Rocketlex's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Morphemon Duelists 1.5]

Getting back on track...

I didn't post a review of 1.4 and, though I enjoy this series, I kinda considered it a low point. This episode has restored my faith, as it doesn't rely on random humor as much and is getting back to playing off the quirkyness of the characters (which, to me, is the best part of this series.)

The random and sexual humor has never really done much for me. It's not that I want it eliminated, because it's funny out of the blue and in small doses, but what drew me into this series was how, in episodes 1.1-1.3, the humor came more from the clever spoofing of the genre as a whole rather than simply putting the genre's archetypes in offbeat situations (as usually happens when people do "Collection Anime" spoofs.)

This was a definite improvement over 1.4, but I hope that maybe as the series progresses you'll focus more on developing the story and characters and making fun of the stylistic and narrative cliches of the genre (which, as you have shown, you CAN do quite well.)

I eagerly await the start of episode 2. If it lives up to the tremendous potential this series has, Morphemon Duelists will BE the coolest.

PiGPEN responds:

It's gonna be a long while before episode 2 because while the script is done (you wont be dissapointed) the voices are at 0% complete and because of the planned change in style for episode 2 i need to get a wacom (so expensive T_T).
Episode 1 was meant to be the second most random episode and the one with the least depth...you'll be completely full and sick of depth after seeing episode 2.

[Morphemon Duelists 1.3]

A great submission!

This is probably my favorite new series on Newgrounds at the moment. This is the slickest and most clever parody of "monster collection" anime I've ever seen, and it only got better with this episode.

The voices are probably my favorite part of this. It's too bad you had a falling out with the guy who played Kit, here, because I absolutely LOVED Kit's voice this time around. Whoever it was really nailed the exaggerating, somewhat unnatural voices you hear in a lot of english anime dubs (especially dubs aimed at children). This is not to say the rest of the voices weren't great, too. My only real problem was with Barber's voice, which just sounded a little too genaric, but even he fit his character well. (By the way, although Kit's voice stole the show this time around, I've always loved Phallimon's voice. Anything he says with that loud, robotic monotone is funny.)

As for the spoofing itself, I liked this better than the last two simply because the jokes were a little more subtle and unexpected. With parody, you don't necessarilly need "jokes," but can make audiences laugh just with slight exaggerations of common elements of the genre. You do this very well, from the character designs to the environments to the overall format of the story.

One question, though. When you're done with episode 1.5 (which I believe you said would end episode one) do you have any plans to edit all five pieces together into a single episode one? It might be kinda cool. I dunno, just a thought.

Keep up the good work. Can't wait for 1.4.

PiGPEN responds:

The guy who played Kit in this one will be in 1.4 and 1.5 (he already recorded them all) he just wont be credited...mwahahahaha! *evil*
And yeah when episode 1 is finished i'll stich em all together and i guess make it available at my site.

[Down At Juice Bar]

This was nice,,,

While I definitely enjoyed this, I still think that Bad Guys II is your best work so far. While I understand that the focus of these pieces is supposed to be on the dialoge and not the visuals, and I get the message in tha last episode that people shouldn't criticize your movies on the basis of looks alone...the all-Bad=Guys look just came off a little too simple at times. The "human" guys, be it with their mouths or just tweening as they walk, are usually moving in some way at all times, while the Bad Guys move frame-by-frame. While the Bad Guys look nice in CONTRAST with them, watching the Bad Guys alone just becomes a slide show. Even with the arm movements, the general lack of motion becomes a little obtrusive at times.

You said you were looking to improve the Bad Guys' design. Maybe eyes (for facial expressions) would help. It would add a layer of visual interest which would be helpful. (When you see a human character, you immediately look to their face, so having a totally blank face kinda loses some of the impact).

All that said, I loved this movie. This is really just a minor gripe, and it's not so much a gripe as something which could just make the Bad Guys all that much better in the future. Your dialouge is, once again, brilliant, and your voices are hilarious.

Keep up the good work!

ChrisNosal responds:

I've thought about giving them eyes. I was originally going to do that for this episode, but I didn't like how it looked. If I try harder I might be able to come up with something good though.

I get what you're saying about the slideshow feel. The way I want to improve that is not necessarily animating the characters more, but putting them in more animated situations. Like riding in a car, and we'd see the car moving, but the characters would still be simple. Stuff like that.

Thanks.

[Sceb's 21st Mailbag]

Very nice, and I think I see the problem here...

I;m a big fan of your site and the mailbags. Before I review this, I'd like to note something about the people saying that this is like the Strong Bad Emails. I personally don't think that your Mailbags are that similar to the SBEmails, but this PARTICULAR one seemed more like an SBEmail than most. Usually, mailbags consist of multiple characters, behind-the-scenes references to the site, and discussions of current games and technology, all of which set it apart from H*R. This one, however, followed the standard SBEmail formula of one email-one funny resulting skit-end with easter eggs. So, I can see why people said you were ripping off H*R, even though I know you weren't trying to.

As for this actual Mailbag, It was good. Sceb's delivery was funny and the ad had some funny moments. My only real complaint here is that the easter egg at the end was rather unsatisfying. I'm not sure if something's supposed to happen with Clydex because I stopped watching him look around after like two minutes, but something more could have been done there.

Personally, I think that you should submit some of your other mailbags. Not only are some of them much funnier IMO (not that this isn't,) but most of them are much less Homestar-esque than this particular one you submitted.

But hey, they're you're cartoons and you can do what you want. Hope you keep making them, because they're really great.

JKR responds:

Wow! Thanks so much for the long, well-thought-out review! Not only is it always nice to hear positive feedback, but the fact that you explained your comments and ideas really means a lot. Thank you.
I see your point. This Mailbag did seem more like an SBemail than some of the others. I'll keep that in mind for next time. Though I may still not be submitting any Mailbags here to NG anytime soon, you can bet they'll continue on over at www.FredtheMonkey.com, so keep watching! Thanks again!!

[Oh My God - Episode 2]

There's room for improvement...

This looks like the start of an interesting series, but there's still some room for improvement. For example:
-Try drawing a couple more frames for the characters, or give them more joints or something to make them more expressive. Your characters are well-drawn but they could use some more motion.
-The pacing of some scenes felt off, with wierd pauses in the dialouge. That could use a little tightening.
-Have the voice actors try to all speak at the same volume. Dan's voice in particular was hard to hear at points.

Aside from that, this was really nice. If you work on the things I mentioned this could be the next big thing on Newgrounds. I can't wait for more!

Xenon responds:

Thank you for the honest, informative review.