Animith's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[CoolJaw: T.T. I-V]

Great premise, great cliffhanger.

I like the artwork of it in general. There's something incredibly macabre about it from the first screen, even before you really know what's happening. And having gone through the first act, I see the narration text has gotten a lot more erratic, and it works to your credit, because it just gives that added touch of foreboding. I might as well mention here: The music is really fitting. The way it flits between ominous background noises and the guitar, and yet still maintains the mood perfectly. Really nice choice, there.

I got a few vague Saw vibes? From the antagonist-in-the-TV, do-something-horrible-or-bad-things-w ill-happen idea, but the parallel pretty much draws to a close straight after that. This has a fresh kind of creepiness to it. I think the fact it's a frame-by-frame comic and not a flash just adds to the melancholy aspect of this; like it would be less scary if it was all totally moving.

The "GOD NO" reply from the guy during the dialogue seemed a little superfluous, and almost distracting from the demands the TV-man was making. But apart from that, the premise is set well and all you needed do at that point is make something utterly disturbing to bring the scene to a peak.

Which you did. Marvellously. I could be a pedant and say "You couldn't cut a nose clean off like that with one swipe of scissors", but I think the bounds of reality can be stretched a little given how utterly disturbing the image is itself.
However, the "AAA" in his reaction-shot was again, a little distracting. I almost wish you'd found a non-textual way to convey his reaction, as it's obvious that he'd be horrified and in absolute pain, and it's obvious that you can create certain emotions in the backdrop and artwork in general, anyway.

The abrupt flick-back to Mr. Jaw in the alleyway was also a nice touch, as you leave the now-noseless man simultaneously at his cliffhanger and conclusion-you almost know that he'll carry out all the other tasks asked of him, and yet you're unsure as to whether he'll be able to do it.
And if that wasn't enough, you've got the closing line implying that Mr. Jaw's vendetta has barely even started. So it's safe to say you've gained a follower here. I have a need to know what happens next. Great work.

-Review Request Club

Celx-Requin responds:

Perhaps the best review I've ever received, also can you pm me in exactly what Saw movie this whole nose cutting off business occurred? My curiosity has been peaked, and I'd like to check it out.

Also you're really sharp, when it comes to following the clues I've felt...
Well done.

Sincerely,
- Celx

["EXTINCT"]

Firstly, and lastly; NICE art.

I really loved the merging of the 2D and the 3D, as well as the different styles of colouring used on the different things (Background/foreground/characters). There were a few instances, especially with the cat, where the outline seemed quite rugged or something about the lines/colouring could have been improved a little, but in general it was nicely done.

The storyline is pretty simple, but it fits well with what's generally a light-hearted and near-comical flash. The things like the slow-motion falling out of the tree were perhaps more funny than I should have found them, but again, they just add to the light-heartedness of the beginning. While this first section may have been a little too long and could have possibly done with a little more going on than the cat chasing the butterfly, in general it was wonderfully inoffensive.

Your choice of music and sound effects are also very fitting; again, quite a cheery accompaniment, with enough sound effects to highlight events without there being so many as to be irritating.

The part where the cat falls asleep and seems to fall into a brief dream-sequence involving butterflies confused me a little, as I wasn't sure whether the cat was dreaming or whether you'd just changed the background colouring for effect. Maybe if it had been a little longer at THAT point you could have established it a little more, but given the brevity of the sleeping-cat scene in general, perhaps it being short works in its favour.

And the ending, while quite sad and unexpected, was pretty well done. Although it did go a little too fast between the forest and the shop and the museum, perhaps.

Just to be a bit of a grammar pedant, your ending dialogue doesn't make grammatical sense.
I think it said "It exist thousand years ago"...when it should have said "It existed thousands of years ago", or some such thing.

All in all, this was a really nice flash. Until the unhappy ending, of course. Deserved a little higher than 5th place, given how everything fits so well together, but c'est la vie. Very good work, overall.

-Review Request Club

manuelberja responds:

more thanks!

[shroogy the alien prequil]

Not bad, but needs polishing.

I was getting ready to review this as I went along, but by the time I'd gotten through half a sentence it was finished. As you said, it was a prequel, but given how very short it was, it kind of felt like the preview of the prequel? As if it was almost too short to be considered a "short".

As other people have said, the graphics could probably use a little improving. The colouring of the alien itself feels like it could be improved a lot more if the colours were blended together in a gradient, rather than have the three shades of gray put over one another. Though that being said, I thought the bird in comparison was pretty well drawn. The edited NG preloader at the very very start was also a nice touch (Though again, could probably use a going-over, colouring-wise)

The choice of music I didn't really get all that much. Though I guess if you were going for the "quirky" side of comedic license by choosing music that didn't really correlate, then I guess you sort of hit the mark in that aspect.

The storyline, as sort of touched on already, doesn't really have enough time to get off the ground. You're vaguely introduced to this alien and the eating of the bird tells you essentially what he does, but I think you'd do yourselves a MASSIVE credit if you extended this past the first few seconds. Because at the moment it's too short for anyone to really be able to make an impression on how the rest of the series could pan out.

The hyperlinks in the "Extras" section were also a little hard to click on, and most of the time linked to what I could vaguely deem to be semi-random drawings, I think again you'd be a lot better off if those extras were improved.

In all, I think you've got promise here, but you should work a bit harder in making your next installment a bit more polished. If nothing else, a little longer. Give your viewers something to view, after all.

-Review Request Club-