Bad-Atom's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sprite TV 3!]

39 sketches, 21 animators, no laughs

1/5

I like sprite movies. They're in a category of their own on NG.

Sprite movies can be hysterically funny, emotional, goofy and random, or (most of the time) plain stupid. This submission falls deep into the latter category. This is the most elaborately produced example of juvenile stupidity and lack of comedic understanding that I've ever seen on Newgrounds.

I know comedy is subjective, but when you have TWENTY-ONE animators collaborating you'd think something funny to me might slip through. Usually with something this random I'll find a few laughs here and there, but this time... nothing. A few of the sketches came close (the Frogger one, the Princess in the rocket for example) but didn't score. Most of them were painful to watch, especially knowing this would get a high score and get featured just because of the "sprite" factor. That's a problem with NG in general, so I won't go into it.

Sometimes nice animation can make up for a lackluster effort in the writing/comedy department, but it doesn't in this case. And the animation wasn't really that great, to be honest. The bar has been set pretty high in that regard. Aside from the rather cool "create your own sprite" preloader and the clean and simple menu screen, I wasn't really impressed by any of it.

The voice acting was mostly terrible. There's a Voice Acting Club out there that's a great resource for animators. I wish they had used it; instead it makes the whole production sound amateur. Music and sound effects were actually pretty well done on the whole, so no major complaints there. In fact, some of the sound choices were inspired.

Like I said, I do enjoy sprite movies. I like seeing animated video game characters and different people's twist on them. This unfortunately was just a chore to watch. I don't like writing negative reviews either but I made an exception in this case.

(Also, the file size is ridiculous, and I'm not even on dial-up.)

TITROTU responds:

Sorry you didn't like it. We tried our best to get a manageable file size.

[All The Trees]

Simple, mellow and very creative

4/5

I've always liked your animations, and once again you've made something creative and unique. The simplicity of the animation perfectly matched the mellowness of the song. Most of all I enjoyed the message behind the animation. It's a breath of fresh air around here...

I only had a few issues: while the lip-sync on the tree was kind of cool and weird, it probably wasn't necessary. And it would have been nicer to have one long zoom back towards the end instead of all the short, halting zooms. You were probably trying to go along with the beat of the song but it didn't feel quite right to me. But really, those are minor issues in the grand scheme of things.

Please keep up the amazing work!

[Pac Makeup]

"I can explain!"

4/5

Ha! That was hilarious! It was short and to the point, and I loved the clean, crisp animation and sound. Keep it up! I really hope you make more of these.

[Retro Collab]

Hypnotic

4/5

A clever concept for a collab and surprisingly original execution. When I saw the title "Retro Collab", I figured it would be a slew of Nintendo parodies or something we've seen before. Instead it was something much more interesting and visually involving. The effect was almost hypnotic and the music worked fairly well.

My only gripe (and this applies to most collabs) is showing the name of the author during their section of the animation. I think it would have flowed better without constantly telling us who animated what part. That should be saved for the credits. It always seems to take me out of the animation.

But still, a very well done animation.

[MK vs. SF 3]

Great piece of work.

5/5

This is a great piece of work.

From a visual standpoint, it was flawless. You definitely have skill and a sense of style, and I can just imagine the amount of work you went to between the sprite editing and special effects. The lighting effects were outstanding, and your attention to detail is commendable. My only complaint in this area would be that things moved a little too fast. It needed just a little more time to linger and enjoy the view, so to speak. The fight scene, amazing as it was, could have also used some closer shots. I felt it was kind of distant throughout.

I loved your choices in music, and even the sound effects were well done without becoming repetitive. I'm kind of ambivalent about the end credits song, it was a little "soft" for the characters and my taste. But the audio editing was still masterfully done.

Interactivity wasn't an issue, although the Extras button didn't do anything. Hidden special features? I appreciated the inclusion of the scene and sub-scene selection. Very slick interface. Even the preloader was a nice touch, with the bouncing logos. Kept me busy for the half an hour it took to load. Dial-up sucks.

As for the plot... eh. There wasn't much to it, and the dialogue was pretty standard. I know I wasn't watching it for the story, but I was hoping for something a little more interesting. If the movie had a weak point, this was it. It's not a huge complaint, though, considering the overall quality of the movie.

Overall, it's an incredibly well-done Flash, and it would be a shame if it were the last one. Great job!

[You Make Me]

Just about perfect

5/5

What a refreshing change of pace! I really enjoyed the animation, it had a definite sense of style and flair. It was funny, perfectly timed and paced, and the music was an excellent choice. And what a great idea behind it, too - congratulations!

[ASCII Animation]

Great idea behind this, let's see more

3/5

I really liked the idea behind this. I bet it is time-consuming. :) I hope to see you expand on the concept and improve the animation. You could fashion a creative story around this concept and make it something really special and unique.

A side note: it's not really ASCII code - you're using colors, letters and words to approximate drawings, not just ASCII code.

KyleDaFox responds:

It does take a while. I'm going to start another, longer, better one. This was more of an experiment.

[Arnie's Adventures (VGDC)]

2/3 "meh", 1/3 "friggin' hilarious"

3/5

As usual, the animation is excellent. No complaints there. The music and sounds were fine as well.

I don't know if I'm a big fan of Arnie himself, it's one of those jokes that could wear thin very quickly. And I didn't find the first two sketches all that funny, to be honest.

But the third one was absolutely perfect. It was self-referential in the best way. I loved how you reused the same music and camera angles. I loved it!

Overall, it all balanced out to a 3 for me. Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

[Scenes From A Memory]

Great atmosphere

4/5

You created a very nice atmosphere and feeling with your animation. It looked beautiful and the music you chose fit the scene well. My only complaint would be the speed of some of the objects and backgrounds. The stars in the night sky and the rocks on the ground were moving too fast and it took me right out of it. With a few tweaks here and there, this would be a 5. Great work.

badmonkeyfinger responds:

i know what you mean with the scene with the rocks movng too fast, im not happy with it and im working on fixing it

[Through Eyes of The Moon]

Very different than usual NG fare...

4/5

I've enjoyed your previous work - it's always a welcome breath of fresh air from the usual stuff I find on NG. This was no exception. No blood and gore, no sprites - just beautiful scenery and music to match. Your designs are excellent and the effects were nicely done. I do think the movements and transitions were very stiff and artificial. If you worked on the tweens a little, it wouldn't be an issue. But I still enjoy your work and hope to see more.

cheshirecat1582 responds:

Wow really... Thank you so much!! yeah i agree the rigged ness needs improving... actually I took your advice and im improving on that right now... i just submitted a new flash with less regged ness lol... I think im getting the hang of this flash thing after all... lol Thanks sooo much for the great review!!!