The-Swain's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Tank Epic]

Huazzh

This deserves a place in the Tankmen series page, and with it a place in the hall of legendary fan films.

Content-wise I'd complain about it not being a comedy, but I liked how you kinda fill in the blanks on the setting of the series itself, with your take on the combat that has defined the world in which the Tankmen effort to be funny. I'm sure that's an element of the series that many people have been wondering about, and your suggestion makes for great entertainment indeed.

For that sir, I thank you. Good luck!

-Swain

[Tankmen Infinity]

Impressed

The idea of a self-contained fan episode is an awesome idea. Although there was a lot of deviation from JohnnyUtah's style, there were a lot of unique additions to keep this thing interesting...for me, it was namely the pseudo 3d, which lent a lot of uniqueness to the characters. I especially liked the loyalty to the voice styles of the original characters, and the dramatic angles had me pretty jealous some of the time :D

Some of the jokes weren't my flavor, though I liked most of the humor. And your timing was spot-on.

Good luck in the competition! I'll cross my fingers for ya.

-Swain

[Purple Sawdust]

Hurray for Pico/NG Day!

And a special thanks FROM The Swain <3

I still think the ending is really solid, and the colors have only improved from your last update. Well done!

-Swain

ImpendingRiot responds:

Thanks dude, yeah.. I wanted to call it 'finished' but I kept tinkering right up to midnight

[Ng Voicemail #973]

Goodness

Ooh, a bomb threat huh? Maybe there'll be a sequel when he makes his one phone call from juvey. Also, wtf.

-Swain

[History of an Animation]

Swoosh!

Neat concept! I liked that it wasn't about the flipbooks so much as the transitions between them. The character's comical run at the end felt pretty enthusiastic, I don't know how else to describe it but it had the kinda flare that I enjoy.

And I don't know if you watch much of the Greasy Moose series here on NG, but the final stage of your character reminded me a bit of Gooseman ;)

-Swain

Jasmerrin responds:

Wow... I'm just amazed that you've seen and liked one of my movies. You're one of my biggest heroes in terms of flash animators, and your comments are very much appreciated. I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

Also, Greasy Moose is a series I haven't followed, but I'll definately check it out now!

Thanks!

[Charlie the Unicorn 2]

Uh oh.

I hate writing negative reviews, but I really do want to help by way of insight, so if you make a habit of reading your reviews then please don't take this for any more than my pesonal criticism. That having been said, here we go.

Straight to the point, I was terribly unimpressed with the humor in this submission. The main difference between this episode and the previous is that the first one was very unpredictable, while this episode was inconsistently random. I am a huge fan of unpredictability and being surprised by characters, but seriously...vortexes and jetpacks and bananas? It seems like you copied all the wrong things from the last episode and left out all of the endearing traits, and rather than leaving me wondering what would happen next, I became fearful of whatever irrelevant gag would follow.

Keep in mind, the first episode was not random. Its many traits were all very explicitly linked and felt like they belonged together. Think of it: a cartoon about mythical creatures who seek out a mythical land/object, who engage in a long quest to get there, who meet an oracle to guide them (even the dinosaur felt like it belonged for all its randomness, being that it's a fantastic beast just like Unicorns). It all felt very 'mythical', which contrasted against a disgruntled Unicorn and his peppy companions, followed by a punchline that contrasted even more heavily to the theme.

And then you made a sequel that forewent any of the incredible traits of the first and just recycled the delivery and process of the first but replaced the gags with irreverent randomness. And what's worse is that you combined the two: You actually made a "random" cartoon extremely predictable by making it exactly the same in structure as the last. As soon as the musical segment started, I immediately knew that Charlie would be duped and then something bad would happen at his expense. Randomness and predictability are horrible, horrible bedfellows.

As an aside, Charlie's voice sounded incredibly unispired this time. I don't know, it just sounded insincere and forced and noticeably lazy, whereas it was amazingly enthusiastic in the first episode. The little colored Unicorn duo were consistent with the last episode though, so unless the voice actors are different then I don't know why only Charlie suffered from a quality recess.

As for positives, the artwork changes made for the main characters were consistent with the style established in the first, and considering how long it's been since the previous episode, this is definitely a blessing. And voice acting notwithstanding, the sound quality was phenomenal.

Anyway, the reason for this kind of hefty review is that I actually like your work (the piece with the Aliens and the "Last Unicorn" was glorious). This one was just terribly uninspired I thought, though it would be unjust of me to blame you for probably following the demands that people have put on you since the first Charlie became popular. Just realize that what people want isn't always what they need.

You are much, much, much better at creating new material than recycling old work, and I sincerely look forward to your future original projects. :)

-Swain

[The Creation of High Art]

Needs more animtion. Still entertaining!

It's funny that the "rules" governing what makes something "art" can really only be practiced by those who are aware of them, as there is no way to accidentally stumble upon the myriad theories that make it up. Revolutions in art are rare, as it's not a simple task to WHOOPS! accidentally create the new amendment to the rules that everyone henceforth will follow. So, between artistic revolutions, it's popular to work toward a standard in art that has been historically established by other artists to lend authenticity, virtue, and most importantly value to their work over all others. Being creative isn't the same as following guidelines that, if you DO follow them, lend more and more integrity to those artistic masters who once upon the time established them, and to the people who these days uphold them.

These days we call it a circle-jerk tho.

-Swain

[Another Day Eight]

Finally ready to review! :D

Whew, I had to watch it a number of times to feel like I was ready to tackle this one. Let's go through the things that I thought made this a quality piece first eh?

Firstly, I really liked the limited palette of this scenery. It's quite easy to stay focused on the characters given that Blue and Red Rabbit are each totally loyal to one of the three CMYK primaries. I know that their colors were established through past episodes, but that actually has me wondering about side "characters" such as the bird family that walks by - were they supposed to be a focal point, or just scenery? My money was on scenery because you have them colored generally the same as their surroundings.

The wavy linework is hypnotic as usual, too, though it felt to me like it was a lot more standardized this time around. What I mean by that is, it felt more like there was a consistent system in place for animating your sceney lines, whereas in previous AD toons it felt more like you went scene by scene and went about it individually. I could be wrong of course, but that's how I figured it.

Incidentally I watched the cartoon every time with headphones on, and one thing that was a little too strident for me was the balance in the music between instruments and vocals.

Great job Dim! I'm thrilled you finally got it done, nearly a year after the last time I asked you about it haha :D

[Space Alligator Episode 1]

I let the Oh Snap scene loop quite a few times...

...just to make sure :D

Boooooo, bring back Gay Banana!

"I love you as a friend Gay Banana, but nothing more!"

-Swain

tlgmedia responds:

We still have those audio files. Maybe next year?