zzz]

Mediocre as hell.

I'm going to be honest with you; this was pretty dull, overdone, and unfunny. Look, you have improved considerably since you first came here, but damn, this just proves that just because you have talent doesn't mean your shit won't stink as bad as anyone else's. In addition, I hate writing bad reviews, which makes this even more disheartening.

When it comes to the animation, there wasn't much of it considering that this a (generic) DBZ spoof. However, for the parts that did have animation, they were well done. Plus, you did a good job on the color selection. However, that's the only major merits that this had because I have issues with the audio and the content. While I understand that you didn't want to piss off the copyright fascists, Kevin Macleod's music was out of place and didn't fit the situation. I mean, it's one of those rare cases where music from the actual show would have helped. On top of that, the voices, while good sound alikes, had acting that sounded phoned in. I see that you were going for bad acting on purpose, but it only worked in one movie. (Star of the North Fist) Plus, it would be nice NOT to have RicePirate in everything.
Finally, the content of this cartoon suffers from having an overused joke that not very well executed. To be honest, this joke was done several times before and much better. (Peixeaquatico's Anime Fight comes to mind.) Furthermore, I suggest that you look up Vegeta Becomes President by biIIgates, which was funny and didn't rely on a worn-out premise. On second thought, consider studying the cartoons by the Fleischer brothers, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Terry Toons, and Ralph Bakshi.

What's Good:
-Good animation at times
-Nice colors

What's Bad:
-Overused subject and joke
-The music was unfitting
-Mediocre voice acting
-Passionless

Overall: You may get bent out of shape upon reading this, but a six is all I can do. However, it would be nice to take my suggestions as a means of doing better. (3/5)

nalem responds:

I just wanted to make a parody of a cartoon I love. Sorry you didn't enjoy it!

Also, I would like to say, quitting your day job and working 14 hours a day for 13 months on the projects you love is far from "passionless!"

I draw 5 webcomics, I fulfill commission requests, I storyboard and animate my own cartoons. I work hard and I do it gladly! Not every one of my works is going to be good, and that's ok. I'll just keep working harder! :)

So I don't mind if you hate my work! That's perfectly fine! Just don't assume I'm passionless just because you disliked 1 cartoon I made. :)

[Yoshi Hates Castles]

Pretty funny considering the subject.

While this isn't anywhere near as good as the one by Golfinho, this was pretty funny none-the-less. Plus, I'm also appreciative that you didn't submit this as a video considering that it would've been pointless. (Save it for Stop-motion, live action, 3D CGI, and overly large .swf)

Graphics: Not bad when you consider your angle variety and fitting color selection. However, the animation is a mixed bag. On one hand, I like what you did with the thwomps, but most of it suffers from a lack of easing. Thus, it looks very wooden and I would recommend that you study movement for a bit.
Audio: Mason did a great job as always in the music department, but the voice acting came off as an afterthought. It felt really unneeded.
Content: While this isn't your best submission, but I thought it was pretty funny considering the subject. (Mario has been done to death over the years.) Your direction was excellent considering that you're an adept action director. For a first time at comedy, you did a good job with just one joke.

[+]
-Good direction
-Funny
-Nice music
-Small filesize

[-]
-Weak voice acting
-The animation could have been a bit better
-Overused subject

Overall: Here's an eight from me. (4/5)

MOC-Productions responds:

This is a very fair review. And I'm aware Mario is done to death, but I always wondered why no one ever went into this topic. Regardless, I agree with everything you said. The animation could've been better. The voice acting I blame entirely on myself since I gave Shock little to no direction on it. Of the 48 hours we were given, I only was able to clear up about 20 for this, so everything is really rushed. But I've always wanted to participate in Movie Jam even if it meant steering REALLY far away from my usual style. I'm glad I was able to finish, but I think it just goes to show that when it comes to comedic animation like this, I have no clue what I'm doing lol.

Anyway, thanks for the detailed review. Those are rare to come across these days. I'd love to hear what you think of the "Madland" trailer considering I spent much more time on that (even though it's just a trailer).

[Yogi Bear-Dropping a Load]

It's about time that Early HB got more coverage on here.

As a fan of Early HB and classic cartoons in general, I have to admit that this is easily the best Hanna-Barbera flash on NG. Plus, it just so happens that John K himself is a fan of '57-'63 HB cartoons before they went to shit. With that aside, here's my review...

When it comes the animation, you did a great job on that part. It looks a lot more lively than what was made back then considering that they had to work on obscenely low budgets. As for the 'rough' spots, they looked like the animation of an actual episode of that cartoon. However, the only problem with this is that your backgrounds weren't textured properly. Maybe do some still life painting as a means of learning. Then we have the audio, which is well done considering that you had to do the voices yourself though Ranger Smith sounded a bit off, along with the recording quality. Then again, I don't know anyone who can do such distinctive voices on here. I would also mention that you were smart to use Hoyt Curtin's music, which was perfect. Anything else would not have worked out so well. Finally, the content of this piece. I have to agree with what BIG G said about the R&S influence, which worked considering that you had the comic timing that was (almost) Spumco quality. This was pretty funny in spite of a few dry spots here and there. The only other flaw worth mentioning is that there's no preloader. If you still have the source file, I suggest that you download this site's free preloader and add it to the first frame of your cartoon with a stop(); command.

What was good:
-Mostly great animation
-Funny
-Underused subject
-Great music selection

What wasn't so good:
-The acting, while good, could have been better recorded.
-Backgrounds could use better textures.

Overall: Here's a nine from me. (4.5/5)

LeeJayAnimation responds:

Thanks for the review! I've been trying to upload a version with a freeloader, and hopefully it works now! If not I'll have to keep re-uploading it until it works out!

As for the backgrounds, you're right. I tried to make them as simple as I could as to not take up a lot of space, but they still did. I made them separately in Photoshop, so next time I'll probably just make them in flash, and add some more shading/coloring into them! Also, the Mic quality is a good pick-up, too. The voices of Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith were done by some friends of mine, we'll definitely work on the Mic quality next time!

Thanks for the review, though, I'll definitely work on those issues!

[sfct episode five]

Not bad if I do say so myself.

This reminds me of the stuff that was made back in 2002-2004, but with an engaging plot and interesting characters. (Just like Ninjai and Genryu's Blade.) With that out of the way...

Graphics: This is the exact opposite from that Adventure Babies cartoon I previously reviewed. As in it has a unique style, but not the best animation. However, you did do a good job on the lip-sync and gave them some gestures. On the other hand, I think that your characters could use better poses, and a better sense of weight. In other words, consider investing in books on animating.
Sound: The voice acting was well done, but could have been a bit more expressive. Then again, that's a personal preference. The music used in this was both good and fit the setting quite nicely. However, I would also suggest that you expand your musician roster by adding Papkee and Bosa next time.
Content: I have to admit, you did a great job on the direction, story, and dialog for these so far. Plus, the pacing was also nice unlike those who slowly tween digital paintings across the flash stage or have things go so fast to where it's almost impossible to follow. Of course, I know a lot of people have complained about the length, but if there is something they need to learn; it is that longer does not equal better.

The Good:
-Original
-Great direction
-Well-written
-Good voice acting
-Nice music selection

The Bad:
-The animation could have been better, but I know you'll get better over time.

Overall: How would you like an eight out of ten? (4/5)

littlegoblet responds:

Oh I was curious so I had alot at those episodes you mentioned and they blew my mind. I only hope to be as good as that some day cause that would be a dream come true. I don't think I have the patients or discipline to ever become a professional. But my standard is always changing so who knows.
and thanx for the mention of those music artist there work is also fantastic. Yeah I hope as time goes by I will get better at conveying more expression across to the audience.
in the past I think I was also very bad at pacing so it means alot that you liked that part.
thanx for the great review buddy. this was very helpful and insightful. cheers

[Some BSE]

Great animation and timing, but as much as I liked it...

...Stick fights are becoming increasingly banal as of recent. Look, I have no problem with stickmen as long as the cartoon is well done, but you should try more cartoons with fully-drawn characters. (I Loved Simply Business and Date Night.) On the other hand, what you did with the theme was pretty badass!

Animation: You have some nice colors, and excellent animation to go with this cartoon. Plus, this is one of those instances where typography was put to good use. (I usually hate that kind of animation since it's just tweened text, which is something that anyone with Flash/Swish/etc. can do.) I think a lot of people on NG can learn something from you.
Sound: The sound effects were excellent, and while I'm not a fan of Queens of the Stone Age; the music was decent. However, I think it's time to leave mainstream music behind and start turning to the Audio Portal for music. (I know plenty of music on there that you can use.)
Content: I've already mentioned how horribly unoriginal this was, but ideas always take a back seat to the execution. Terkoiz, has anyone told you that you have the eye of a director? If not, than consider me one of the first few to say so. Your direction skills are magnificent, and it takes a delicate hand to make something like this cohesive and flowing fluidly. However, the only other gripe I have with this is that it's quite short, but the small file partially compensates for that.

The Good:
-Excellent direction and animation
-Fitting music and sound effects
-Nice color selection

The Bad:
-Not very original
-Short, but not in a good way.

Overall: Here's a nine from me and I hope you broaden your horizons more often.

Terkoiz1 responds:

hey thanks for this man, i appreciate the constructive criticism :)

I agree with most of the things you said here and I'm already transitioning away from stick figures into more drawn out characters. However, stick figures are still my first love and I'll never leave it out of sight 'u'
I agree that it's unoriginal but the premise of a BSE was to execute a sequence of actions. Pretty bland and boring but hey~ not much else happening lol.

also, i should look into the audio portal a lot more. I've been getting annoyed of these copyright issues that have my animations blocked! thanks!

[SNAPSHOT: Vol 1]

Reminds me of the top ranking submissions made between 2000-2003.

I have to agree with GuitarmasterX7, Sam, David, Ericho, Hulalaoo, and the other reviewers on this movie. Plus, this really shows that you and your brother know your shit when it comes down to making a great movie. However, if you do continue this, I would like an actual story to go along with this. That and I've seen this several times before, but finally got to write about it.

Animation: I could say that this is great, but that would be too trite. The animation is well-drawn and moves excellently considering that you had to use the line tool with your mouse. (Assuming that you don't have a tablet) Plus, you did a great job on the backgrounds and the Flash 3D effect was really crafty. However, when we cut to the part where we see the soldiers' legs, the animation in that segment looked sloppy. On the other hand, that's nothing to get worried about.
Sound: The music that was used in this shows that you have the ear of a director. Balderdact's Chaser fit the entire movie perfectly, and clever use of Circle as the credits theme. As an added bonus, you also did a great job on the sound effects considering that most free sound effects suck. However, for future episodes, consider getting more Audio Portal music. (Examples: Bosa, Waterflame, Xarnor, xenith800, A-n-d-Y-J, Papkee, and Dythen)
Content: As said before, you and your brother have direction skills that are definitely praiseworthy. The pacing is excellent, your choice of angles was well-planned, and the story was neat albeit trite. Also worth noting is the tethered gun, which is a sign of well-executed creativity in my book. Kudos for being one of those people who did the plot on a storyboard rather than a script. Something this action-packed just can't be scripted. The only other minor flaw is that there isn't much of a story, but hopefully that will be explained in future installments.

What's good:
-Great animation
-Excellent audio
-Original
-Magnificent direction

What's left to be desired:
-The plot

Overall: Here's a ten from me and I look forward to the next episode. (5/5)

QuasimodoxArt responds:

Thank you very much for taking time to write the review and your kind words. The story will be told entirely in the next episode, I promise. I will look into the music artists you suggested, thanks!

[Freak Ep. 3 - Storyboard]

Better late than never.

I didn't expect you to post what was left of this, and how did you manage to import those models into flash? Plus, I see where you're coming from on the whole derivative work thing in spite of this being an underused subject.

Graphics: I really like the whole Flash 3D look that this series--along with Gunchest, CI: Unregulated, Evangelion: CGD, and Starlight Odyssey--had over the kind that's commonly seen. However, seeing that this is an animatic, it had none 3D models aside from the intro. You may not be known for draftsmanship (Scenes were inconsistent in quality), but at least it had some bits of animation. Plus, there was some decent use of color. As for that intro, the animation looked reasonably well even though the models were probably done with Poser.
Sound: You did a good job on the music selection, and the sound effects were also done well.
Content: I have no problem with something like this as long as the movie is good. While this may be an animatic, the scenes were well-staged and the story was cohesive. I don't know if anyone has told you this, but you have the eye of a director. Did I mention that the pacing of this was great?

The Good:
-Good direction
-Decent 3D animation for the intro
-Nice colors
-Excellent music selection
-Underused subject

The Bad:
-Drawings were inconsistent in quality, but since your not the best draftsman; I won't take off points.
-Not much in terms of animation seeing that this is an animatic of sorts.
-People will accuse you of being a hypocrite considering that this is fan fiction.

Overall: Here's an eight for showing what you had planned. (4/5)

Evil-Dog responds:

Thanks for the lengthy review :) I wish it would have been on the real thing but a storyboard is all it will ever be.
thanks