AfroUnderscoreStud's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sweet Mother of Vartan]

More like watching a cartoon on T.V. than a Flash!

That was incredible and just completely different from any other flash movie, I've never seen a flash put together like this before! this was more like watching a professional cartoon on T.V. than watching a flash movie! Perhaps you should look into making a T.V. career out of this, if you haven't already. The only problem with this was the sound, it didn't seem to be particularly well done, the voices were very hard to understand, it sounded like the mouths were too close to the microphones, perhaps you could have had optional subtitles so that you could read what was being said, as it would have been much more enjoyable if you'd known 100% what was going on.

I found the Copyright bar a little too distracting at times, perhaps you could have included a little button which would have hidden it if you'd clicked it, and it could reappear if you scrolled your mouse across the bottom of the movie. Doing so would still have made the message appear originally, so no-one could claim it to be theirs.

The sound in the opening sequence, up until the two announcers talking, was too quiet, the music, the sounds of the people in the queue and the crowd noises should have been louder as it seemed too odd having it at a really quiet volume. Having it louder would have drawn you into the movie more.

I liked how right from the start you created the sense of mystery around 'The Two Ton Terror' by having a close up of the poster with him on, you instantly knew something was going to happen involving him, but you weren't quite sure who or what he was due to being unable to see him.

The announcers were really hard to understand due to the voice actors mouth being too close to the microphone, and at one point too far away, subtitles were an essential here in order for you to understand fully, I'm not sure whether you intended the voices to be like this or not, but still subtitles would have been very nice to have. Also the volume level of their voices kept getting considerably quieter and then louder, you either should have had it at the same/similar volume, or had the announcer keep moving the microphone away/towards his mouth to make there be a reason for this.

I liked the entrance of 'The Two Ton Terror' as the lights went out and you had a low angle shot of the gate rising, followed by close-up's of his opponents face, and a slow low-angle scrolling up shot of 'The Two Ton Terror's' body, it was a nice series of shots, which were a great way to get across the fact that the guy was someone to fear. Though perhaps you could have had the gate rising a little slower. It would have added to the suspense and made him seem even scarier, as it seemed to raise a little too fast.

I liked his entrance to the ring, since you couldn't see him, you weren't sure at all of who or what he was, but you got the impression that he was some kind of mighty demon. He even made a guy cry as he walked past him which was funny to see.

I liked how you showed his opponents thoughts, it was a great way to see what was going through his mind and it gave you a nice little insight into his character. As you clearly saw that money mattered more to him than anything, since he was prepared to risk his life for it. The thought bubbles worked really well in showing this, much better than any other method would have done.

I liked how when 'The Two Ton Terror' finally did remove his hooded top, you saw him from the back and you still weren't sure who or what he was until you finally decided to show him from the front and you found out he was only human. It was nice how you decided to keep up the mystery about who he was for so long, though when he was finally revealed, it made him seem much less threatening, despite his tough appearance.

Unfortunately there's not enough space for me to leave my full review here. If you wish to read it fully, go to the website in my profile. You will find the full review in the 'Character Breaking Reviews' forum, with the thread titled 'Sweet Mother of Vartan'.

Peace Out, Afro Stud

4/5

[MK vs. SF]

One of the best MK+SF movies.

When you clicked the 'about' button to read the background to the story, perhaps you could have made the background go black instead of keeping the background showing Ken and Raiden. As it would have made the text a little clearer, as there were a few places where the text and the background collided a little, and those with poor eyesight may have struggled to read it. That's no real big problem though, but just a little suggestion.

The same with when you pressed the 'play' button, perhaps you could have had a plain black background here too as there also was a bit of text-background collision here too, though on a lesser scale. Another suggestion for this part would have been if you'd added in a voice reading out the story, perhaps that was something you wanted to do though, but left it out due to not wanting to increase the filesize. It could have done with some music as well, as it took a little while to read through the whole thing, and the music would have made reading through it more entertaining.

When Chun-Li came in the graphics collision between the Street Fighter graphics and the Mortal Kombat graphics didn't look too good, but then that's always a problem when using the combination of those sprites within movies, due to how severely different their graphical style is. Self drawn characters would have solved the problem, but then again, you were going for a sprite movie here.

Perhaps you could have had the characters in the background moving more as the fight was taking place, just having three of the five characters make slight movements at the start wasn't enough and it made the characters seem more like statues as opposed to living people, which didn't seem all that good. Now I'm not saying they needed to be constantly moving, but a little piece of movement from them all every now and then would have made this sequence seem so much better, just having their heads follow Chun-Li as she was hit back and forth would have been sufficient, or perhaps they could have had some other form of movement, just anything to make them look like people and not statues.

Also whenever Kintaro walked a white border would appear around him every now and then, perhaps you could go back and edit this.

When Chun-Li got hit through the concrete it would have been nicer if the concrete had fallen to the floor instead of just vanishing in mid-air, but then again that's what normally happens within videogames like this, so then again maybe not, it would depend on what your aim was, whether you wanted there to be a realistic feel to it or not. Also the use of solely one shade of brown didn't make the hole look like a hole, perhaps you could have given it a bit of shading so that it looked more like one.

Again another minor complaint about text, with the text boxes for the characters speaking to each other, again there was a minor clash between the colour of the text and the background, perhaps a darker shade of blue would have done the job, as again those with not particularly good eyesight may have struggled slightly to read it.

In the next scene where Kintaro jumped and landed causing the ground to shake, white lines appeared at the top and bottom of the screen. It was a nice effect by having the screen shake as he landed, maybe the white lines appeared because you didn't have more of the top or bottom of the background, if so a possible solution for this would have been if you'd zoomed in more, then the white lines wouldn't have appeared and also you could have made it shake a little more to further dramatise the effect.

Unfortunately there's not enough space for me to leave my full review here. If you wish to read it fully, go to the website in my profile. You will find the full review in the 'Character Breaking Reviews' forum, with the thread titled 'MK vs. SF'.

Peace Out, Afro Stud

2/5

[Mrs. Butcher]

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

The opening title screen worked really well by just showing the eyes, it gave a great impression of the flash and got you interested straight away, it was a great way of revealing what the flash was about but still not revealing too much.

I liked how he immediately woke up the second his phone went off and then he answered it, though he seemed to respond to it a little too quick, perhaps you could have made his reaction take a little longer as that would have made it seem a little more realistic, but then maybe that was the effect you were going for, I'm not too sure.

It was a little hard to understand what was being said at times, particularly when Harut and Mrs. Butcher were talking at the same time. Perhaps you could have included optional subtitles in the flash which you could turn on and off whenever you desired as that would have allowed you to fully understand everything that was being said.

It was a great additional over the top joke as Mrs. Butcher pulled out the class rules and cited rule 5 in it's entirety, just to tell Harut that cell phones weren't allowed in class.

It was funny when immediately after he had his phone confiscated he had a call on his back up phone which again he answered straight away. I liked how such a school event was all happening to a grown man and how he got the same reaction as a child would have done, when in reality the reaction would have been quite different.

The next reaction as the cell phone went off again was great, it was nice to see something different and it was done in such a funny way, as Mrs. Butcher left the room to come in dressed as Boudicca and on horseback. It was great how the repeated cell phones had completely irritated her to such a level and her reaction to the event as she charged into Harut was great to see.

What happened next was done to absolute perfection as another phone went off, only this time it wasn't Harut's and it was slowly revealed who it was. The reaction from everyone was perfect as they all suddenly rushed out the room leaving him all by himself, the look on his face and his response of 'oh crap' was absolutely brilliant and it was a hilarious little sketch.

It was a great start where you could hear Harut snoring and you scrolled along showing all the students in the class and left Harut till last, it was a great way to start by not fully revealing who it was at first and also introducing all the characters straight away.

Overall it was quite simply amazing, the improved graphics and the fluid animation were simply brilliant to watch and the scripting made it even better. It was even more like watching an actual cartoon on T.V. than 'Sweet Mother Of Vartan' was. Ignoring the sound, the entire movie was done to perfection, you got it the perfect length and everything, by repeating the joke the correct amount of times and by leaving it exactly where you did. Anyway, well done, brilliant job, keep up the brilliant work.

Peace Out, Afro Stud

5/5

[Harut Raps]

Bland.

It just wasn't very interesting at all and there wasn't anything new on offer, it was more of an advertisement for your flash than a flash movie itself. Just a few pieces of animation from previous episodes in this series with a rap song put over it. It would have been better if you'd made a new animation to go with the rap and perhaps the rap itself could also have been a bit longer to add more to it.

The animation at the very start with Harut against the black background was very poor, the mouth movement was fine but the dance was just a simple resizing tween of him, perhaps it would have been better and also funnier if you'd put more time into it and had him doing a funny looking dance of some sort, that took more skill then a resizing tween.

When you showed all the clips from the previous episodes perhaps you could have had it smaller and up in the top left corner and had Harut in the bottom right doing a dance and a rap, as that would have added a little more to it and would have made it better than just a few reused animation clips.

Also there wasn't very many clips and the song was very short, perhaps once you'd gone through all of the clips you could have started a new animation with him rapping and things going on around him, it would have made the flash much more interesting and it would have added some animation to the movie as this movie was very bland and uninteresting as it was.

Overall it was a poor movie, due to the lack of anything new and the lack of animation and any events whatsoever. Perhaps it would have been better if you'd made a new animation to go with the rap instead of reusing old clips, as this movie was just depending entirely on the humour of the song and not on what was taking place on screen, when really the animation should have been the main point since this is a movie and not a music track.

Peace Out, Afro Stud

0/5

[Number Twerve]

Nice, great use of the one location.

When the car pulled up at the start the animation was fairly choppy as it faded from the text to the car and it didn't look too good.

What happened next was fairly obvious, as it was just a cliched drive-thru sketch with the guy not understanding the order. You still managed to pull it off though and I found myself laughing, which is a hard thing to do with that joke due to the amount of times it's been done. I also liked how you managed to repeat it over and over in a row without it growing old, which is what happens in most cases.

I liked how he got on the phone to his brother to ask him what number twerve was in American, it was a nice little joke by having the guy think that American was the name of the language and it was also funny how it sounded exactly the same when he said 'Twerve' and when he said 'Twelve'. It was also a nice little break by having the subtitles at the bottom to show you what was being said.

What happened next, I didn't expect, I was expecting the guy to then finally understand the order and that's what I thought the joke of the movie was going to be. I was pleased to see that it wasn't though and that you decided to continue it.

Again you used another cliched joke, but it still worked really well and again I found myself laughing at how the subtitles were on about such nice, innocent things, while in reality he was actually swearing. I also liekd how you had the screen saying 'many hours after he calmed down' come up and how afterwards he was still swearing away.

I liked how next his co-commentator from Sweet Mother Of Vartan turned up and made an order, I was expecting it to repeat the joke used before with him this time,but I was really pleased to see that you decided to do something different and it was a great laugh out loud joke, by showing the smashed up speaker and it was a great way of showing how angry the original guy had got.

Overall, it was a nice movie, it was funny to watch and despite it being an overdone theme you got it to work really well and the movie was consistently good throughout, there was never really a dull moment. It was great to see that you managed to pull off a good flash movie by only using the one location, it's very hard to make a good movie when you only use one location as there's not the most action involved, but you managed to pull it off, so well done. I was very pleased to see that this time there were no sound problems whatsoever, but perhaps you could have still had optional subtitles.

Anyway, well done, good job, keep up the good work.

Peace Out, Afro Stud

3/5

[From Beast to Beauty]

Nicely done but too short and not very interesting

I didn't like the sky blue border around the outside of the movie, it proved to be too distracting and at times I was focusing on that as opposed to the actual movie itself and there didn't really seem to be any point to it being there.

When the car stopped at the start perhaps the guy in the background could have been doing some sort of activity against the lamp post, something like flipping a coin would have worked. There just needed to be something to make him seem like he wasn't just part of the background, despite the fact that he was irrelevant to the movie. There was also a little patch of red on the blue on the salon that needed to be covered up.

I liked the guy's reaction as he got out the car, by having him looking around it created a good sense of mystery as to what was going on and it kept you intrigued. However none of the growl's seemed like they were coming from him, they seemed like they were coming from around the corner and it gave you the wrong impression, instead of him trying to get into the salon unseen it gave you the impression that he heard the growls and he was scraed about who it was. Perhaps you could have made the growls louder, this would have made it clearer that they were coming from him and not elsewhere. When you had him open the door of the salon quickly and when you had him inside still looking around to make sure no-one saw him, that was a great little touch which worked really well, as was the shaking of the screen to show how hard it was to shave all of the hair off.

The text that followed seemed a little too plain, perhaps you could have made it appear more interesting, but not going overbaord and having it stand out too much. Also, perhaps the text could have faded in on the black background after, instead of automatically being there after the text screen faded in.

I liked the next part, where the salon door opened and you slowly scrolled up the guy, it was a great way to slowly reveal him and to not let you fully see the change automatically, it was very nicely done.

Then it got disappointing, as after the guy drove of in his car it just suddenly ended and it made the haircut seem rather pointless as it didn't seem to be of any importance as it didn't effect the story in any way as there wasn't any, story in this would have given this a great little boost and would have made it much more interesting. Also the sound quality of the engine when you ahd a close-up of the car's number plate seemed to be of a fairly poor quality.

Overall, it was a very nicely done movie, but there wasn't really much about it, it was just a short little overdone sketch that didn't really offer anything interesting. I found it very dissappointing as to how it was just one joke and then it was all over, perhaps you could have had a funny sequence involving the guy before he had his 'hair cut' and another one after in the same location and situation but with different consequences, that would have added more to it and would have made it more interesting to watch and would have made it different than the rest of the movies that use this joke as there would have been some story to go along with it and story is always a good thing to have, as it keeps the audience interested.

Peace Out, Afro Stud

1/5

[eBaums world dot com]

Funny, but could have been better.

First off, you needed to have a way of being able to turn off the subtitles, as once you turned them on, there was no way of turning them off other than closing down the window, add another button in the preloader that you can click to turn them off.

The very start wasn't very interesting as not much was going on on screen, it was just Eric standing there and there was no movement until he stuck his middle finger up, you should have animated him so that he was doing something, something as simple as having him walking would have sufficed. This opening sequence relied too much on the music to keep the interest, there should have been both visual and aural.

The animation of him walking around the world was nciely done, it was a nice way to show that he steals from everywhere. The pictures in the background didn't look too good though, perhaps it would have been better if you'd drawn the images yourself to represent each one, also the images were of a slightly poor quality, which didn't look too good.

I liked it when he pulled out his 'trusty watermark' and stuck it in the bottom left corner of the screen, it was a nice little joke which worked really well. I also liked the part where you had the guy crying and then when he was standing there with no arms and the blood spurting out, it worked really well.

The next part worked well too, with the money eyes, male prstitutes/lawyers, especially when they came forward pointing, also I really liked how you had the internet explorer logo with duct tape and gag ball around it to show that 'the interent became his bitch', it got that message across really well and was a nice funny little visual.

The part about banging his mum wasn't funny, it seemed too immature and it let the movie down somewhat.

I liked how you used the Etch-A-Sketch to show that his website got erased, again it was another funny visual which worked really well in showing a point. It was also funny how, it then wasn't true and how the lyrics then appeared on the Etch-A-Sketch.

Where you had the people all holding hands, you should have gone out further so that you showed more than 4 people, as only having 4 wasn't enough, you needed to have somewhere int he region of 8-10, also you could have had some cameos amongst them to add to the humour.

The end was good after showing everyone holding hands, as each action that took place went perfect with the vocals and got each message across really well. I also liked how you had the "trusty watermark" in the bottom corner of the movie pretty much the whole way through.

Overall it was a funny movie, but it could have been better as there wasn't too much about it that was visually interesting, yes there were moments that were, but it should have been visually interesting throughout and the movie ended up relying too much on the song, when really it should have been both visually and aurally interesting. The humour was pretty much spot on though.

Peace Out, Afro Stud

2/5

altffour responds:

refresh the window to turn off subtitles.

v(`.`)v

[littleFoot]

Cutesy and funny, nicely done.

It startd nicely by havin it all peaceful as the creatures flutterd about, only then for the silence to be broken by a BF tearin the leaves apart and roarin, it was a nice litle shock and by havin that right at the start you got drawn into the movie right away

When the BF was runnin around, the roars wen he was further away wer quieter than they shud hav been. Also wen he ran over the river the animation didnt seem to be fluid enugh. The use of mainly extreme long shots and long shots and then havin a closeup as he roard and lookd around workd realy wel. It got you curius as to wot he was lookin for

The scene wher u showd the waterfall and then quikly went through the trees to show the mysterious creature didnt work too wel, the movement was a litle too fast, it wud hav been betr if youd had it movin slowr and with less distance to travel

I liked the mystery around the creature which first apeared to be a shel. Wen it sudenly ate the fly, it was unexpectd and was a nice litle touch, it was evn beter wen it startd movin, which then got evn beter wen it flew. It was a great litle sequence of unexpected events which worked realy wel. I liked how u made that sequence cary on into havin the BF from earlier appear. It was evn beter when it flew past the litle BF as then you knew exactly what the BF was searchin for, which was a nice way to show this

Wen the litle BF walked out into the field, the zoom out you used to show the litle BF from far away worked realy well in getin across the message that it was lost

I liked how you had Bitey lookin around and how he lookd out into the field and spoted the litle BF in the distance, the music you used instantly told you that Bitey was about to do something evil

The sound efects as the little BF lookd around were realy nicely done, as they gave you the impresion that Bitey was sneakin up on the little BF and it was great when it turnd out to be something else, the misleadin nature of the scene was realy nice to see done

I liked it wen Bitey did apear, the music as the little BF ran worked realy well and it fited perfectly with the action. Again it was another nice litle misleadin sequence as at first you thought that the little BF was actualy getin away from Bitey and that he was havin to run too, but it turnd out he was just havin to walk and was stil catchin up with him. It was a nice unexpected moment which worked briliantly

Then you had another unexpectd moment, it was a great twist as the litle BF sudenly got angry and attacked Bitey, it was great how you made it look like Bitey was going to be beat, only to then make another little twist and have Bitey simply hold the litle BF and keep him away at arms lenth. This was then folowed by another litle twist which workd realy well involvin the BF, the unexpectd shock of it comin out of nowher workd greatly

Then you used another unexpectd moment, you wer expectin Bitey to just leave, but insted he pickd up some grass and threw it in the BFs face, the unexpectedness of it worked brilliantly as did the next part where the BF threw a giant boulder at Bitey, only for you to then use another little twist, followed by another

The sequence where you sped up the time to make nightfall come quicker worked realy well, and the chantin music you used as night came worked briliantly at settin up the sense of mystery and you were imediately drawn in and were realy interested in what was about to happen

I liked the very end scene where you showed the action from Biteys point of view and showed a load of creatures lookin down on him talkin, it created a great sense of mystery due to the fact that you could only see their outlines and the use of the 'to be continued' worked realy well and it's got me looking forward to the next part

It was a realy nice movie that was both cutesy and funny, most of the time the sound fitted perfectly and it was interestin to watch throughout. It wasnt as good as the previous episodes in this series though, as the story wasnt as good. Well done, great job, keep up the great work

Peace Out, Afro Stud

4/5