CroutonsOfDeath's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Markiplier FNAF 3]

So yeah, I gotta admit something. Not to insult the admittedly talented people who do this sorta thing, but I have to admit I could never really get into a lot of fan videos for YouTubers like this mainly because they were just "Here's an animated version of the game for him to walk and talk in" since it just felt... redundant and like there wasn't much creativity, save for the odd fun visual gag. But I gotta give you credit here for actually, y'know, taking the whole idea of "Here's actual chatter he did, in a game he played" but putting a unique story to it. It actually makes me happy to see you go that extra mile.

It looks good too even if I don't know why but I will always hate giant cartoon noses. It makes me think that the world is suffering from some kind of Jimmy Durante disease and are seconds away from grasping their throat and gurglihg "Ah... chah... chah... chaaaaaaa *dying breth*" ....Okay I have no idea what the fuck I was going on about there, but uh... good cartoon. =D

[#CHANGETHEBEES]

God I fuckin' love you. This may sound strange as someone who enjoys comedy, but I rarely literally laugh out loud even when I find something funny (Though I do smile or grin so it's not like you can't tell if you are in the same room with me that I am amused.) but these cartoons legitimately get the laughs out. It's just a perfect blend of the silly with good ol' dark humour hiding in the wings, it really is. Plus it makes me all nostalgic for my high school days and a "Holiday" the students made up, "Worthless Superhero Day" where people come up with the dumbest heroes they can, and Dr. Bees would have earned my vote. x3

[The Family Simp]

OMFG You stole this idea! You are an unoriginal hack, The Jetsams met the Flotstones YEARS ago and realized THEIR show was the same! I mean how could you rip off the blood sweat and tears of William Bannana and Yosef Barbera so blatantly you mean man.

.....
Okay, in all seriousness this was pretty funny. I never tire of your voice(s) and art style, I dunno why but Stewie's... non-expression especially got to me, in fact when I saw it on the Nazi Blimp I about died. I also loved the painting of Mr. Burns in one scene. x3 Plus you pretty much nailed the episode itself, but in 5 minutes instead of an hour!

[Long Story Snort]

That was a fun, quick joke. The voice acting and active animation are probably the reason i'm giving it 3 and a half stars instead of just 3, but 3 isn't bad either. With flashes like this the only point is to get a laugh out of the audience, and you certainly got one! It felt like a good, bite sized Cheech & Chong joke. Though I imagine this guy must not get out much if he's never seen the Winter Blow.

[Didn't Raise No Fools]

That was 30 seconds of absolute nonsense, but despite the overall ranndomness of the gag - I laughed pretty fucking hard. Definitely took me by surprise. The animation wasn't anything stellar, but I suppose it didn't really *need* much animation, and the artwork/perspective is nice and the detail and subtle touches in said perspective make the reveal a bit funnier. The voice ain't bad either. I'll admit I don't quite get what you were going for - unless all you were going for was a laugh. Because you got that.

[Crash Does A Thing]

Hehe, that was fun. ^_^ It's an old formula (Video game character continuously fucks up on doing something relatively simple) but it can still be done right and I think this is a good example. Short, but sweet. The animation was probably the best part, in fact I really like the way Wolfmenrcenary drew Crash. In fact I think I like Crash's visual design here more than I do the actual games, new or old.

[Mak's Parasite]

This is the only flash I've seen by you, apparently it's your second film. And yet I'm calling it - you're one of my new favourite animators. I go fucking nuts for Sleazy animation like this. Kind of reminded me of SuperJail, and that's a plus. I've got a twisted mind and it's got a need for twisted animation, and this certainly served a heaping helping of it! The idea is pretty unique too, and it made for a great mixture of dark humour and violent slapstick. More things I love. I demand you become a regular animator on this site. In fact, let me show this to my wife and see if she agrees, she loves some sleaze as much as me... BRB....

Okay, my wife and I demand you become a regular animator on this site. We are not a force to be trifled with, so as long as we see more of your twisted awesomeness this year and onwards we'll be pretty docile and loving. We might even do.... anything, for more. And we mean ANYTHING. We already got pretty nasty with the Greasy Moose guys.

<3 <3 <3 <3

[Scribblenauts General]

Hah! That was a fun little flash. I don't know why, but I imagine Maxwell going deeper down the well (I think it's that stupid hat - no one sane could wear a hat such as that!) and becoming like that kid from the episode of The Twilight Zone (It's a Good Life) and everyone has to obey and pamper him or else he'll think that they've been bad, and the things he does with his notebook will be far, far worse for them...

Hehe, just a fun extension of the joke here. Also of note in this flash was the voice acting, very well done methinks.

[Sonic's Adventure!]

Ahh, the video game parody. It is a genre of rather questionable quality and consistency. For every genuine "parody" of a video game, you get a googol of horrifically half arsed "parodies" that think parodies are parroting old jokes, memes, or OMFGRANDUMB. I am almost always very wary when I click on the link of a video game parody.

Well, I have good news for those who created this flick - you have landed a GENUINELY GOOD video game parody!! Bravo! This had me smiling ear to ear by the end. Yeah, I dissed bad video game parodies for being "OMFGRANDUMB" and admittedly, this one certainly has an air of randomness to it - but it doesn't rely solely on random, and even then it actually understood how to pull off genuinely "random" humour; see, random humour shouldn't be 100% random. When it's 100% random and just blares out of fucking nowhere, it's more annoying and confusing than funny. Good "random" humour has SOME basis, let's say it's just 75% random - good random humour keeps some firm root in the plot, the parody, or is used to satire other illogic elements. I think the best example in this flash is "ARMS!" That was easily my favourite part, the idea alone had me giggling my arse off but when Arms flew - I nearly teared up in laughter. It was undeniably kind of random, but it had an element of parody by mocking how silly and illogical the idea of a flying two tailed fox is. That works.

It also helps that while the recording quality wasn't great, the actual quality of the voice acting itself was very entertaining and well done. The actors understood comedic timing and more important, comedic inflection - something that is necessary for animated comedy to work on the same level as live comedy. The expressions were also fitting and hilarious, and once again made up for the otherwise somewhat lacking animation and the "Eh" art - which was fairly good at times, shaky at others. But you still managed to make the characters feel animated and had a lot of great expressions.

Really, my gripes really do come down to nitpicking the technical qualities - the recording quality was a bit off and tinny at times with hints of static, the animation wasn't the greatest and the art had a middling quality - but the technical aspects don't matter as much when the actual quality of the effort of the talent behind each element shows through the flaws. I could tell that a lot of effort was put into it all from the voice actors and the animators, and these technical flaws do not feel like they are there because they are half arsed - but merely because of limitations beyond the creators power and/or simply not being as high as other flash work being showcased at this current time, so it is ultimately easy to overlook.

This was one of the funniest Sonic parodies I have seen! I love how it sort of followed the chronology of the games up to the atrocity that was Sonic '06, I.E. how Arms/Tails appears second and Nipples/Knuckles appears in the third scene and is angry at first, etc. etc. And after Arms flying, my favourite scene had to be the reveal of Batface the Rogue. Holy god that voice. xD

Thanks for providing a genuinely good video game parody! I hope to see more from you in the future, be it original content or another genuinely decent game parody.

[Prosnorkulus 2]

A decided improvement on the original, undoubtedly. Not to say the original was bad - if I didn't like the original, why would I click on the sequel practically a year later? I'm not sure why I never reviewed it, or why I felt it was only "OK" yet seeing part 2 and revisiting the first, I can say why - and of course say what I think you've got here! I guess my main issue with the first episode is it felt more repetitive and uneven, the gore was fun and the humour in the original oft hit the mark (And the Sniper's design appealed to my love of curvy villains with crazy mustaches.) but looking back the "Eh" part of me was that there wasn't an even mix of the humour and gore, even if the gore could be pretty funny at times - but here mate, you've got a great balance.

Seriously, I found myself easing through this episode a second time much easier than the first - I was laughing and enjoying the badassery in equal parts, and it felt more rounded, more stylish, and overall more fun. Sure it's not exactly high brow or full of substance, but then again... NewGrounds is where I go to pop my monocle and stop being a fucking art film critic all day. Humans need variety and all that. Plus, there was even more of the Reconnaissance Sniper! Seriously, I'm gay for that design and his character. I've watched this three times now, and each time he makes me smile and when it gets to the "I shot you last week!" number, I burst out laughing. Each time. And when I added my wife to the second viewing, she laughed too. I didn't think it could get better then more Reconnaissance Sniper.

Then in comes Sir Stirling Swift. I beg of you to keep up a trend: Create a really memorable, hilarious character to balance out Prosnorkulous's badassery with a great design and unendingly enjoyable schtick. The Reconnaissance Sniper was the standout of the first, and now we have Sir Stirling Swift - whose design and gag is just as fucking awesome (Even if I still have a bigger hardon for Snidely Sniper, that's what I called him way back when. I still kinda like the name.), and then in #3 I demand we have more of Swift and then another great new character.

And of course keep Prosnorkulous a badass, I'll admit - he's definitely a cipher, but a badass is a badass.

Now onto technicals: Your animation and art has also improved. It's still not the best I've ever seen and has some rough edges at time, but it is stylish, is at least relatively smooth (Choppiness is very rare) and the gore is joyously fun and I love how you can find so many different ways to fracture individual parts, I will hope for some more gore comedy though - get those organs, bones, and bodily fluids causing havoc and harm to others too. I'm a sucker for that shit. And even if the drawings aren't all the best, I've mentioned the word "Design" a lot - and that's one thing that also helps muddle most minor technical gripes I have, the character designs are awesome. I love Prosnorkulous' condescending, silent gander, the Sniper's curvy ass face and badass moustache, etc. etc.

This is seriously proof of what to do with a sequel, you took the best pieces of the original and improved upon its flaws and gained a little technical experience on the way too. I "liked" the original, but didn't love it. I loved this, and I can't wait for Prosnorkulous 3 - even if I have to wait another year for it.

4.5/5/+Fav One of the best flashes for the new year =)

MiddleFingerRings responds:

Thanks a lot mang, really comprehensive review there. Snidely Sniper is a pretty good name lolol. Also, yes I do have a new character planned for the next episode.

Some good ideas about the organs and things hurting other troops, I'll keep that in mind actually. It will add a certain something to a scene I've been planning.