TheReviewTrickster's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Project Douglas | Episode 1 | Late]

The animation, while not being very polished and quite simple, has a certain charm to it and I appreciate it. I have to say, though, faces and no bodies being clearly visible through glass are pretty jarring. The set-up isn't terribly original but I still find it fun enough. I think the random way characters are introduced and interact is a bit weird, it feels forced, like people are showing up for their lines and then being told off by the protagonists 'cause there's nothing else for them to do. There were some nice jokes, the Mark Wahlberg dad one being an entertaining one and I really liked the "Oh ghank God, it's just a student" one, since I really had no idea where that situation would go! Some of the time, I found things hard to understand. The characters talk over each other at times and it's also partially down to me not always getting the accents, which is mostly okay 'cause, well, I'm just not familiar with them. There's also a problem where some characters talk much louder than others (the dude in the car) or some sounds (the music in the car) are significantly louder than the rest, so I had to keep switching volumes. Try to get them to more similar volumes in the future if you can and maybe find a way to make some lines overlap less with other sounds or have the voice acting be more easily understandable. I think there could sometimes be confusion, too, since characters often speak before they appear and when the dude who got hit by a car first appeared I couldn't tell where he was or what he was doing.
Overall, a fun first episode that has potential and I would like to see more of, with some fixable technical problems and lacking a bit in plot fluidity, which is something you'll get better at with time. Cheers!

ChrisMcCarthy responds:

Thank you so much for the response brother, deffo given me a load to work on !!!!!!

[On The Hill]

It's cute, though the brightness might be a tad too high. However, as it has no sound and is essentially a loop where nothing really happens, I feel like it'd be just fine as a GIF in the Art Portal. I'm looking forward to any more substantial movies you might decide to submit in the future, though.

[it's just not my day today]

This is the kind of weird stuff I like. It's really short, but it carries a lot of vibe. The music and voice combined are soothing, nearly hypnotic, and I like that. Honestly, not much use trying to put the atmosphere into words. It's just very chill, a little random-funny, overall a nice little thing. Keep it up!

[Mantaur]

The idea is pretty cute, and I like the characters. Really fluid animation, too. The Mantaur was a joy to look at. The humor was actually pretty funny and I think the girl and the old man are a pretty cool duo. The writing could be a bit better, though, 'cause "Nothing you can do can escape Mantaur" is not a great sentence, both because of the two cans and because of the fact that what she does isn't what needs to escape, she is. The ending is also kinda lacking, I'd like to see her at least show up back home. The voice acting is good, especially on Mantaur, but the girl could be a bit more articulate at times. However, the biggest problem is the sound design. Some of the dialogue is really quiet compared to the rest and thus harder to understand.
Overall, this was like a fun treat, but there's still room for improvement and I'm glad you've learned a lot making it. I'm sure your next works are gonna be even better and keep improving on this!

SimonBeed responds:

Thanks for the review! It was my first time making a film so there's a lot i can improve on for sure! That and time limits didn't help either. actually the Mantaur part was a whole 30 seconds longer but juggling with modeling the background in 3d and animating the whole thing was pretty tough. Making a film is certainly something that needs to be honed over time I believe so hopefully I'll have more opportunities in the future!

[Murder Mystery]

I don't watch Eddsworld, but I still think I should have been able to tell what was going on more than I did. The problem is, you don't show tge right things happening. Dude goes to get the newspaper, doesn't open the door, doesn't pick it up, just suddenly has it and throws it back. The villain guy isn't actually shown getting shot. Why'd he even attack them? Where did they go to look for the murderer? It took me a while to get the 911 thing cause the operator on the other side never said anything and I thought they were asking for money. You need to show the important things and not just the characters' reactions to them and you need to follow a more logical plot. The animation needs improvement, yes, and the text needs to look a bit better and not flicker, but most of all you need to make sure we know what's going on and try to come up with a story that isn't just random things happening. You could also add more sound effects to enhance the experience.
Overall, yes, it's a low score, but nobody starts out perfect. Just keep at it and you'll improve!

[Clocklament]

Very interesting twist ending indeed and an effortless commentary on life during a global pandemic.
The animation was pretty nice and the action was exciting enough. The jokes didn't really land all the way for me, though. I mean I liked the giant pube robot and the pube door and some SBC lines, but I guess I just didn't get the ZedrinBot stuff. The whole thing didn't feel that original, to be honest. Maybe next year, with SBC living a new life, we'll get to see something new happen.
Anyways, happy belated Clock Day and hail the King of the Portal!

[Clocks of the BBS 2020]

Oh, nice! I liked this little presentation, feels quaint and comfy. The claps really added to the comedy of some of the images and made even the lowest-effort one funny that way. There were also some really nice edits. Happy belated Clock Day!

Little-Rena responds:

Thanks, and it was certainly a better turnout this year! Last years was very rushed!

Happy belated Clock day!

[Clockse]

I appreciate the originality for sure, did not expect all that to happen. The sounds are pretty gross but that's the point, I'd imagine.

[Pass The Spam Drei]

A stark and stunningly piercing allegory for the struggle of women in a patriarchal world, this year's "Pass The Spam Drei" has shown the Clock Crew more than capable of executing a precise and tactically shocking political piece to make us question everything we took for granted.
The animation really had a lot of variety and that's something I really appreciate. I loved the story, I think stuff like this is what the CC are best at. It got a bit random, but that's kinda the point. Still though, most of the jokes weren't just random, they were well-timed, relied on the characters quite a bit, and there weer some nice running gags. Really stellar work! Happy belated Clock Day!