axcho's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Madness: Deus Ex Machina]

I am overcome with awe... and fear

My g*d, that was both horrifying and overwhelmingly awe-inspiring. Maybe I'm just jaded with the whole Madness thing by now, but this felt so much more gut-wrenchingly violent than almost anything produced by Krinkels. I hate it and at the same time I'm strangely drawn to it.

I've never played any of the sort of video games you might have been inspired by in your use of this style, but there were so many new things I had never seen before... It gave me so many ideas. Even if all of that stuff - the style, the setting, the moves, the fights - was taken from existing games, putting it all together like that is much more original than most anything I've seen here.

And the technical ability necessary to pull off such complex scenes with such a high level of polish - it seems incredible to me. Did you just code your own fighting engine and record one play-through for this animation? It seems like it. You should release the game and profit mightily.

In all, you succeeded at something I never thought possible: You took Madness, and from it made something even more violent, more horrifying, more offensive, more dazzling... Somehow, taking the epic, archetypal characters of Madness and combining them with the slick, exaggerated, flashy style of, well whatever you call that style, pushes things to an even higher extreme. Only time will tell whether this altitudinous high will fade, or stand to challenge the exalted throne of Madness itself. ;p

[Xionic Madness]

Good animation, unoriginal story

I laughed at the Shadow of the Colossus parody. :D That was my favorite part! (or not)

This must have been a colossal undertaking, especially for one person. Congratulations. I didn't find the story or characters particularly compelling (Madness was better in that respect) but there were a lot of interesting bits. And of course, the anime-ification of Madness was pretty original.

Though I wonder, couldn't you have tried a little harder to make your female character actually out of Madness parts? Like with just her goggles instead of those big anime eyes, on an oval and cross head? It was kind of silly to see one non-Madness character, but whatever.

At the very end there, I saw something that was very cool. When it went completely dark, and all you could see were the glowing lines of that one guy, that was a really cool style. Maybe I'll try it in a game.

Keep up the good work! :)

[7: Genesis]

Different, interesting feel

I quite liked this one - enough to review it. The music complemented the animation well, giving it an unusual but appropriate feel. It felt kind of casual and epic at the same time. And of course the subject matter was thought provoking.

I really liked the underwater scene. It felt very underwatery - reminded me of Shadow of the Colossus a bit. I wish there were a scene select for the animation, so I could study that scene more easily. You might think about doing a whole animation set underwater like that.

Keep up the good work.

Ultimate7777 responds:

Thanks for the review, and... you're in luck!

I am indeed planning an entire Flash set completely (or almost completely) underwater :)

Again, thanks for the review and have a great day.

[Madness Consternation]

A perfect evolution of the series

You did it. I feel like this Madness has gone deeper into its world than any of the others before it. After the shocking tension of Madness Antipathy, we find an almost gentle feel to Consternation. No longer fighting the overwhelming chaos and disintegration of order that has evolved throughout the series, we, and Hank, have come to an almost peaceful acceptance of the situation. And through it, discover a deeper, fuller world.

I really didn't know what would happen after Antipathy. But I really like the way this follows up to it. It's definitely not anything I expected, but it fits perfectly. I think the strange gentleness of the violence, the chainsaw sequence really the direct opposite of the one in Tricky Madness 2, was a brilliant touch.

Hank's look in this movie is probably my favorite so far. And the solid red sky and glasses, contrasting with the gradients of the last few movies, really contributed to that feeling of being deep within this mood. It's like going from the rough and violent surface of the ocean to being completely submerged - on the outside things seem gentle, but in actuality the power behind it is much greater.

The main critique I would have is with the flames of Tricky's demon form. Based on what I saw at the end of Antipathy, I would have expected the flames to grow from the ground, to have some inertia and movement of their own. Instead, they were statically attached to the rest of the puppet body, which made the demon seem much less impressive and more like a usual, solid, killable character. Giving the flames a life of their own, though it may have increased the animating time, would in my opinion have been worth another month's wait.

All in all, I was very happy with Madness Consternation. Thank you.

[Pandora's Book]

One of my favorites so far

Wow, I found this after watching Birds of a Feather, and I think I actually like this one better. The animation and music was rougher, but I really liked the atmosphere and snapshot of a wider story that this animation conveyed.

Really the only bad part was the tweened grass waving in the wind. It went back and forth way too fast, and rotated around the wrong point, which was enough to jar me out of the story a bit. If you fixed that little part, I would probably give this a 10.

The character design is nice; the whole situation reminded me of Lilo & Stitch, which is the best Disney movie ever. The facial expressions and interaction were well done.

I liked the little camera angle switch where you're looking into the dragon's face. That was a nice touch, which I think really added to the immersiveness of the environment. The dappled light was good too.

The music was okay, but a little too obtrusive. It wasn't bad though, and part of it sounded like a Turkish ney or maybe some Asian type of flute, which is cool. I like flutes, so it was kind of interesting to hear background music mostly consisting of different flutes.

Overall, I found this animation inspiring, in showing what is possible with fairly simple graphic techniques. I'd love to make a game or some sort of interactive artwork with this kind of display. I just finished watching Princess Mononoke, which was very inspiring, but kind of intimidating by its high level of detail. Pandora's Book showed me that you can have the same effect with simpler graphics more appropriate to Flash. Thank you!

[eBaums world dot com]

OMG teh bESt flash evAr!!1!

:D

Great song, really funny and appropriate animation. Perfection. :p

Everyone should put code into their Flash games and movies that checks if it is stolen by eBaums and play this animation instead if it is!

[Madness Antipathy]

Amazing, though unoriginal

I don't know what more I can say than all the reviewers before me. But yes, it is an amazing animation. I liked the abundance of melee combat, which was probably my favorite part of it.

But it did start to get monotonous, as the Hank predictably mows through hallway after hallway of minions. It gets hard to pay attention to each fight, which is a shame, because it is so well animated. I think it might be more enjoyable for people who are new to the series.

But another part of the problem I think is the pacing of it. As one or two reviewers have said before me, Hank has turned into a grotesque killing machine, no longer a hero. In the early episodes, the pace is slower, and it is easier to appreciate each move that the hero makes. Now the bodies are falling so flawlessly fast that it is hard to care.

It also makes the violence less shocking. For some reason, the earlier movies seem much more violent. Each stab and beheading is cringe-worthy. In this movie, they breeze by.

Another trend I have noticed in past reviews is a demand for a new Madness Interactive. Let me just say I am considering the project. :) Ideally I'd like to make an online multiplayer game with all three players, each with their own conflicting goals and abilities, set loose on a world full of minions. So many projects, so little time...

[Madness Elimination 3]

A big improvement

Wow, this one is way better than the last one, Madness Elimination 2. I have high hopes for the fourth. :)

It stands on its own as a decent animation, but it is still no Madness Combat.

In terms of graphics, it is not bad technically, but it seems unpolished. Madness Combat was very stylistically consistent and minimal, making sure pretty much every detail fit in. This animation did not show quite the same level of perfectionism. That may not be the author's goal, so I am not too concerned about it. But it is still something to consider.

I liked the synchronization of the intro with the music. Also, the various camera effects seemed pretty sophisticated.

The choreography was much better in this animation than in earlier ones, much more flowing, but it still didn't seem to flow as well as Madness Combat. I wasn't kidding about watching Aikido videos online! :D Go out and watch some now!

I think capturing the flow of the fight scenes is the most important part in making animations worthy of the Madness name. All the rest is up to your own style and preference as an animator.

Splurgle responds:

My goal wasn't to be as good as Krinkels. This little series of mines is a learning experience for me. After I'm through with it, you can look forward to original work coming from me.

[Madness Elimination 2]

Needs more "aiki"

Here's what I think stands between this animation and the classic Madness. Your character needs more "aiki". Here's something I found while searching for the term:

"To deal with an adversary from an Aiki perspective regardless of whether he suffers great bodily harm or death is to deal with him in a calm, emotionally detached, blending state of mind."

Part of the appeal of Madness I think is how well it portrays such a frighteningly relentless, yet calm and detached killer, smoothly and harmoniously dispatching his enemies. He is always in the right place at the right time. He anticipates his enemies' actions to draw them to their demise.

One reviewer mentioned "poor reaction time". I think this is because in Madness, the character did not react, he anticipated.

It's like Aikido with guns, and excessive violence.

Watch the Madness series again with this in mind. Also watch some Aikido videos online.

Once you understand this, the smoothness of your animation should improve. But it could also be interesting to try to capture this feel with a jerkier style of animation. Like the "Move-It" animation, perhaps?