Reviewed by Jason Meckes

In Andres' Cycles, I think what I enjoyed most out of this movie was it's unique director's vision. By which, I mean how Andres decided to create this world (Heh.. there might even be a pun there, but I'm too tired) much like the world we recognize, but change enough things to make it similar, yet quite interesting. No, scratch that, my favorite parts where the nearly subliminal references and jabs, such as the earlier mentioned 'flat planet,' the casual eating from an (apple?) tree, bored tone throughout, and a whole bunch of things I'm sure I missed. There's lots hidden there, you can just feel it. And that feeling really builds up interest; so much so that I started focusing more on the backgrounds than on what's being said or done.

The story was, yes, blissfully predictable. I kind of liked how it worked that way. You really didn't have to stretch your imagination real far to see where it was going, but it was still rather intriguing throughout. There wasn't any real depth to it, and that's because it held true to what it was portraying.. this is a fable, a children's anecdote. I don't know who Peter Rabbit's 4th grade crush was because I don't need to know, and, of course, wouldn't have the capacity to care at the age where I learned his story. Cycles tells you exactly what's happening without delving too low or high in any respect. That said, it probably could've been simplified even more with the word count. But yeah, story did it's job, so I'm happy.

The animation is about what I was expecting. Andres isn't here to go head to head with Pikioses and NTAs anymore. He wants to do his job the way he sees fit, and get done. Ha, at least that's the impression I get, and I like it. That's how we should all be. Even with it's over-simplicity in areas, you can still see a bit of artistic edge along the corners and such. Take the clouds for example, the spheres are lined up along/against/through each other just enough to be visually pleasing, but still resemble marshmallow clouds. Different levels of proximity help the effect as well; in fact, they make the entire scene(s) worthwhile in many cases. Really interesting for the eyes that way, yippee! Also, another point: Those trees. I've never seen trees done that way before. 3 spheres, but they still look convincingly pointy... There's a good chance I'll steal that without even knowing it in time.

Sound effects were rather bland, though. I cringed a bit when the lightning was thrown, because...well, just because. A new lightning sound would've been real nice on the ears. Or even a Star Wars-esque laser sound, just for comedic effect. Other areas are lacking in sound, and thus atmosphere (Be that the intention or not). This area is probably the biggest folly of the movie, and, in my book, really the least important aspect as well.

The voicing was spectacular. I was very impressed to see that they were all done by Owtzain himself. I saw him say that in another thread, and I figured it was either sarcasm or a figure of speech or something, but no, he did a wonderful job! I think there was only one period where a voice slightly blended in fashion with another, but I don't even remember where, so obviously it wasn't much worth noting. I know where to go if a new NG2 character pops up now!

Overall, Cycles is a fulfilling, intriguing little romp. It might not be the best movie ever made in any one area, but it rounds up it's fair share of points enough to be remembered come Award Show time. I can't say I'm familiar with most of Andres' past works, bar Children of the Night and DHiaDW and maybe some other ones I didn't know were him (Oh yeah, AnimNation, too), but this was surprisingly completely different from those works. I'm pretty sure that that's a good thing, too. Don't read into that, I'm just trying to make my review look comparable to Aaron's.

I was pretty set on giving this a decent 7.5 out of 10, but I keep having this nagging feeling that that just gives the wrong impression. Oh, and this Gorosaur remembers how Andres was one of the only people back in the day who didn't completely hate Godzilla 98: Platinum Edition, so that just helps reinforce my old saying, " 'Round here we round up."

8/10
A fun little anecdote that contains more than meets the eye, but doesn't rely on such for story completion or raw satisfaction.