The-One-Banana's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[One More Brawl Taunts]

"Brawl takes no skill." Neither does this flash.

The only thing really distinctive about this is the opening animation. It was relatively fluent in comparison to the rest of it, and was moderately humorous. But what really sticks out is how many freaking times I thought about that part because this flash should never have been made.

Fanboys, please locate the "useless/abusive" review button, and get some common sense.

The artwork was horrendous. Not only were the characters skewed and awkward, there was virtually no detail beyond the minimalistic drawings. Want an example? Pit from the opening scene was horrendous. Ike (from that amazingly unfunny scene "fight for my friends)... his freaking neck is on his arm.

The animation was equally bad. Constant motion tweens for arm movements, repeated movie clips, and choppy movements... This is absolute nonsense. Toad's dance? I love the effort you put into it man! His arms are being automatically rotated! You didn't even bother to animate Charizard talking for the first few seconds.

Even your main objective - Making people laugh with Brawl-related jokes - failed miserably. I could do without a thousand explicit sex references and "witty observations" like "Landmaster Final Smashes", Ice Climbers sexism theories or a third "Big Gay Dance". It's wonderful how original and hilarious your jokes are. Ha ha. "Big gay thunder". "Big gay fire". Ha ha. So funny. Hey, at least you appealed to the idiotic, illiterate fan base that likes these annoying references and sex jokes. Maybe that explains the 3.7.

There is a good quality in this flash, and that's the voice acting, which was near flawless...Some of the parts weren't absolute crap when it came to animation and artwork.

What needs improving?

1) Get some original jokes. References to your own flash, explicit sex puns and random references that you somehow thought were going to be funny... Disgusting. I haven't laughed even once during the duration of the movie.

2) Get some better animators and artists. Some bits of this is fluent, but the other stuff is just terrible slideshow crap with maybe a few motion-tweened arms. I don't know, maybe you could get some of the people you're collaborating with to actually be patient and DETAIL some of the art. Even choppy Frame-By-Frame is better than tweening.

Yeah, this was definitely not a sequel that was necessary in any way. The first one was at least moderately well animated. This thing was not good in any way. What we have here is a complete mess. It's just a typical, sloppy video game parody with no distinctive traits other than voice acting that I would be embarrassed to be seen watching.

I can't tell who animated what, but it's definitely clear that if you're going to do another collab, you've got to kick some unfunny and untalented idiots out. Also, original ideas never hurt. Make something at least mildly interesting, not this garbage parody.

[Nintendo DSi "Promo"]

Minimal. lazy animation, but pretty good voices.

Personally, as a fan of the DS, I never really found the DSi to be worth my time.

But putting that aside... I'll start with the animation.

There's nothing really noteworthy in this category. In fact, the only real movement in here was of the mouth and maybe the occasional arm movement or blinking of the eyes. On top of that, the movements were choppier than desired. I'll give you points for the rotation of the opening character, but it was kind of rough nonetheless.

Artwork wasn't phenomenal, either. There was merely a white background, and a person standing (or sitting with a table for extra scenery... whoo). Though the characters look ok, I felt that a ton more detailing and shading would make the flash much more attractive; the current artwork is far too basic.

So we move on to the humor. While I found it moderately funny, it never really pulled more than a chuckle from me.

Now, there was an area where you excelled, and that was your choice in voice actor. Beautifully acted parts brimming with personality and high audio quality made the humorous "invisible parts" much more effective.

The music was also not bad. Calm ambient music; an excellent piece to accompany the flash. The climatic, louder part that started at the "Henry" scene kind of threw it off, though.

There are many ways you can improve this:

1) Animate the "invisible parts". The opening one that involved the violent PSP fan killing was appropriate, but once you used it for the other two parts, the flash felt really, really lazy. In fact, those parts take up a bit less then half the flash itself.

2) Put a bit more dedication in detailing. Some of the shading work is a bit rough and shoddy, the drawings of the people were a bit too basic to be a standalone object to watch. and the plain white background is uninteresting. Maybe put them in a room of some sort. Is the discussion taking place at a public area? Inside of their home? Add a bit more dedication to the flash's appearance!

3) The people are so... dead. Make body movements to accompany the emotions they express as they're bombarded with the oppressive narrator (ie, arm movement, eye movement, shrugging of shoulders). When the narrator at the beginning says "F*** you" at the beginning, the guy just stands there. Don't we normally react with a bit of anger or frustration, instead of just standing there with the same exact facial expression?

This flash really could have gone somewhere. If you had animated some of the invisible parts, the flash could have been more exciting and fun to watch. Take a bit of time to polish things up, and your flash will be more fun to watch.

TechFinch responds:

Thanks for your review. Your critiques are noted, and hopefully I can win you over with my next submission. =)

[Roller Coaster Junkie]

A special colorful style, great animation.

This was certainly a worthwhile video to watch. Heck no, that's an understatement. This is one of the best music videos I have seen in a long time. Even better is that you formed one around a Newgrounds Audio Portal song.

First off, the detailing of the artwork is incredible. Small details, like the detailing of the roller coaster car, the computer hard drive, the detailing of the clouds and the very accurately shaded roller coaster in the room add a very significant impact to the overall presentation. Your work with eccentric facial expressions (a particular aspect of this would be the parent bursting in) are excellently incorporated; you seem to have a unique style that I find incredible. Another particular detail that was really incredible was the climactic acceleration of the roller coaster nearing the end. Not only was the animation accurate, but the sparks flying and the gradual addition of red really gave the ending a dramatic feeling.

Even better is the fact that good artwork didn't hinder your frame by frame animation. Though a bit basic, scenes like the junkie bouncing up and down in the cart, or flying shrapnel from a roller coaster crash were all smoothly animated. The first-person view of the coast ride was very realistic; It felt like I was actually there. I also noticed the subtle changes in the gradient background that fit the middle part where the car goes off the track and bounces... An excellent usage of color.

Undeniably, this flash also possesses quite a few humorous aspects. For instance, the kid was sleeping in the coaster, as well as taking a shower and brushing his teeth and... going to the bathroom made me laugh a bit. Another example would be the sudden change from a very ornery parent's frown to an absolutely goofy, happy pulled quite a few laughs out of me.

The music was also an incredible song. It was light-hearted, and the percussive feel of the piano in the background greatly enhanced the video. On top of that, the voice that was singing was gentle and beautiful. Though the words were fast, there were absolutely no noticeable slip-ups and every word came out crystal clear. I could even say it had a sort of magical feel to it. :D

I have absolutely no complaints about the video at all. I do have a minor suggestion, maybe more of a dancing motion with the junkie waving his hands in the air in the first "see I like to ride the coaster" part would have been better, but meh, it's perfect either way.

Overall, this music video is amongst the best on newgrounds, boasting well detailed and animated scenes that suit the music video without ever being dull. The great animation combined with the beautiful music captures an innocent child's obsession with roller coaster rides perfectly.

[I Found A Dollar!]

Some positive aspects, needs improving.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

In the foreground, we have a stick figure walking. Now, normally, I don't have a problem with stick figures, but it is very roughly animated, as if the frame rate was really low. Not to mention that he's drawn a bit sloppily. You should definitely consider transitioning to usage of the line tool with stick figures, it's much neater. The grass looked nice, though.

However, the background was rather... extraordinary. The starry sky was beautifully drawn, and the city panning from right to left was also very well drawn. Some excellent detailing on your part. I also noticed how you had different components of the background to foreground pan at different speeds! That was a nice touch.

Then we come to the dance scene. I found it kind of cute, and entertaining, but it is incredibly poor animation-wise. His "dance" composed of three simple frames. One facing right, left and center/down. Extremely basic, poorly drawn, and choppy. A fully animated dance would have been so much nicer. Then, when the new stick figure came in (again, roughly animated), he did the exact same dance, with the exact same three frames. It seems like you just took the same movie clip, but filled it in with a blue color. A bit lazy on your part. The background for the dance was attractive, but basic, too.

There is definitely room for improvement:

1) You should definitely refine the graphics a bit more. I was astonished by the background, but the stick figure should look a bit tidier.

2) Make the animation more FLUID. The movements of the stick figure are extremely lacking in detail, just a few basic frames that looped together. Perhaps you could add a few more frames to make the animation quality a bit better.

3) A bit more length would be nice, but that's just my personal opinion. If it's just a random funny thing, hey, I can't complain. :D

Overall, this was a quirky and fun little animation that was good for a little bit of entertainment, but there are definitely many things that you can improve here.

Good Luck!

NibzAU responds:

Thanks man

1.) the background is from a game i am making i just copied and pasted it in to this animation
2.) i hate animating i like just drawing backgrounds and Actionscript
3.) this was never forseen getting through the portal :)

[There She Is!! step4]

The transition from cute to sad was perfect.

Many aspects of this movie are groundbreaking. The fluent animation, the perfection of a dark atmosphere, and the beautiful and detailed illustration. Your transition from a cute, fast-paced animation to a darker, more significant plot was nothing short of extraordinary.

The first bit of this movie that I found amazing was your illustration. Every detail, the cracks on the windows, the cafe signs, the buildings... pretty much everything looks realistic in a cartoon way. The background is also great for setting that depressed tone. Even the look of anguish on the main character is perfect.

Your first few flashes revolved around more action type scenes. Here, we see kind of a panning from left to right as the story progresses in the beginning. The detailing you use to illustrate a large panoramic of the chaos that ensues shows an incredible change in tone and animating style.

The animation itself is excellent as well, the body movements are all fluid, realistic, and well drawn. Even transitions from slow motion to regular movement didn't hinder the skill level of animation.

The hospital scene, I would have to say, reflects your ability to paint the climax of the song. As the song intensifies, so does the effects used. The protesters and citizens spinning around (Nice usage of glow and blur effects for the eyes there), Doki being torn apart... Simply excellent artistry. Your incredible usage of images really adds that hint of strong emotion reflected by the main character. Another great moment in this flash.

What really sets this flash aside from the rest is the development of a deeper plot. We see them having fun in the past movies, but in this movie, society tears them apart, her beloved pet dies, it goes without saying that this was a drastic change. As most of us are probably wondering, were you trying to make connections to society today with this flash, or was it just a plot development?

On a side note, your metaphoric use of the green scarf turning to black was also a nice touch in reflecting the dark emotions. Not to mention Doki falling through a chamber of "No Answer" cellphone messages.

The only thing I think you could improve is where Nabi is spinning with the flashing images and such. It may be difficult, but fully animating him spinning would have enhanced it even further.

Overall, this was probably one of the best flash I have ever seen. The new gripping plot, the fluent animation, and detailed illustration all combine to make this showstopper of a flash. I can't wait for the last installment of There She Is!.

[McDarnold's (Superseded)]

An excellent movie!

First off, let me commend you on the artwork. McDarnold's and the doctor's office was neatly designed in a realistic style, which was really nice. The animated water coming out of the pipe would be pretty hard to pull off. It was a nice display of realistic water movement, and I was really impressed by it. I also enjoyed the distinct style you took on with these three main characters. Simplistic, but very original.

Your animation is also pretty smooth, as well. The lip syncing was both fluent, and accurate enough. Also, the transitioning of facial expressions of Nicholas during the conversation between him and Charles about the burger was smooth, realistic, and suitable in this animation.

The humor was also good, too. The whole McDonald's-food-is-filthy-junk-that-i s-not-fit-for-human-consumption premise of this movie was displayed excellently. I found the childish doctor's view of Charles' death hilarious as well. Then there was the discussion about the analyzed burger. Charles' witty remarks were probably the funniest thing about this video.
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Rat feces? "Just a little rat problem."
Rat poison? "If they didn't poison the rats, then there would be more poop"
A dead rat? "That proves that the poison's working"
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That was a really nice part of the movie.

The only problem with the flash is that the voice acting was a little weak. Though some of the characters were portrayed well, when a character was shouting, such as the employee of McDarnolds, you seemed to yell, but you were kind of holding back when you recorded it. It seemed muffled, as if you were trying to shout in a library.

Despite a bit of weak voice acting, it was a smooth animation with great realistic artwork and original, creative characters, and good for a quick laugh, too. It's sad there isn't a part two, but this is capable of being a standalone short for anyone to enjoy.

Well done. 9/10 and 5/5 goes to this movie.

[SBC's Cookie Clockmas!]

Wow.

This short was virtually flawless. The way you capture all the emotions and talking through just a simple clock amazed me. This flash was also extremely funny, I actually believed at one point that SBC knew what he was doing, until I saw that he put the WHOLE egg into the mix. Your art was amazing too, especially the inside of the mall, with the tropical plants and whatnot.

Another incredible job by Rupee clock!

RupeeClock responds:

Wow, you actually paid attention to the contents of the bowl. :D

[SHiSHOW: Whipp-ed Cream]

Hehe. Nice!

Pretty good, it was smooth claymation, and it gave me a pretty good laugh! (Matt Y)