Alter-native's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Have A Heart!]

Incredible Super Smooth Animation... But...

It’s not a good message to send. There are plenty of people out there who are decent enough who are insecure about their looks and others who try to please and simp for a person who has no interest in them other than their body. The magical girl transformation is funny enough, but the fact that our protagonist is essentially expanding her breasts and thighs to attract her love is far cry from old tried and true wisdom like “it’s the inside that counts”.

It would have been smarter to show the girl going on a date with the guy, only to realize that all he cares about is her sexy body, and to discover the disillusionment that comes when the one you love only sees you as a trophy or object and not a person.

tansau responds:

I wasn't trying to send a message. I'm all about tits and asses, my dude. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

[Sonic Meets Friday Night Funkin' ~ Rap Battle Showdown]

Way Way Way Waaaaaay Past Cool.

I thought the first part was so so. Kinda reminded me of Parrappa . Not even that great of a rap battle, just Sonic repeating the guy’s lines with small twists and winning.

Then Eggman comes in. With the meta commentary on the whole franchise.

Sonic games and media were best in the 1990’s. The games had great music, lighting fast thrills, and we’re just all around fun to the play. Archie comics had built an entire universe complete with story arcs and complex character development. Though Fleetway in the UK also had their own expansive universe.

Then around the Dreamcast era, said comics verses were ignored in favor of the developer’s canon.

But is was okay. Sonic Adventure was a fresh start. It was good storyline with characterization that was consistent with other Sonic media. There was no Sally, Rotor or Bunnie Rabbot, or Planet Mobius but Sonic was still snarky and cool, Tails was still an adorable genius, Knuckles was a brave but easily duped guardian of the Emeralds with a mysterious family line, and Eggman/Robotnik was still a maniacal goofball. Overall Sonic Adventure was an micro epic tale with multiple characters whose stories intersected pulp fiction style. And each one had a different gameplay style. The alternative game styles were hit and miss, but it all kept the game fresh and the music was still good, and the game even ends with an epic Super Sonic climax. It was awesome.

Then came Sonic Adventure 2. The same idea, but a nixing on alternate gameplay styles. 3 good guys, and 3 “dark” guys, gameplay is reduced to classic Sonic/Shadow “speed” levels (I love) Knuckles/Rogue scavenger hunt levels (I hate), and Tails/Eggman mecha levels (I like). The story was still epic, and started to develop an interesting backstory for Robotnik with his grandfather Gerald bioengineering life with an experimental hedgehog named Shadow who befriended granddaughter before the government tried to shut him down. The story was much darker this time around. In this game it was confirmed that’s Sonic’s home planet is Earth, which dashes out the idea of Mobius and Planet Freedom and then raises a lot of questions(If these adventures took place on Earth, then why all the giant mushrooms, loop de loop terra formations, magical emeralds, floating rings, and talking animal people?)

Sonic heroes came, and it was all speed levels from there. Aside from bringing back Shadow and the return of the Chaotix and the return of Metal Sonic, the story here was mostly throw away. The game was still fun, but cracks started to show with the controls and level design.

Shadow the hedgehog set out to develop the Character of Shadow and shed more light on the backstory in SA2. It was darker, but in a ham fisted ridiculous way. The gameplay was more shoddy this time around, due to a poorly implemented “branching path objective based” gameplay with a Kotor/BioWare “morality compass” shoe horned in. This destroys the characterization of Shadow because it removes any sense of consistency in personality(Angry nihilist? Depressed suicidal hero? or edgy snarky antihero? I guess we can officially say he is divided)

Sonic 06 was a glitchy buggy mess that should have either been cancelled or delayed till significant improvement. Everyone knows this story. Aside from the production value of the final Fantasy style cutscenes and a few music tracks, everything about this entry fall apart in the worst way possible.

While the handheld games were always generally good, the console entries had been hit or miss at this point. They also abandoned any notion of developing the world in favor of recycled plot lines interspersed with comedy quips. Sonic Unleashed had fun regular speed levels, but dumb “were hog” levels that aped God of War’s combat and atrocious qte based Tornado plane levels(This is Sega, why didn’t these just play like Panzer Dragoon?).

Then Sonic Colors came and that was generally good. But again the story was throwaway except for some good comedy. The scenario writers truly ran out of ideas for what to do with these characters and their world.

Sonic Boom the westernized reboot was a short lived effort. The main game was atrocious, the handheld game was passable, the tv show was... actually kind of funny.

Overtime, the official Sonic Twitter became self aware of the state of the franchise. And understood how hit and miss the games are, and how silly to downright deranged some Sonic fans were(almost as bad as furries), and gave the fan base an ironic self depreciating demeanor.

When the trailer of the new Sonic movie came out, Sonic fans managed to do what no other fandom has been able to do, and got the studio to rework the character model and animation and tweak the film into a less cringey product.

I saw the film myself, and I would say my favorite parts were the beginning, the parts with Jim Carrey, and the end. It was an okay so-so movie, but it did give me hope for a better sequel at least.

[The Great Reptar Adventure]

This...
Is kinda like that infamous storyboard...

Voices don’t really evoke or match the characters but then again, this a silly out-of-character-wacko-non-canon scenario. And I’d be lying if I said didn’t find it somewhat funny.

[Dump and restore]

Sometimes You’re Better Off with the Devil You Know...

Then the Devil you don’t.

[Animation for a friend (starring Kumiko from Hibike! Euphonium)]

Short, Simple, Yet the Best of Both Worlds..

There may be no sound in this animation, but I do love how you applied western style squash and stretch to an anime/manga design. That’s fresh. I’ve seen this character before. I think she’s from an anime about high school girls in an orchestra club. What’s it called?
Regardless I’ll be rewatching this.

[Cuphead Song!]

First, the Positives:

I can recognize all the locations and characters on screen from Cuphead. They are least drawn well enough to be recognizable.

Also that chiptune music is pretty awesome. Sounds like Tim Follins.

Now The Negatives:

While the artwork does represent cuphead, it needs work on some fundamentals. Golden Age cartoon art is actually quite well constructed with it's inky rubber hose people and bouncy vibrancy with characters always bouncing to some kind of beat, despite some simplistic aspects. Here, every thing seems to be a little stiff. I have I hard time at this kind of stuff too, adding a realistic sense of weight and proportion to objects. There's other little details missing too.

The animation is kind of lack luster, and there's not enough action. Cuphead is the only character I see in this animation. When I think of cuphead, I usually think of him zipping about, somersaulting over projectiles and and zapping enemies with the rapid snapping of his fingers.

And finally the autotune. Every true and professional musician I know advises against autotune, because it is not a good substitute for vocal due to a lackluster singing ability. It can only cover it up so much. You should practice your own vocal talent with rehearsals to make sure you hit each note, pitch, tone, and key. I also noticed the lyrics don't quite fit the music because there's either not enough words to hit each note in a melodic measure, or the words are not spaced out enough to fill the measure.

I know there are some software out there that can help.

I used to use a software called "Singing Coach." It's 19.99 on amazon. I suggest it because it is a little like a toned down version of Kareoke Revolution, and it's cheap readily available. There's also "Singing Method" which is more expensive, but might be better.

Back in the day, I used to play Kareoke Revolution on the Ps2, that helped me sing a little better(I used sing really terribly, now, I'm not that good, but definitely better than as a child). A more current game called "Rock Band" has a vocal mode where you can sing a song and you are scored based on performance.

SuperLucas responds:

Dude, I'm just a boy that wants to do animation for fun. People expect kids to be talented but not too talented.

['La Yema']

This Delightful Short Reminded Me of a George Carlin Routine:

"How come when it's a human being, they call it an abortion, but when it's a chicken, it's called an omelette?

Are we so much better than chickens?

When did that happen?

Name 6 ways we are better than chickens.
...

See? No one can do it.
Know why? Because chickens are decent people.

You don't see chickens hanging around in drug gangs.
You don't see chickens strapping a guy to a chair and hooking his nuts to a car battery.
And when's the last time you heard a chicken coming home from work to beat the shit out of his hen?

'Doesn't happen.
Want to know why?
Because chickens are decent people."

[first animation by using grease pencil in blender 2.80]

Gosh This Looks Good.

It's like I'm watching the rough animation for a real television anime. I guess the only thing I can criticize about it is that 1. It's just a test and thus obviously unfinished and 2. The background needs more work though rough of the soccer net is off to a good start.

pushpendrasingh2719 responds:

yaa I am just testing blender grease pencil. next, I will remembering your advice.

[SLIPSTREAM - ANIMATED SHORT]

The Finishing Line

I do have some mixed feelings on the character designs, which I feel are crude, angular, inconsistent, imitations of anime designs, but though they lack qualities from professional manga art, but they are surprisingly animated very well. Everything is at least animated well in this short with a smooth framerate and proper use of light and shadow. The CGI is actually quite good and on model. And everything else such as the rain and lighting effects are incredibly top notch.

It almost reminds me of Initial D, except with Formula 1 style racing cars instead of ricer mod Hondas and Civics.

AshIshaq responds:

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely agree with the inconsistency of the character designs.

[Dance with me]

The Animation Layout Is Quite Good.

With some cleanup here and there, this could easily be a celluloid style animation too.