Kwing's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Professor Layton pt. 6]

Didn't Like It

The graphics and animation were pretty bad, but I have the feeling if it were better animated I might have enjoyed it less. The audio quality wasn't the highest; at some points a bit of white noise crept into it which was a bit annoying.

The concept itself gave me a headache... It was stupid and spastic and not particularly funny. I get you were going for some kind of surrealist take on it, but it was just overdone. You don't seem to know where to stop... I found myself more annoyed than entertained, and the few times I did laugh was more because of something abstract and random than something that flowed into the storyline.

It just didn't do it for me.

Skaijo responds:

TLDNR

[Learn 2 Read]

Holy FUCK!!

Oh my god that was funny!!! The graphics were well done and the "calm" nature of the lines and fills (being more curvy than spiky) somehow made the ending less predictable. Very good work.

The sound was good, and the screaming was amazing, but the kid saying "I'm learning to read big people books" was incoherent. I had to watch it three times to understand that line, and even then a friend had to point it out for me. It sounded like "I'm learning to read b?? people books" and I couldn't tell what the hell was going on.

The concept was brilliance. It gave me a big giant "WTF" to ponder for several seconds. The only problem was that the adult stood there for about a full second before biting the kid, which took away the mystique a little bit. The quicker the ending was the more "WTF" value you get. However, if you tested it with different pauses I can see how you might have chosen the length of pause you did.

[|~Snow Snow For Lucy~|]

Bit of a Letdown

I didn't really like this, but it's too long to write a review after watching the whole thing. Here's what I'm writing halfway through:

I can't really feel for any of the characters, barely even anger towards the inventor. Why? The characters lack vitality. I've seen stick figures I've cared for more, not because this is bad, but because those stick animators know how to use body language. This animation lacks it majorly. The girl quivers, you hear emotion in the voice acting, and you see facial expressions, but something subtle is missing; something that you shouldn't be able to articulate but is absolutely essential.

Voice acting, like I just said, is pretty good, as is the quality and the sound effects, but I felt like something was missing there, too. Some of the sound effects seemed to be overused, or maybe the mechanical hands quivering was looped too many times. Additionally, the voices seemed kind of... Old and repetitive, not because they were bad, but because there were only two characters. You need to introduce some more fast-paced dialogue with people talking quickly, and someone with a louder voice. I understand both characters used quiet(ish) voices because it's how the develop, but it was weird when there were only two characters and they both spoke like that. The world in the animation seems to resemble our own less and less because of the way the characters are so flat. This isn't because the characters are poorly designed so much as it is that there isn't enough interaction or chemistry to bring out character development, and they only ever interact with each other. Maybe the storekeeper for a toy store could be a stupid, comic-relief jubilant guy with a loud voice and you could see the inventor turn sour/sarcastic/business-like in front of him, just to develop his character further. Another part of why they were so flat was because the girl was purely pure 'innocence' and the inventor seemed only cruel. This made them way too flat. In Jon Lajoie's words, they were of "two pre-conceived and over-simplified categories".

Graphics are pretty good, though. The proportions are masterfully done, and things are arranged perfectly to their (anime) style. I don't really like anime, but for the style you used it as well as it could be.

Here's what I have to say after watching the second half:

The inventor's remorse did nothing to revive the characters' lack of concept. He changed suddenly, rigidly, and stupidly. I'd have felt more for all of the characters if it had been a subtle change, and you had a whole 20 minutes to do it.

Next, random flaw is the girl is standing in the middle of the snow with a skirt and t-shirt. Even if the didn't have any of her own, she could have worn an old coat from the inventor's closet or something. Wtf is she doing freezing out there? Also, Vince talked really slowly. What's up with that? And when he asked Lucy if she wanted a ride, did she say "fuck you"? I didn't quite catch that.

Additionally, some of the dialogue at the end didn't really matter. It was just useless filler that should've been cut out. And don't tell me I shouldn't have predicted Vince having some mechanical body part. Last thing is how stupid it was for them to have hugged. Something more subtle would have been more heartwarming, like some kind of extended eye-contact thing and maybe a slight, slight smile. As it was it came off as cheesy. In fact, the whole thing was kind of cheesy.

Can't give you more than a 5 on this one.

[The Hard Way]

It Was Clever... And That's All

It was funny, and the expressions were better than most of the skits, but it lacked something... The end was surprising and clever, but not that funny, but the most important thing you left out was buildup. You didn't have many pauses, you could have made more suspense, or more evidence to support anything but the surprise ending.

[Sad Larry]

Loved It!

It would be nice if it were a bit longer, if only to show some more graphics or backgrounds. Maybe a shot of a window so you got something a bit more vival going on outside or subtly.

The animation was pretty good, but the tears were tweened kind of crudely... It would have been nice if his plate had been visible as his face collapsed, maybe showing the tears flow in some kind of pattern or around the plate like a dam. Nothing extensively distracting, but it could have had more.

The concept was pretty good. Although it was short and only had one joke, it was big and dramatic, and it was set off like a firecracker. Good work.

[No Brainer]

:D Funneh

Not as good as the other ones, though. The voice acting seemed a little stoic to me, it was short, and there were only like two jokes. It's okay to make a short skit, but you need to make sure there are lots of jokes to make up for it.

[Beer Run!]

Wicked

I loved the skit. The voice acting was superb... It sounds like you put time directing, cutting, and perfecting each line. The graphics were pretty good... The car was especially well done. The colors were vibrant and... Colorful :P The storyline was pretty badass, too.

I don't know what to say about the middle of it, though. After he hit the second person in the car, it got kind of predictable. Creative and still predictable, if it makes sense. It was still funny, but it got kind of ruined.

[Waiting for the Bus!]

Epic

What can I say? The graphics, though simple, have a cute and funny style to them. The animation is decent, and the storyline is intriguing. While graphics and animation could still be better, the concept is by far the most important part, and it's what had me laughing.

You do a great job of imitating other cinemas, and the cheesiness was pulled off pretty well. The music was synced perfectly and was done extremely well (probably the best part of the whole short), and the bus was a great exposition element as well as a little tag at the end.

[Moovlin Cutscene - Shock]

Neato

The graphics have gotten really good! Good use of gradients and stuff. However, with the menus and stuff it would be nice if you used buttons that changed when you rolled over them... Plus you've used that same button graphic way too long.

Animation was good but minimalistic. While the concept was the important part, it should have had more cinematics, like Moovlin doing a wild hack and slash through the enemies with wicked combos.

Storyline didn't make much sense. I know it's from Moovlin and it's not from the beginning, but it would have been nice if you'd included a prologue or something explaining the build up.

[Twas The Night...]

Funny

Graphics were simple but good. They helped tell the story, but didn't do much else. The animation was pretty good, but nothing super-smooth. The audio was probably the best part; the narration was good quality, funny, and done well.

The storyline was a good parody, but the humor got a little old after the first couple lines. You need to keep it fresh and funny longer. This would have been good in a collab. The only really laugh-out-loud part was when the bear tears off the kid's face, but that's just because of shock-value. I probably would have laughed harder if I were watching it with a friend.