Movie Review: Rainbow Rocks · 10:05pm Sep 12th, 2015
Directed by: Jayson Thiessen
Produced by:
Sarah Wall
Devon Cody
Written by: Meghan McCarthy
Running time: 75 minutes
Hey, did you know there was another Equestria Girls movie?
Yeah, I’m a little late to the game on this one in particular. Frankly I never had an interest in watching Rainbow Rocks the moment I knew it was in production. It just wasn’t all that interested.
Shut the fuck up; I do not have a problem.
I knew that Rainbow Rocks wasn’t going to be a central part of the TV show continuity. Even if it was, my drive to watch new episodes has considerably waned. I even have to be pushed sometimes. Still, I’m here now on my day off, still unsure if I’ll bother seeing the new Transporter movie. Also they charge extra for debit cards. Fuck you and your convenience charges; that shit only applied to the 90s when they were uncommon you stupid wanker; cut that shit out.
Sorry. I have an hour to finish this review if I do. Let’s take a look.
Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks takes place a not long but indeterminate time after the first movie. A trio of mythical sirens, Sonata, Adagio, and Aria, were banished to the realm long ago by none other than Starswirl the Bearded himself. Ever since, they have been looking for a means to get back to their world, as the human world lacks the magic-rich environment they need to thrive. Then they spot a titanic spell that cleared the skies, the same spellcraft that removed Sunset Shimmer’s powers from the first movie. That clearly meant there is magic nearby, magic that can help them return home. All they have to do is find it and with the power of their enchanted voices, that is exactly what they intend to do.
On the technical side of things, the movie is... conflicted. Longtime production studio DHX swoops in again to offer some very enchanting animation, although only one point is of note if you are familiar with their particular style. I wasn’t explicitly looking for mistakes, so I didn’t see any, but it still carries the natural fluidity that I praised in the first movie. The Dazzlings, or Sirens, is where there is some distinct effort in doing something new. I saw it in the first Dazzling set piece Battle. You can see much more fluid arm gestures and hip shaking that’s not present in the show until then. It’s very reminiscent of belly dancing with their slow, sensuous gyrations, which actually makes in canon sense due to them using their abilities to enchant others. I genuinely applaud DHX.
It’s the little things that matter.
As in terms of character modeling and rigging, there’s not really much else I can say that I hadn’t said in my first review (A problem I’ll get to in a moment). I did like the movie expressing music as something that was almost tangible. The Dazzlings use their voices to enchant others in a sensual dance, the battle of the bands eliminations had many musical talents expressed as physical force.
My thoughts on the animation, story, and plot can be summed up very simply: good, but nothing new. I like the nice touches here and there, but my thoughts upon finishing my have been reflected on my thoughts about not seeing it at all: I didn’t think there was anything there for me. There is so little that branches off and becomes something new, something engaging. It is in many senses Equestria Girls 2, because it is the same movie with only minor plot and contextual changes. There is a heavier focus on music which alone did not make me quit out of boredom, but this movie is dull and uninteresting in terms of production, save for a singular character who I’ll get to later.
I like Daniel Ingram’s music for the movie, although I am feeling a little miffed and misled. Many promotions show them rocking out like Kurt Cobain after he took a line. I was surprised at how little rock was actually in the movie. It is called Rainbow Rocks, alright? I feel a little misled, although perhaps it was just me not seeing what was in front of me: Ingram has been known for his pop songs. Even his rock songs are pop songs; they just have rock elements. Just know what you are getting into when you click play.
That’s not to say the songs are bad, but several of them feel unfinished at least in the movie. Perhaps the soundtrack has the full versions, but I am in no mood to buy them and hear the full experience. It’s common music and animation tradition to record all of the sound first. That’s how the West does it, that’s how Hollywood does it. This is so the animation can be modeled around not just what they say, but how they say it. That’s why remodeling Shrek with a Scottish accent took 4 million dollars, even though the animation was complete. Here however songs cut in and out, or even stop altogether at the whims of the story. It’s very jarring to be listening to a song and the movie start having fits on what should take priority. Here’s a hint: your movie’s a musical. The answer is obvious.
What is allowed to shine in full does perform rather well. I like the song Battle on multiple levels. I kinda have to agree with the general message of the song, even if I don’t agree with the Dazzlings’ reason for doing it (They’re villains, duh). It promotes challenge among the ranks of Canterlot High and talks about how we’re not all the same. I get that songs and popular media try to promote that anyone can do anything as long as they put their head and heart to it. While it’s great inspirational material, that’s not how real life works. Embrace what makes you different, don’t just conform to be the same. The song was leading towards causing tension by revealing to the students what made them different than each other rather than embracing a “We’re all doing this together!” or “We’re all the same!” mentality. I was really enjoying the song until...
♫~It doesn't matter who you hurt
If you're just proving you're the best♪
So it doesn’t matter if you’re a shitlord as long as you’re trying to be the best. Well, that does sum up my thoughts on high school pretty well, so points there for honesty. Dicks. Still it gives them a full, loving song which was certainly a lot more than Sunset Shimmer received in her movie.
Welcome to the Show was a very good song made all the more better by it being both an actual rock song in a rock movie and a battle song a la Pick of Destiny’s Beelzeboss. It’s eye candy more than ear candy, so I do dock a few mental points for it, but it’s one I recommend you see no matter if you want to watch the movie or not.
Awesome as I Wanna Be is very good in terms of songwriting and orchestration but does the one thing I really hate with fanfiction writers when it comes to Rainbow Dash: it makes her a self-centered, egocentric, asshole. There’s a very real difference in taking pride in your work, and letting your accomplishments define your interactions between everyone you come across. Sure every once and awhile something like that may slip out and you will be called out on it, but something like this? This makes me wonder how they were even friends to begin with if her narcissism has taken over a very important song that very nearly blew their cover.
But speaking of Sunset Shimmer, that brings up both the best and most botched part of the movie. I was very nervous going into the movie because I knew one thing about her: she was written in after the fact. She was not part of the first draft and thus was very concerned there was going to be some clashing or at the very least executive interference. There’s a lot less producers this time around, so I was eased the more I watched.
Sunset has ever since the first movie been trying to improve her tarnished reputation, but that comes with a big issue. Sunset... Sunset’s redemption was the absolute worst thing that’d happened in the first movie. It was rushed and horribly forced and what she said greatly contrasted with how things went down. I can appreciate that she wants to get better, but it wasn’t like she was going through drug withdrawal. It was because she was being a huge duchebag.
However, that’s what made me like what they did with her: no one except the main cast forgave her. She’s treated with constant scorn and distrust by others despite earnestly wanting their acceptance. Rather than shed the previous elements wholesale just so they can maneuver a character perfectly into an entirely tonally different scenario, that specter came back to haunt her.
Mentioned above that one interesting character? Yup, that’s Sunset here. I enjoyed that part because of how much she was missing as a character from the first movie. Sometimes you will be remembered as infamous rather than famous. That one bad thing will haunt you to your grave. Her character arc, the worst thing in the first movie, is the best in this one.
However that does come to the hanging thread that’s never been addressed in movie or TV: her relationship with Celestia. Being her personal student is no small matter, so I’m surprised that nothing more was given on that fact. They missed a lot about the Celestia/Sunset connection, especially with the introduction of the book. Sunset was given a book that was a direct line to Celestia, which was how Twilight found out about what was going on in the human world. Why the hell would Celestia give Twilight the book? It felt like a deeply personal artifact, and she gave it to Twilight without telling her what it was. It reeks of a bad move and possible plot hole in regards to their relationship. The only hint we get is a brief conversation that Sunset felt the unending pressure of being her personal student. It’s a very valid reason: did Celestia try to overburden Sunset with destiny? Silence is the answer.
As for her, once again Celestia proves once again to be useless. I’m a supporter of the princesses in terms of competence, even if my adoration for Celestia will never match my devotion to Lovely Lady Luna. Now it feels like she’s firmly under the Worf Effect. I’m honestly surprised I never made that conclusion until this moment. Chrysalis? Beaten by Twilight. Disappeared with Nightmare Moon’s appearance? Beaten by the Mane Six. Discord? Again by Twilight. What’s been happening has consistently been to prove the strength of the new blood and nothing more. Now perhaps because Luna and Celestia are human in this version, the excuse can be made that they have no strength to fight against the Dazzlings. That’s fair, but it’s also getting to the point that the only reason Celestia gets air time is to get the shit kicked out of her.
Will that be the whip or the crop today?
As for the rest of the main chast, you’ve seen it all before. Rarity wants to look fabulous, Pinkie wants to have fun, Rainbow wants everyone to admire her, etc. You get the idea. That’s my problem with this: we’ve seen this before. The exact same context before. We’ve seen them solve these issues both in television and fanfiction. Why are they here at all? The only real point the movie has going for it is that the Dazzlings are deliberately trying to create strife because that’s what they feed on to grow in strength and Zzzzzzzz.... I’ve already lost interest. Hasbro made Sunset interesting, sure, but at the price of the rest of the Mane Six, and the villains. All three Dazzlings are boring and offer nothing other than their primary character traits: leader, ditz, abrasive. The main cast are their usual selves with nothing to go for them.
Look, I get that there’s villains who are causing this strife with magic. Fine, even if it doesn’t affect the main cast because they’ve been touched by the Elements. It’s false tension. Everything going wrong is minor nuisances that’s blown out of proportion and ends up becoming a self-defeating problem.
“Hey, you’re acting like idiots.”
“K, thx Sunset.”
It’s not fun to watch.
I suppose I should bring up the one thing I didn’t mention in my last review. Sigh... Flash Sentry. The reason why is deceptively simple: he has no role to play in the first movie. I suppose he was at least worth a mention, or at least an explanation, as to why I didn’t actually talk about him in my first review. It still stood that that he was such a non-entity that he might as well have been removed. Yes, I know all about him stealing waifus and being a Gary Stu. That’s not why I don’t like him. It’s that he does nothing in the movie, and the one thing that was kinda plot-centric (Showing the photoplasty to Luna) could have been done by absolutely anyone. He was boring in that movie, and he’s boring in this movie, so let’s move on.
To wrap up the rant, I’m not liking this movie more and more as I dwell on it. The music is fine, the ups pulling the slack for the down. Sunset, while excellent, can’t hold up the rest of the cast. While there was a set of preludes that were supposed to compliment and act as prequels to the movie, I only saw one of them. I am only judging this movie as a stand alone entity anyway, so it wouldn’t be fair to add or take away anything based on that content.
It isn’t kind to new viewers, and I believe there isn’t enough content to warrant old viewers from seeing it. The music alone might be if I could get a chance to listen to the full OST and give a recommendation, but I can’t do that at this time. It’s only for the strictly faithful. If you really, really need your My Little Pony fix, go ahead and see it. Meagan McCarthy once said she did not expect Equestria Girls to turn into a franchise. Let this be a lesson to up and coming writers everywhere: if you have an idea, make sure it works.
Everyone's turning into Flanders!