Kwing's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Priorities]

Am I allowed to dislike this? There are a handful of things I didn't like about this animation so I'm just going to shout them out in no particular order. First is the general quality of the characters and environment. I know what Maya is capable of, this comes nowhere close. The characters lack texture and I didn't see much going on with lighting and shadows either. The animation is also somewhat awkward - both the way the guy and his dog run are primitive and not particularly realistic. Since this isn't a very action-packed animation, simple loops like running make up a big part of how polished the animation is going to look, and you really have no excuse not to have spent more time perfecting those.

One thing that you do did really well was create a mood to the environment; the textures and polygon count were simple, but there was a lot of fog in the distance and overall the magnitude of the location helped set the atmosphere a lot. You also found a really good musician to help augment the animation.

Touching on the story, I've never been a fan of these kinds of things, and that may be why I'm not too attached to the story here. It seems rather one-sided and incomplete as a narrative, and I'm not just saying that because it lacks dialogue. You establish that this guy is stuck, that the dog is bothering him, and that he eventually comes to a decision that his dog is more important than escaping. Then he... Wastes all of his flairs? First of all, a dog isn't going to understand what that gesture is supposed to communicate, but more importantly, does this guy not have a family or a job or a LIFE back where he lives? And even if he doesn't, does he realize that he's going to outlive his dog by several decades?

It's impressive that you managed to craft an animation like this, especially given that it's nearly ten minutes in length, but it feels like it's missing something, and I think that the simple storytelling is a way to mask that it's missing something.

[Newgrounds game teaser]

Wow, this looks really nice and authentic. Short, but to the point. This is drawn and animated incredibly well, and the landscapes are far more detailed than what you'd see for something that was just meant to be an animation - which is why this is so convincing. Looks like a superior Newgrounds Rumble.

Props for presentation, it looks really good.

[Car Ad]

Eh... Too much fading in and out. The silhouettes you chose are nice and I'll admit I even have a thing for black and white graphics (which you used for most of the animation) but it's a little too relaxing to the point of dull. The *not really text and the awards were really the only jabs at car commercials, leaving the entire animation feeling unrewarding to watch.

[Madness Apotheosis]

This is a big step up in the Madness series. The melee combat sees some immense improvement with easing and different combos being used. To be fair, a lot of the characters don't seem to do much to fight back but this installation really is different from the previous three even if people don't notice it.

[Madness Redeemer]

I have to say this is pretty impressive. The animation is very smooth and it's no wonder this became so popular when it did. I will take a few points off just because the action doesn't feel quite as real as it could. This is mainly due to the fact that the enemies only have firearms when Hank does, and it makes it a lot less realistic when his arsenal is running low and the people in the next room just so happen to have nothing but batons.

[Cool Teacher]

I liked the animation but was only mildly amused by anything in it. I think the biggest issue here is you don't have an idea of what you want this animation to be about. It seems like a few school-related jokes jumbled up together that aren't that great. The skeleton gag is good but is never expanded upon by 'it's almost done'.

LazyMuffin responds:

what you say is true

[Internet Withdrawal]

Good animation, the mild 3D effects were really cool as the guinea pigs turned their heads. The voice acting was good, and a normally drab subject matter was made somewhat funnier by turning the characters into animals. Unfortunately this falls into the same pitfalls as a lot of movies - it's just one gimmick, one joke. Too short for what an animation should be, and too long for how little content there is in it.

[Oxob vs Blazer]

Very nice, the 3D effect looked weird as hell with FBF stick figures but still some of your best work. If you catch ALFA while he's rusty you might even be a match for him!

[Murshaq]

Reminds me a lot of FilmCow's animations. This is pretty damned funny - a lot better than most things that are intended to be humorous on this site. The voice acting is pretty good, and overall this is just entertaining. I did freak out a little when I thought that guy castrated himself with a lawn mower, though.

Some closing thoughts: I like the graphics and animation, they keep this nice and simple for an animation that has a simple concept. The poster is pretty great too, I very nearly decided to get one.