MRat's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Apples.]

That was lovely.

To start, I'll spout off the two things that stood out as needing improvement. Some of your line work could have done to be a little cleaner, and also Bah-Head's goggles disappear when he hits the ground from his dive.

With that out of the way, I simply must compliment you on the music. The music especially is what makes this so special. While the art, style, direction, and animation were all eye-pleasing and very well wrought and even iconic, I feel the soundtrack is what really carried this from a simple cute but forgettable cartoon to something in a whole class of it's own.

Boy this was a breath of fresh air.

A well deserved pat on the back to you, sir.

SWiTCH responds:

I like to think the wind blew them off, or they got caught in an apple... bush... or something.

Thanks for the pat!

[ShatteredHeaven Prologue]

It wasn't terrible.

Things to work on would be to clean up your line work. It's messy and distracting. Also the sound was poorly edited in and mixed. Animation was pretty stiff.

Good points, the voice acting was great, and at least the anime styling wasn't super generic.

AdamTilford responds:

Yeah I mentioned half of that in the commentary. This was when I first started, I chose not to redo it, otherwise I'd have never moved on.

I already got the clean down for the next one, didn't want to change up the style too abruptly in the middle of one episode. The 2nd one is much much cleaner, and the audio I have some friends helping me with it when I level it out. At the time that this was I was new to this and just experimented. So for a first one I'm pretty content with how it came out.

[2 - The Story of Khale]

Well it was great.

But you really, REALLY need to work on three things.

Sound mixing/design/editing is the first. Your sounds effects were really unruly and so jarring and distracting. Sounds didn't flow or blend in with the cartoon at all. They were too loud for the most part and totally took the attention off the cartoon itself.

Second is the voice acting. It was pretty good, but all the characters sounded sort of clipped in robotic when their lines drew to a close. Maybe they were cut a little short in the editing process, I don't know. You really have to give some time for the things said to set in though, otherwise people are going to be thinking about what was just said and will miss what's happening on screen.

Third, and this was the big annoyance from me, is all your scene transitions and cuts were very, very abrupt. I couldn't keep up with the info being tossed at me. You have this very detailed setting where there is to much to take in, but I kept missing it because the scene would suddenly change. The rhythm seemed quite off.

All the parts are there. Great world, Great characters. Fantastic, smooth, well timed animation. Brilliant artwork. A good story it seems. You just need to work hard to bring it all together in one smooth piece. Right now all these things seem disconnected from each other and it's preventing you from having that professional polished feel, which I think you really good have.

So I'm giving you 9, because all the work individually is great. Just needs a little more solid vision. Do you storyboard and set up lengths and timings in the storyboard? I've always found that really helps keep those transitions with a strong rhythm.

LeafWorthy responds:

Thank you very much, excellent critique! I have come to realize most of these problems, but you explained them very well and I definitely understand them better and where I need to go from here. The editing timing was a tough decision. I had a lot I needed to show, but timing things to music can be a blessing and a curse. I'll keep tweaking it, but there's only so much slack the rhythm of the music can give.

THANK YOU

[That's Darnell.]

god the ending SUCKED!

Is what I would say if I was a blathering fool.

I loved it, sir Corey of Atomic-Noodletown.

atomic-noodle responds:

Thanks, sir.

[Pico: The Shitty Power]

Well it's a toss up!

Between you, and you, for my favourite actually on-topic Pico Day submission.

Ty-dizzle, you made my day!

Nogfish responds:

Thank you MISTER RAT :D

[Curiousity in a Box]

This was Godly, mate.

You get a clear cut 10. There were a few issues. Some really stiff tweens and awkward poses, but man, this was such a great little foray beyond the mind-numbing trash we generally get.

When you delved into the frame-by-frame, it looks pretty fantastic. The concept was brilliant, the music choice suited perfectly.

So the only thing I have to say negative, is next time, pay really close attention to those tweens. Work in some easing, and really just only use them is absolutely necessary.

brownBeanie responds:

Thanks for the advice! Tweens made my life a bit easier with this one, but I agree they could have been smoothed out a bit. Deadlines are a terrible beast XD

[Down At McDonalds]

A contemporary masterpiece!

An unrivaled achievement in cinema. Certainly something that has redefined the way we, as a human species of entertainment craving

end of review, connection timed out

Gerkinman responds:

God blesses... everyone

[Shot Gun Wedding]

This is a masterpiece.

I don't know wht I forgot to review this when it came out.

Sure it was unclean and the animation was minimal, but it heightened the story. You know I've always loved your work, but this was the icing on the cake.

I wish you'd submit more flashes, I'd probably have you on my favourite author's list.

I guess if there was something to work on, It'd be slightly cleaner linework. Not too much though, because the messyness adds to the atmosphere.

chocobowz responds:

Thanks, yeah I do need to submit more but im trying to draw better and get more control over flash.

[Larvae]

Somebody's been a busy bee!

This was simply glorious, in every sense of the word. I am in love. My heart goes out to you, good sir, for I am in your debt.

The art and sense of flow and style was remarkable. Awe-inspiring even, and more over I sensed a number of separate levels growing and expanding in this. Fantastic choice of music from our pal, Nathan.

I'm now off to observe more work from you.

Ansel responds:

i WAS a busy bee. I've worked on this like all day every day this week. IT WAS WORTH IT

[I Am Metal Slug]

Eh, could use a lot more work.

I know I'm going to catch endless heat for this, but oh well, reviews should be reviews not things like "LOLROFLMAO THAT WAS GREAT *votes 10*"

Here's the breakdown:

First the drawings were really bland. Lacked ingenuity and even basic understand of the most rudimentary art fundamentals like anatomy or perspective. Especially perspective. Your background was simply horrifying. Go set up a room the way you had this one set up, and you will see that none of the staging makes sense.

Secondly the joke was one that any Tom, Dick, or Harry could of thought up in 10 minutes while taking a dump. I skimmed some reviews, seeing is any of them had any merit at all (none that I saw did) and even in these reviews plenty of people mentioned they thought of the same joke. Oh, and I didn't think it was funny either, which is a big thing. It was some silly pun. I know that in your author's comments you mentioned that you're aware a slug is a bullet, but just because your aware does not excuse the error in your joke. Mistakes like that kill the humour all the more for me.

Third the animation. It was, well, hard to even watch. Stiff tweens with no easing does not a good Flash make. (I'm aware of the backgrounds grammar in that sentence, it's a play on a classic line that I doubt your familiar with.) The movements lacked any exaggeration, stretch or squash, or anticipation at all. None of the basic principles of animation are met. The movements were so boring and robotic.

Fourth is the sound. This was fine. No big issues. Your voice acting was very passable. A little forced and drab, but hardly anything to get worked up over at all. Your music choices were solid and fit the piece just fine.

Also, I agree with Nami-Oka, it was pretty darn stupid, but stupid isn't necessarily a bad thing. It irks me however that you would demand an honest, and at least critical reviews be marked as a abusive, yet let the mindless fan banter remain as it does.

I give you a 4 out of 10 for you solid soundwork, but failings in all other realms. Feel free to respond of PM me with ignorance, though I hope you will respond with something thought out.

BMack24 responds:

ouch, man. ouch. well, ok, here's the breakdown of your breakdown:

1) i've never really taken any good art classes. i'm about to be an art major in college, where i'll hopefully learn to draw better. my current drawing skill is mostly self-taught. while drawing the guy particularly, i did think that he looked kind of weird, but i wasn't sure how to do it better or correct it. i appreciate your input, you being an established flash artist and all, but it's still kind of unfair to bash me for my art like that when you don't know my artistic background or training. and it's only my second completed flash (compare the difference between this and my first), i have nowhere to go but up.

2) i know it's just a silly pun. i don't think it's all that funny myself. if you saw the review responses you'd know that i figured everyone would think it was stupid and lame when i submitted it. what happened was, i saw a slug, thought of metal slug, and thought of a slug made of metal. that's it. if someone else had animated it first (i made sure no one had) i never would've done it. i didn't even write a script for this thing; i just recorded the lines as i thought of them. hopefully my future submissions will be written better and more thought-out.

3) i have very little art training, and zero animation training. all of my current animation skill is self-taught. and, believe it or not, i actually did use a good bit of easing. and like with the art, i intend to improve with the animation.

4) glad you at least think the sound's good. not an experienced voice actor either.

5) i only made the 'abusive' remark because she said it was 'stupid' without giving any indication why. it's not that it was critical, it was just mean. i'm actually surprised i haven't had more critical reviews like this one.

so there you have it. i appreciate your criticism, but i resent all your insinuations of me being incompetent and ignorant. this is only my second flash and i really am surprised (pleasantly surprised, but surprised nonetheless) that it did even this well. maybe you're one of those people who hate video game parodies because they usually get undeserved high scores. well trust me when i say that i don't intend to make this a habit. my current project is 100% original. so sorry you didn't approve, maybe you'll like my future submissions better.