PritchardStudios's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[LEGO Halloween Kills]

Whoa....um, ok.

After fond memories of "The Yellow Brick Horse" I was certainly not expecting...this level of seriousness.

It's incredibly well made on a technical level. No doubt about that. The cinematography, scoring, animation, set, and so on are all top-notch. The only slip in quality is the knife at 0:40, but that's easily forgivable.

I loved the dolly zoom at 0:32; in fact, all the camera movements were wonderful.

As I hinted before, up until the actual knife shot, I figured a swift twist would turn things into a funny, lighthearted film where this was all a mistake, or joke or something. Because of that preconception, the film was jarring the first time through. (Perhaps the release date, nearly a month after Halloween didn't help.) However, after watching it again, a little more aware this time, I do appreciate what you've done here.

I think it's a strong film to introduce yourself with here on Newgrounds.
Good job!

Arginnon responds:

Thank you! This means a lot, coming from you.

This is actually going to be the opening scene of a longer brickfilm, which will be a crossover of two franchises with very different tone and style. I set myself the challange to try and bring those two together, without extenuating either one. So this is the reason for the darkness and seriousness of this scene: this opening clip is purely Halloween, so I thought it should be done in the most horror-esque way.

Since it's going to be mixed with a more light-hearted franchise, I hope the final movie will be closer to my usual style.

[A LEGO Batman Film]

Top-Notch animation, with effective voice acting and an unexpected subversion of the mythos make for an entertaining film!

However, the brutality of the final moments, while consistent with the arc Batman went through in the film, seemed a little unnecessary for my tastes. That, and I'm not one for even censored language.

Still, everything else about the film is incredible, with perfectly timed and animated fighting, as well as the surprising twist.

[LEGO Lone Clone Ep1: The Beast Below]

The idea of various individuals being pulled together across time is an interesting one with a lot of story-telling potential. However, thus far, I'm not feeling much of a connection with any of the characters except the clone. (Who is in Stormtrooper armor.)

The film felt very slow, with very little story happening in the runtime. It also had 18 seconds of opening titles, that odd, mid-film credits thing, and then more credits at the end. While I think the mid-film thing was meant as the "theme song" portion, similarly to how full-length TV shows have a teaser, then the opening theme song/titles section before the rest of the show. However, it never actually showed the show title, nor episode title, and it took me a little bit to realize what exactly was going on.

The ending was kinda the same way. With no hints of what was coming, and head still spinning from trying to solve the time-travel mystery, it may have been a bit early to introduce the more immediate threat. Now, rather than be hooked with a cool mystery (time-travel) or fearing for the characters (unexplained monster) there's so much that's unexplained and seemingly disconnected that I'm struggling to connect to the plot.

I appreciate the effort put into the camera movements, space scene, and the large detailed sets. I think a tightening up of the script and editing will do wonders for the series.

ChickenStudios responds:

Thank you for your comment! Your so right! It was four years ago that we made this video but only until now have we published it here. The video is rough as hell for reasons you pointed out and we’ve come a long way since then. It was actually funny reading your review because its so similar to what we and my brother have said over the years, especially the storm trooper thing 😂. Any way thank you for taking the time to review my work it’s so awesome👍.

[Dishonored (A Lego Comedy Short)]

I agree. Set bumps are evil.
The characters reaction is perfectly reasonable and appropriate for such a tragedy.
That being said, I think the joke may be lost on those unfamiliar with stop-motion. While it's perfect as-is, adding a quick shot or two of trying and failing to fix the problem may have helped communicate the seriousness of the problem and appropriateness of the reaction to non-brickfilmers.

As for your adapting to the contest restraints, that was top-notch. The story was perfectly clear, and it was easy to tell the tone and feelings of the characters. The ending was a fun twist with the reveal. Having that mirror the beginning story was just pure genius.

The scale shot at 0:36 was also a great way to give us a close-up of the, erm, ummm... tragedy. mini/wink However, from that movement, until about about a minute into the film felt off. I understand you were trying to go for the slow-mo feel, but I feel that a single slow-mo shot followed by a rapidly cut series of high-movement scenes (somewhat like the shots at 1:00-1:10) would have kept the short from dragging, as well as added more impact to the emotion. (The pacing and cutting feel more natural in the second go around at the end.) I did really like the last 30 second or so following the twist.

It was a fun look at the tragedy of brickfilming accidents, with a clear story, and a great twist. You excelled through the limitations of the contest, and made a fun and meta film. I like it!

GoldBrickProductions responds:

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!

[Pedro is Bested by the Spinster's Fiendish Lover]

Ah yes, the now classic Lego Dane Cook/Pedro formula of limited animation, long musical credits, and an utterly bonkers punchline. As a brickfilmer more familiar with the inside jokes you're referencing, it's funny. But that also means this may have a more limited appeal.

Introducing a new character/theme to the formula is also hard, as the audience has to learn their catch-phrase and quirks as well as think the joke funny enough to return. Personally, the deep "farewell" simply doesn't have the immediate reaction that Pedro's "hey" or even Lego Dane Cook's scream had. That being said, a lot of the appeal of these films is through the series format, with ever more escalating and wacky concepts. Perhaps "farewell" will grow on me more as the series continues.

[Experimental Commute (BRAWL 2017)]

Hmmm...I think I missed this last BRAWL. Glad I get to finally see it!

First, I love how he claims rocket science is easy, then hurts himself with a hammer. That's so funny. The story is a simple one; wacky, funny, short, and perfect for a BRAWL film. Since it addresses traffic, it immediately grabs the sympathy and emotion of the like-minded viewers.

A few things could use improvement, but they are mostly polishing issues that BRAWL doesn't always allow for. While a little more effort into the driving scenes could have helped sell the illusion of moving, both in visuals and in audio. (The baseplate isn't moving in the opening shot, and no noises in any of them. ) Yet, the spinning wheels and road stripes do a great job at 0:21. Adding some noises and maybe some roads/signs along the road would have brought it to perfection.

The transition between lines at 0:33 honestly sounded like two completely different actors my first time through. Perhaps a slight pause would have helped that.

That being said, the film as-is stands tall. The "blast-off" effect is AMAZING, the plot is fun, the voice acting is solid, and most of all, it's enjoyable.

[Lego psycho goes to psychiatrist]

Well.....I think it's safe to say he has problems.

As always, meta jokes about Lego are quite enjoyable.

While I simply thought something seemed empty, upon second watch, I discovered that this doesn't seem to have any sound except the guy's voice. While it's a testament to his talent that I didn't really notice my first viewing, a few ambient noises would have helped everything feel more full and complete. Still, the voice actor does a great job carrying the plot, conveying the character, and keeping viewers engaged throughout.

The set, however, feels a bit messy and oddly framed. The split from the white wall on the right to the colors on the left isn't down the middle of the frame, nor far enough over to hit the Rule of Thirds. It's in an awkward and unsettling part of the frame, which, when paired with the psychiatrist's placement on the far edge, and that slight dark gray wall on the far right, makes everything feel off. Sadly, not in a creepy "something's wrong here" way that would compliment the dialog, but in a "this just doesn't look cool" way.

Overall, animation looks nice, but the framing and set look odd. The voice acting is great, but a little bit of background noise would have been nice. Yet, even now it's a good film. Basically, working on a couple small things would catapult your next films into new heights of awesome.

AwesomepantsFilms responds:

Thanks, I’ll try to improve the framing and set design in the future. As for the audio, that was a deliberate stylistic choice, (I was aiming kinda for that style of video), but thanks for the feedback on that as well!

[Lego Ninja Duel (2015)]

This is quite the ambitious film! I love that circling shot at 1:04, that was totally awesome.

Grassy footsteps always feel a bit weird to me, as the hard plastic plates underneath the minifigures doesn't look anything like squishy grass. Also, the sword sounds didn't always match the action seen, with bigger whooshes paired with small swings, or clangs paired with a little scrapping together of the swords.

That being said, even if they didn't perfectly match the visuals, you've found some pretty good sounding effects. Did you record those sounds yourself? I'm not seeing any sound credit. If so, great job!

The ending completely lost me as far as the story went, but maybe that's just me.

starwarsstudio100 responds:

Thank you very much for your feedback. I usually don't do sound credits, because in most of my animations I use sometimes up to 100 different sound effects and it is hard to keep track on all of them that I gathered from different sources of the course of years. Yes I do admit that the sounds do not match, this is a brickfilm that was pretty much made in 2015, compared to my recent skills this one did not do well.

Again thank you so much for your feedback I really appricate it.

[SONIC REBOUND | EPISODE 2: FALLOUT - Sonic IDW Animation (Sonamy)]

Whoa...Fantastic film.
You've done a top-notch job capturing their personalities and even the fighting styles of Sonic and Amy. I've not seen the first episode yet, but was able to pick up on the story well enough.

The animation looks great, as do the designs. Many small touches show high attention to detail and a deep love for the source material.

Keep up the great work.

[A New World (THAC XII)]

It's short, but what's there is well done. The animation is very smooth and is certainly the stand-out aspect of the film, especially for a THAC film.

You did a good job with the verbal communication, bringing back memories of the early Lego games and their limited vocals. (Also, the ENDing screen is ironic.)

The major issues here would simply be those present in most THAC films. The quick runtime cut short the "show, don't tell" rule, leading the alien to simply look slightly more curious with the teleporter, rather than completely bored with his current job. While he let out a big sigh, there wasn't enough context to know if that was because there was so much trash, or the job itself had him down. A similar problem is present on the back-end. It ended suddenly on a title screen, rather than a quick montage of shots would have given it a better sense of their growing friendship.

While expansion certainly would have aided the film, what's here is well executed and fun. Even as-is, this stands out as very well polished, especially so for a THAC film.