FightingSeraph's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[_Hand]

This is Easily your best serious animation!

As much as I loved Die Dame En Weiss with it's clever use of shape tweening; this was much longer than Love and Gone, as well as better produced. It may not be cutting edge to the point of overdone, but enough to get the point across.

Animation: That was pretty good for something done in two days. The use of silhouette was a crafty choice in my book as they were well animated and very expressive. The only flaw is that the walk cycle at the last part looked rather choppy.
Sound: Finally, you found an Audio Portal song that actually fit the animation. Even though I appreciated you using one of No1r's songs in Love, it didn't fit. This on the other hand, fit the tone and animation perfectly. Kudos for not having any voices for that would have ruined the overall mood.
Content: It's original and I liked the whole interpret the story as you see fit angle. (I'm working on one of those myself.) Also, I approve of you also doing a flash that sets an atmosphere rather than telling a story. Something that few others have tried, but only one or two succeeded in doing so. Not to mention, the filesize is small enough for those with slow connections.

What I extol:
-Great use of silhouette animation
-Nice song choice
-Great direction and timing
-Original
-Small filesize

What I disapprove of:
-A bit too fast and too short for a drama, but that won't hurt your score.

Overall: Here's a ten out of ten, and I think a lot of people on here could learn something from this very flash.

Hildebrandt responds:

Hey,
I am very thankful for your long review, I really appreciate it when people give me the chance to improve my stuff by giving me helpful feedback.
I think it's funny that you liked "die dame in weiss", I kinda don't like it anymore... :D
I'm gonna take a look at your stuff.
Greetings,
Hildebrandt

[Double Dragon Live Action]

Great Job!!

I have to say, whenever somebody uploads a video file on here, there's always going to be a couple of retards who are quick to down rate for being a video rather than judge it on the actual product. Seriously, It's a Tank, The Fox and The Mirror, Enjoy Your Heaven, Snow Snow For Lucy, and a good majority of those stop-motion/claymation submissions are video files and they're widely respected. Truth is, I think that video submissions such as this should be treated like regular flash cartoons and games; as in rated on the quality instead of the medium. Besides, this is already on YouTube. Aside from that...

In terms of visuals, for a low resolution, the picture quality is crystal clear for a nine megabyte file. Plus, I also like the clever use of black and white stills. In terms of sound, those rock remixes of the game music is a sweet choice in my book, although it could have used some sound effects. Then there's the content, unlike some people; I have no problem with people using video games as their subject material provided that the actual product is good. Your direction is excellent with clever angles and camera pans, which aided the excellent fight choreography. Plus, those costumes were great for an amateur production. However, I think that you should have slowed down the credits because they went a bit too fast, but I let that slide since that didn't affect me enjoying your production.

What I do like:
-Excellent direction, choreography, and costume design.
-Great music selection
-Great image quality

What I don't like:
-Some sound effects would have been nice
-Credits went by too fast
-The fact that this is another video game submission. Note: I don't have a problem with this as long as it's a good one.

Overall: I think that you have put Fraser Agar and Doomhammr down a few pegs, along with giving the Newgrounds staff some good competition. Here's a ten out of ten for showing that a video game film can be done well.

martiescageda responds:

Thanks a lot for your review. You're right about the credits, but I thought the file would have passed the 10 MB file size limit if it was a little longer.

And for the Sound Effects... Well, since the first time I listened to the song, I envitioned this video as having only the background music. Some people like it better that way... But I do think I should have used step sound effects at the beginning...

The choreography took me quite a time to design, what attack should happen, on which camera angle, and the speed to be in synch with the music... Most people don't have any idea the work behind that, I'm glad you realy took notice :)

And check out my website to watch it on HD and with bloopers :D

[Turd Eating Cat]

Brilliance is what sums this up!

I must say, you have to be one of the overlooked authors on here. And it also helps that you make good original material without any incessant, pointless bitching. Aside from that...

In terms of graphics, unlike most sprite movies; all of the graphics are custom made, which is nice. However, some of the tiles were oddly shaded in some parts. Well, considering that you were aiming for an old computer look, I'm not going to let that affect your score. As for the music and sound: I really like those custom chiptunes that you made, which adds to the old computer feel, along with those old Mac sounds. Then there's the content: As much as I loved I Dream In Retro, this has the merit of having your Aap character going on a little adventure with references to your other stuff in the background. Plus, the direction, timing and humor are top-notch.

What I liked about this:
-Original
-Great use of sprites
-Clever direction and timing
-Funny
-Nice chiptunes and old Mac sounds

What I don't like:
-Some of the graphics have wonky shading.

Overall: How would you like a ten for this kind of creativity?

aap responds:

The comment on shading makes sense. I don't consider shading something I'm very good at, I should probably look into that a little more.

I'd love to have a 10, thank you very much sir.

[Evangelion: CGD Footage]

Although I personally dislike NGE...

...I will admit that it had some kickass design work on behalf of the Evas, the plug suits, and some of the angels. (More on this later) On top of that, I'm not going to hold that against you seeing that a lot of effort was put into this tech demo. Aside from that, I'll give you my two cents...

Visually, the 3D models are better than Starlight Odyssey and the animation smoother than Gunchest. While it may not be a fully-fledged flash such as Combat Instinct: Unregulated; It doesn't have the problem that most 3D Flash movies suffer from: Good models ruined by bad animation or Vice-versa. Truth is, I would like to see more Flash cartoonists make these types of movies. Of course, I'm still for 2D animation on here. Audio isn't much of an issue here, but that song you used fit this little demo reel quite nicely. In terms of content, I may find NGE to be boring when compared to Fist of the North Star, Dragon Pink, or Riki-Oh; but you did a good job directing what you had here. As for original characters; on one hand, being original is good, but only if the idea works. Otherwise, you end up with Throwback the Duck and Xombie. On the other hand, I'm ok with derived projects as long as it's a good movie. If you're scared of coming up with your own characters; just team up with someone who has their own creations, but lacks your animation skills. And having anime-style art is alright with me, but you might want to make your stuff more distinctive.

What I do like:
-Underused subject
-Great 3D graphics
-Nice direction
-Fitting music

What I don't like:
-Unoriginal, I know a lot of people have gotten on your ass about this.
-The fact that anime haters will still trash this.

Overall: All I have to say is keep practicing on your drawing and animation. (This is one of the reasons why I have yet to complete and submit a flash of passable quality.) Here's a nice nine out of ten for having the balls to make this, and as for those rated this low; I usually just ignore them because they're not worth the trouble unless they have helpful pointers on how to improve (which they usually don't).

Nanashi responds:

Thanks again for another helpful review.

I can't say a word against what you've said, both pros and cons. I think the issue of Unoriginality is a big part of my lack of motivation anymore. Its really a give take. If I'm working in someone's IP, I can draw in viewers with that, and it gives the animation a little hope. Its really hard to sell people on something new.

But I don't think its a bad thing that I've been holding off on doing more stuff like this. If it keeps me working on original projects I suppose.

[Coffee, boy!]

Funny, but could use some improvements...

Even though you provided a translation for this, it would have been better if you have subtitled it instead. Of course, your last three submissions have been enjoyable, you have some minor quirks that I'm going to explain now.

The art may not be up to par with Ryan Khatam, Adam Phillips, Leafworthy, or Johnny Utah; but just enough to get the point across. However, I noticed that like your last submission, the main character has a nose when viewed from the side; but when viewed from the front, it's flat. You need to keep an eye out for that because it sticks out like a bad paint job. In terms of sound, that song may be in German, but it was one of the better songs with lyrics on here. Speaking of which, this very cartoon was pretty funny, albeit random.

What I do like:
-Funny
-Original, which means little when compared to the substance.
-Good singing
-Nice art and animation

What I don't like:
-A bit too random for my taste.
-Minor continuity error

Overall: Why can't Sinitron make stuff as good as this? Aside from that, here's a nine out of ten.

Hildebrandt responds:

Wow, thanks for your review-
I get a little lazy when drwaing the same character over and over again... I know that I could do verything nicely and as clean and correct as it could be, but I am not a professional animator and even adding one layer of shading or even a nose could drasticly extend the process of finishing my cartoon...
Very well, thanks again-
H.

[Xmas Day at Doctor Who's]

This site needs a Doctor Who collection page.

Even though I live in Louisiana, I happed to be familiar with DW and have seen a fair share of the new episodes, but only two of the old series. With that out of the way...

In terms of visuals, I like that newspaper cartoon style that you did this in, which complemented that soundbyte that was used. On the other hand, there wasn't much in animation, but considering that this is comedy, I'll go easy on you. The sound may be a clip from the Dead Ringers, but the quality is passable. However, for future flash cartoons, you may want to consider subtitles. As for the content of the toon, it may not be original; people on NG have been making cartoons out of existing sound clips for years, but I thought that this was pretty funny. What's next, you making a cartoon that deals with the various incarnations of The Master?

What I liked:
-Good art
-Good sound quality
-Funny
-Underused subject

What I didn't like:
-Unoriginal
-The filesize could have been smaller

Overall: While this did have its flaws, it is still a good effort and a nice little throwback to older flash cartoons when people weren't concerned with what a bunch of snotty ass pricks had to say. Here's an eight out of ten for you.

Moon-manUnit-42 responds:

Thank you very much! :)

['Kite']

This would make Adam Philips and Leafworthy...

...ecstatic. As for the comments you wrote, I see where you are coming from; I signed up back in 2001, got flash in 2004, a tablet in '05, but haven't made anything worth submitting yet. It's also an achievement for you to keep the file size under five megabytes. With that out of the way...

Visually, I really like the art style used and animation was excellent. Now, I believe that flash cartoons don't need the best art and animation; just enough to get the point across. On the other hand, I respect the effort that goes into these types of movies (even if the end result turns out to suck dick). In terms of sound, there may not be any music or voices, but something like this doesn't need it. Plus, the sound effects were fitting enough to tell the story/set the atmosphere. As for the content, It was really nice to see a flash movie that sets an atmosphere rather than tell a story or a joke. And the directing is also laudable for something that didn't have much of a story. Plus, this is way better than anything Notorious has ever done (examples: Lethal Injection, Cupid Vs. Hate Demons). Not to mention that 4.7 Megabytes for something that has such animation is something other authors should consider when it comes to optimization.

What I do like:
-Original
-Excellent art and animation
-Great direction and atmosphere
-Clever use of sound effects
-Passable filesize

What I don't like:
-People with compare this with Adam Phillips, Leafworthy, and Arthur Larsen.

Overall: For a first flash, this is way better than most people's first submissions. Here's a ten out of ten, and I would like to see more from you.

Pierson responds:

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this awesome comment, means alot to hear something so positive! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and i'm also glad you got a sense of atmosphere from it, kinda what I was aiming for! Cheers for watching!

[Super Mario Second Chance]

You have the eye of a Director!

I see where you're coming from regarding the comments you wrote; I've signed up back in 2001, got flash in 2004, a tablet in 2005, and I have yet to make something worth everyone's time. (Though, I have done several test animations since '04.) For a Mario flash, this is a whole lot better than most of the flash with that plumber. (Fun Fact: Most Mario flash usually get Blammed or receive low scores on here.) With that out of the way, on with the evaluation...

In terms of art and animation, it consists mainly of photographs, but I won't hold that against you. In fact, it reminds me of Ralph Bakshi's movie Heavy Traffic. Of course, the actual animation isn't anything special, but the direction compensates for this. (More on this later) I also noticed that you submitted this as a video file, and I also won't hold that against you because I believe that video submissions should be treated like regular flash cartoons/games. In terms of sound, I really like the sentimental music you chose, which fit the mood that you wanted. Sure, the only sound effect was that rainstorm, but that was all that was needed. In terms of content, I really like the story and that sad mood you set; a nice little departure from the comedic/action norm. Plus, you sure did a great job selecting those angles. However, the only problem with this is the lack of a preloader. You may want to use the free NG preloader for future submissions.

What I like about this:
-Nice mood
-Great direction
-Clever use of photography
-Fitting music

What I dislike about this:
-Overused subject (Note: I don't mind this type of flash as long as it's a good one.)
-The art and animation, while not bad, could be better.
-No Preloader

Overall: For someone who has been on the site for years, this is excellent. Here's a nine out of ten.

mendoza0089 responds:

thank you for pointing out the areas i need to improve on. i actually didn't know how to put a preloader on so i left it how it was on deviantart. i will look at tutorials on youtube and make the characters original next time :) thank you again.

[Read Only Memory: Vol 1]

Funnier than both of the Nin10doh! collabs.

While this did have its flaws, I found this funnier than Kirbopher's Nin10doh collabs, and you made it more unique by making it coherent. Sure video games are an overdone subject on NG, but it's the execution that counts. With that out of the way...

In terms of art and animation, this is one of the better flash on here. I have to say that the drawn graphics and the backgrounds were well done, but the sprites looked distorted. You may want to consider teaming up with an experienced sprite animator for any future installments. In terms of sound, the voices were great, and the music used fit the individual parts. Then there's the content, which has some notable flaws. While the direction is excellent and most of it was funny; the Zelda segment was overcliche and boring. I mean, jokes involving the Zelda cartoon (underrated) and the CD-i Zelda aren't funny, and Michaelangelo's appearance didn't elicit any laugher, and therefore was unnecessary . However, as I said before, the other segments were pretty damn funny.

What I did like:
-Great art and animation
-Great sound production and voice acting
-Mostly funny
-Cool transitions

What I didn't like:
-The fact that this is another VG flash
-The sprites look all distorted
-The Zelda segment wasn't funny.

Overall: In spite of the flaws, I'm awarding this an eight for making me laugh.

Shamoozal responds:

Not sure how the sprites are distorted. I took them right from sprite sheets. I mean, I had to enlarge some of them to fill the HD resolution, maybe that's what you mean by distorted? Running them in their native resolution just wouldn't work right. Unless I'm missing something?

Anyway, thanks for the comments!

[Pleasure Island 3]

Pretty fuckin' badass!

I have to say, you have improved on your animation signifigantly since the last two episodes. Plus, I like how you had the balls to have Fernando make out with Randy in one scene. Sure, the part about him hunting squid may be absurd, but luckily doesn't take itself seriously.

In terms of art and animation, the improvements you've implemented made this look like something that would give Fallen Angel major competition. Plus, the angle choices were a nice touch. Shows how much you have progressed since the early days of Greasy Moose. Soundwise, I really dug the musical score you did for this, but Fernando's voice wasn't very good and you could have did a few more takes to get it right. On the other hand, the other character voices were great. As for the content; A nice mix between the kind of comedy from Crotchless Chaps and the action from the Stick Slayer. The pacing was excellent and I was laughing all the way through.

What I do like:
-Funny
-Mostly well-written
-Nice music
-Great direction
-Great voice acting except for Fernando

What I don't like:
-Fernando's voice could have been done better.
-Huge Filesize
-The squidhunter subplot could have been better developed.

Overall: Now why can't Clock Suckers and Wacky Game Jokez 4 Kidz be up to par with this? Here's a ten out of ten for something well-made and hilarious, Sexual Lobster.

Sexual-Lobster responds:

thanks v much!