WarpZone's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[L&P: How Not to be Seen]

What the...?

Okay, the graphics were decent, and the audio you used was funny. But... I mean, just... why? Why did this need to be made? Monty Python already made it! I could see if maybe you'd changed all the visuals around to make it different or ironic or more funny, but this was almost exactly the same... Even the placement of the bushes look the same as the original video clip! The only thing you changed was to use squirrels or something instead of people. Do squirrels really add that much to internet humor? I don't get it.

Then again, I guess I laughed really hard when I saw Do Me, because I hadn't seen whatever show the audio came from. I guess this would be about that funny to anyone who hasn't already seen Monty Python. But seriously, who hasn't seen Monty Python?

In short, next time, be more original. Or at least more obscure.

fadedshadow responds:

it's a fucking parody, dumbshit

[Sonic Saga Season 8 OP]

The action synched up with the music saved it.

Graphics:Sprites, and not particularly good ones at that. Slow FPS frame rate and Sonic do not mix, my friend. The camera-work was ambitious, but the execution fell short in some places.

Style: It actually tells a (very simple) story and does so with a bit of pizzaz. Unfortunately, poor production quality really hurt the piece as a whole. See Overall, below, for a partial list...

Sound: Okay, I can respect you for re-using a professional Sonic soundtrack. But why, oh why did you have to pick the one that's a relic from the 90's preserved only on home-recorded VHS tapes? Other songs, you could have found a decent MP3 to use. This song, there IS no clean copy of it. (Or if there was, and you had a copy of it, your compression settings ruined it.) Also, the soundtrack reminds me of the old TV show, not the games, which picks fights with the sprite graphics. Personally, I woulda gone with Sonic Boom.

Overall: A good idea, but it had lots of little flaws which detracted from the whole:
-Poor choice of soundtrack.
-The title screen was kind of dull and long. (But at least you didn't submit JUST the title screen...)
-The distant background kept scrolling by even when sonic slowed down in the loops.
-There was nothing happening visually when some of the explosions were going off in the airship part of the soundtrack.
-The airship generally looked bad from the outside, like a big metal bananna with vents in it. (Surely there's some cool egg carrier establishing shot from some sprite game you could have used? If not, you should have made one up, or heck, I'd have settled for the airship from kirby with an Eggman logo slapped on the side.)
-The final explosion looked VERY cheap and lame and fake.

All that said, I liked it for some reason. Probabaly because it told a story and had some good ideas buried underneath the crappy execution. I look forward to your future submissions. Keep practicing, and keep trying to do better. :)

Nutronic responds:

Yeah I agree with you on some of those points, however I just want to point out it's only an opening video. My comic's been up for quite some time and this Idea was meant for season 1. It has nothing to do with actual comic plot wise, just kind of a "corny" action scene to establish the characters. Thanks for the in-depth review and I hope I can figure out how to get rid of the glitches.

[Dog Daze of Boredom]

I enjoyed this more than any man should.

Graphics: Attention: Rest of Newgrounds. This is what a flash looks like when you use EFFORT! Take notes. Not stick figures + a few distinct frames of animation - tweens of any sort + moderately funny writing = quality. And best of all, they didn't even have to suck any part of Walt Disney in order to get there.

Style: Not quite polished enough to be a distinct style, but at least it was unique. Ambitious animation concepts such as 3D perspective shots and complex animation were attempted. Execution was a little rough, especially in the "surface" department, but this is still hands-down better than any of the "we think it's funny to not try" crap that clogs the portal on a daily basis.

Sound: "Your voice HURTS!" Well, actually, it doesn't. At least not as much as most NG flashes do. The voices were distinct and understandable, but felt a little soft around the edges. If your microphone is more than a few years old, or if it was included with the computer, buy a new "noise-cancelling" one for like 20 bucks; you'll hear a big improvement.

Humor: Spike pretty much stole the show. The humans were pretty boring. In retrospect, I probably should give this a 7 in humor... the 9 was cuz I watched this, watched the bonus features, watched it again, and was grinning from ear to ear by the end of it, but I think some of that grin was just you restoring my faith in America's youth by not deliberately sucking.

Overall: If this is part of a series, I'll watch the other ones and let you know what I think. Spike was just fuckin' hillarious though. Once again, thank you for not deliberately sucking. I look forward to you continuing to not deliberately suck in the future. (Yes, that sentance parses. Shut up.)

Bobert-Rob responds:

Now THAT is a thorough review. Thank you for taking the time to write that. I will do my best to touch up on these points... namely the microphone, I really need to look into getting a better one. Mine's at least 5 years old now... heh. Sounds decent enough to me, but it is something I need to invest thought into improving. Take care.

[Virginia Tech Tribute]

Thanks for being sincere about it.

I kept expecting it to suddenly be a fake tribute at any given moment. Thanks for proving me wrong. I'm getting way too cynical.

Also, thanks for not blaming it all on video games and music.

Little-Rena responds:

Heh, I wouldn't joke about it, it's a serious issue.

The only thing that's to blame is the slack gun laws.

[naruto and sasuke]

Lacks "pizzaz."

Not bad for 4 days' work. I liked the strong colors and the sound effects timed with the attack animations. Unfortunately, they're tiny and they're fighting on a static background, so it's pretty boring. I recommend zooming and scrolling the camera around. It would make the fight more interesting. Music was inoffensive, but kind of dull and quiet, for a combat scene. Good luck. I'm looking forward to seeing some more original stuff from you.

[GW: "Burn Baby Burn!"]

None of my usual critiques apply!

Graphics: Try using vector art with a thick line to create actual characters instead of crappy stick figures. No, wait, you did! Wow! Great job!

Style: You should try to tell a meaningful story instead of... no, wait, you did that, too.

Sound: Try recording some vo... wait, you did. You could get some sound effects from an online... shit, no, you have some already. Um, if you'd download audacity, you could alter your... damn. I got nothin'.

Overall: The only thing that could possibly be improved here is the animation. And I think you already know enough to realize where, too. (Mostly when folks were walkin'.)

Some of the writing and pacing felt kinda clumsy, too, but I can't call that criticism because that pretty much IS how an excahnge between a public school art teacher and a student who actually cares about something would probably go down. It just makes for a pretty dull cartoon, is all.

This was an easy fiven for you. I'll be checking out the rest of your work now. :D Keep it up!

[Abstain HP]

It's frightening the way our schools are being run

Graphics: Noobish drawings with only motion tweens. No real animation. I guess you did the best you could. Not bad for a first submission. Consider trying the line drawing tools next time, and maybe some actual animations.

Style: I haven't seen these "Truth" commercials everyone else is talking about, but it sounds like you're emulating a specific style. Certianly you captured the "Well you see, Billy!" style of most so-called educational videos.

Sound: Perfectly suitible songs are tied up and dragged kicking and screaming from pop culture and forced to mouth The Administration's message. This is probably exactly what the teachers would do if they were producing the movie, except they probably would have chosen songs ten years older.

Overall: Decently long video that tells a story. The art is pretty clumsy, and hastily-made, but other than that it seems well-produced. I look forward to seeing what this kid can do with Flash once he starts using it to tell his own stories and express his own ideas. Lord knows Newgrounds needs more Storytellers.

Rant: I really don't know how I should feel about this piece. It's clear you're a bright kid who's reluctantly mumbling the words your teacher's forcing you to say in order to earn a passing grade.

Just realizing that our schools are being run that way is extremely depressing, and that context colors my experience of watching this flash. It's a little like watching an Auchwitz film of concentration camp detainees telling the camera that Jews are the enemy, while nazi soldiers stand just off-camera with rifles levelled at their heads.

I don't know whether to applaud you for sucessfully completing the assignment, or boo you for using art to voice a message that you do not himself believe in.

Also, I'm worried that if our kids keep getting taught this way, they'll just grow up telling authority figures what they want to hear, doing whatever they want behind closed doors, and privately acknowlaging to each other that the authority figures are full of bullshit, while maintaining an outward appearance of obedience.

Of course, I guess it wasn't much different, back when I was in school, but it's pretty disturbing to see the teacher VS student paradigm play out so starkly.

[Invaders From Space]

"Invaders! Quite possibly from SPACE!"

Graphics: Pretty much what everyone else has said. You've made great use of camera work on the sequences with the game-ripped sprites, you've done some great sprites of your own for the original characters and effects, (Which is something I've always wished for, when I'd see someone else's sprite cartoon and they go mixing sprites with vectors in places, just cuz it was "easier...") and the isometric 3D sequences were awesome as well. The video at the end was unexpected, quick, and to the point.

Sound: First of all, that music kicked ass. Way to apply chord progression to an otherwise repetitive series of notes. Musical Theory FTW! Your voice work was less impressive, but I've heard worse on Newgrounds. Actually, those fake robot voices everyone else uses might have fit right in to the video game segment. The RL voices at the end sounded a little bit more natural.

Overall: Heh, that was awesome. It had me thinking of that one Futurama episode where "what if life was more like a video game." I'm looking forward to your next release. Keep it up, kid!

nerdswithattitude responds:

Thanks, that was a very helpful review.

Also "Musical Theory FTW" QFT.

You're right, my voice work is crap. I need to work on it.

Also, I'm glad someone mentioned the Futurama episode (I lol'd at the title quote), cause I made an effort not to make it comparable to that.

Thanks for the support!

[It Burns My Eyes 1]

Short but funny. CONTAINS EFFORT!

Graphics: This guy used an unusual style not often seen on Newgrounds... it's hard to describe, but here goes... he makes pictures... of people... that have details... and somewhat look like real people. The english language needs a word for "not retarded stick figures." Well, whaetver that word is, it applies here.

Style: The drawing style was good, as noted above, the guy actually tried to make his pictures look like something. Good for him! The show format, on the other hand, could use a bit more work. Mostly just make it longer, and try harder in the writing department.

Sound: Voices were okay. A little too much breathing into the microphone, there. Also, you could try downloading Audacity and using it to adjust your voice's pitch a bit for different characters.
The music was dull, which fit the sitcom theme perfectly, but at least it was easy to ignore. Way to not use the most annoying music ever on purpose, which is what most Newgrounds authors do. "Young kid trying to sound like a bunch of different movie characters syndrome" hurt suspense-of-disbelief pretty badly, but not enough to tank the movie.

Violence: Severed leg. Meh.

Humor: Heh. Made me laugh in a few places. I probably scored this as being funnier than it actually is, just because it's "actually has jokes in it funny" as opposed to "so bad it's funny." Man, I keep scoring this movie as "good" relative to all the shit on Newgrounds. Comedic timing was pretty good.

Overall: I wonder what kinda scores I'd be giving it if I were reviewing it purely on its own merits? Probably best not to think about it. This made me smile, and it actually required effort. Way to go, kid. Looking forward to more of your work, but maybe not this series. Not unless it blossoms unexpectedly into something MUCH more elaborate than a conversation made entirely out of movie quotes.