Reviewed by Jason Meckes

I never saw the first one. This'll probably have spoilers. So don't read it. Anyone.

But with this one, arg... it's very tough to put into words. What I was thinking as I watched the first 3/4 of the movie was "Style is only any good if it is your own." I just felt that the movie did not have the intense 'style' it was acclaimed for. It didn't even feel like a work of Maltby. It felt like someone trying to imitate Will.

I'm afraid that I have to agree with Z-man on this movie completely. Only, I found several parts rather cute, but nothing genuinely funny.

The animation was sporadic, and you never knew if there was going to be some crazy 1-frame kungfu battle, or a game-and-watch style choppiness. One thing that has ALWAYS rubbed me the wrong way in movies is what is now commonly referred to as 'crosshatching.' Oh man, some places in this movie (Like the lab) make me nauseous with the ever-moving scenery, and then when the camera stops, it just doesn't look right at all because there's no more texture movement. It just doesn't work.

I really appreciated the push for new, untried techniques in this movie. In some places, they worked. In other places, they fell flat. Case in point: The rain. In theory, creating droplets on the ground for each drop should give a pretty cool effect, but in this it looks like the end of Ghostbusters, with a cold Staypuft. I also caught the pattern too easily with the explosion rain; try to vary it a bit. Same with the night skies. A very cool effect was almost achieved, with the stars overlying the spheres... But the outlines of the spheres were just too overpowering, and it destroyed the effect.

The HMCs, which were said to be some of the best ever made, felt like a letdown to me. I prefer smooth, flowing characters, not choppy, obviously 3dmm-rendered ones. That said, I could not blame the movie for this at all, for all I know that was a director's vision. Still, they moved pretty good, and there were a few intriguing morphs and whatnot, but all-in-all, it was no Barton work.

The cinematography seemed to jump from either nonexistent to exceptional. This gradually got better as the movie progressed. Some very nicely done camera movements in places, but then some scenes that could really use more OOMPH. Or at least a little more visual interest (The explanation scenes generally).

The voices were, for the most part, supa dupa. But for certain characters, I could definitely tell that their mic was having a bad day, or maybe their bland tone was caused by emphysema. Either way, it was well above 3dmm 'par,' but I would stray away from calling the acting a major reason to watch the movie.

Sound effects seemed lacking in many areas, but only in a few. What baffled me was that the file managed to get up to nearly 50MB with these lackages. I was about to pop a vein if I had to hear another Limit Break, let alone a viciously misused Godzilla roar. Like with the Maltbyisms in this movie's style, homage is a very delicate thing. The name reduction to just 'DD' was an excellent example of a "hat's off," intentional or not.

Music was one of the highlights of this film. I was hoping to someday find a good use for Sonic's Metal Harbor tune in a movie, but I guess I no longer have to. Great song. The compression a Final Fantasy sound effect chopped the music off for the end sequence, though.

The movie finally started picking up after the dream bit. I was rather annoyed that the 'dream' idea made it into the movie, but luckily (For the all of us) the editing of the scenes after that was amazing.

The original scenes throughout the final sequence were of a much better quality than any before it. The fighting seemed better thought-out, and the blood-effects were top notch. I really wish that the entire movie would've been made in such a manner.

To conclude, there were tons of parts in this movie that I thought were "Cute and creative, but not quite at hilarious." The scientist thing was a given, they were quite creative most of the time, and the timing for the deaths were insanely well done. The attaching the bomb at the end without any thought, and Ben peeking over the corner after his smoke bomb. Things like that are used to really good effect, but seem too far apart to stick together as a whole. I suggest Dan watch Videogame Nightmare 2 a few more times to get a better sense of comedic timing/Pointless avenues of direction. He got really close to gold with the comedy here, but there was no extra oomph to move it past pyrite.

I would fully expect that the third installment of this series be an immense improvement. If the timespan of this movie shows anything, it's that Dan has become more competent in every area through the course of making this (Assuming... it was done mostly chronologically). With just a few improvements in some areas, you could have a movie that would win everyone over.

Oh... and don't start out a movie with a storybox. Don't do that. I said to myself, "What is this... Star Wars or 1998?" I'm sure you could've figured out a much more creative way to get some backstory into the mix, even if it does add a little more time to an already hefty lengthed movie.

Sorry if it sounds like I've been harsh on the movie, but.. well, I have been. It entertained me, but it bored me as well. I think too many things were sacrificed in the name of comedy, as well as the false pretense of 'unique style.' I don't think your style finally came into being until around the final fight, honestly. Focus on what you did there, because it works.

7.2/10
A lengthy action rhomp which seems to match excellence with obscurity