MLP Movie Review (WARNING!!! SPOILERS!) and some stuff about Rarity

Well... that was a little disappointing. I read the Brony Review on the EQD site, which really got me pumped to see this movie. But the movie kinda fell short in all aspects. Their review didn't reflect at all what I saw on screen.

The jokes, animation, and pacing felt very slow. Even the dialog felt like they were delivering their lines slowly.

Only noticed one instance of animation error during the windmill chase scene. The ponies running animation didn't match up to the speed of the action going on around them.

The jokes were delivered slowly, and stretched on bit long sometimes. Especially with Pinkie Pie, I was glad her voice wasn't quite as shrill as it is in the show.

Animation and art style was like a breath of fresh air. There were few times I felt the 3d environment degraded the overall scene, even though the colors felt muted at times in the beginning. I really liked the new models, and how the mouths and bodies were more rounded, and I loved the new ears!

I hated the fact we 'Fast Traveled' from Canterlot to the badlands with nothing shown in between. Wasted opportunity to show more of the world of MLP.

It seemed our favorite fillies had their screen time cut short in favor of 'star power' from the new characters, voiced by famous/well known actors/actresses.

The writing is by far my biggest issue... They had a really good thing going for them, but it seemed they just fell short in all aspects. Some people are disappointed that Discord, Starlight, and others didn't make an appearance. I don't really care they weren't in the film at all. And I can handle that they pretty much left out Applejack and Fluttershy (my god, how many times did they rehash her 'yay' line?) I would be totally okay with them focusing on 4/7 of our main cast (including Spike), but it's like they didn't even focus on those four!

There was NO ATTENTION ever brought Pinkie's and others antics, and how they were getting themselves in deeper and deeper trouble. When Capper showed up, they, as a group with the exception of Twilight (who begrudgingly) trusted him, blindly.

Klug-town was the perfect place for all of the Mane 6 to shine. And they didn't... all we got was a song from Capper then it was on to the Pirates. And the Pirates was a perfect chance to understand the Storm King and how much misery he brings, but what do we get? A rule book... and no other explanation. Rainbow does does her Rainboom, but does Twilight ever try to stop her? Nope. We get a few worried 'no's. and once again, there was no attention brought to the fact Rainbow just gave them away, and no indication of how much more frustrated Twilight is with them.

The ship is boarded, and the Pirates are preparing for a fight, but Twilight believes the pirates are going to betray them, which doesn't matter because Twilight comes up with an escape plan and Macgyvers a hot air balloon together, while they plummeted from the sky.

The short time we had with the Hippogriffs-turned-Hippocamps was short lived in the length of a song. Twilight tries to steal their pearl, and has a falling out with Pinkie Pie and the others.

This was my favorite part of the movie, I just can't wait for this kind of drama to unfold. But it just didn't quite feel 'earned'. As I've said many times above, if there was any focus on non-equestrians betraying them, or the fact Twilight's friends were hindering the journey in any way, or even a focus on how agitated Twilight was becoming. Then her choice to use her own friends as a distraction, and to steal the Pearl would have been fully justified.

And Applejack... the element of Honesty really didn't have more than one line of dialog about stealing, really? Sigh...

Even Pinkie's line about Twilight "being the only one who doesn't trust her friends." wasn't fully earned either (though considering PP character, I can see her making that leap). Again there was barely any focus on Twilight having trust issues, she literally was just along for the ride, until she had to step up and save her friends. Twilight was as much to blame for them trusting strangers as anyone.

I loved the part where Twilight says "Friendship didn't fail me, I failed Friendship." Again there was no focus on her NOT trusting her friends until that moment when she tries to steal the Pearl.

• The Baddies;

Grubber was just above a no-name henchman. I was disappointed we didn't see any semblance of a relationship between him and Tempest. I liked his jokes, and his presence just meant a quick distraction from the 'intensity' of the situation.

And Tempest... Wow, do I love her character, Emily Blunt was the perfect choice for her voice. I loved that calm malice she portrayed. It was nice to see a competent baddie for a change. Her backstory was a cut above Starlight Glimmer, but we get no story on how she met the Storm King, or where the Staff came from, or anything. Basically a Starlight 2.0 story... but I did like her alot.

Storm King was a mix of Tirek with some Discord personality thrown in. Not much to say about him, just a really bad dude with a lot of power, and an army.

Army of Goons, pretty much what you'd expect. Very imposing figures at the start, only to be defeated in comedic ways. While they run away making funny noises. Also very weak to Dragon fire.

• Rarity; I feel obligated to give my thoughts about Rarity since I am writing a story about her.

Klugetown was the perfect place for Rarity, AJ, and FS to really shine. But Rarity was the only one who seemed to make an impact. Her hair is definitely worth 20 storm bucks easily! I wonder what the exchange rate for Bits would be?

Her generosity towards Capper would have been a good opportunity to learn about him. If there had been more of an exchange then I think his betrayal would've carried more weight.

Overall it seemed as though she was a bit of an afterthought. Her best joke was on the mountain, and if you weren't listening intently to it, you would've missed her saying "we had to crash at the bottom of the mountain!" I blame the aerial shot, it made her voice just too quiet to hear.

• Klugetown and the dark side of Equestria

Ponies being chained up and muzzled. Being treated as slaves. Merchants selling severed unicorn horns. And our main cast near sold into slavery. Just wow... I don't understand how they can go that far, and still fall short on everything else. Don't get me wrong I LOVED that gritty side of Equestria. And it's not like we haven't seen instances of Slavery in the show, since we have.

• Final Thoughts;

I liked the movie overall, but it felt like it fell short in so many aspects. There just wasn't enough detail to understand everything that was going on. And there was A LOT going on.

I really can't wait to see it again!

I know I haven't put ALL my thoughts down, but I've been typing for almost and hour, so feel free to discus!

Comments

[sxcbeast]

It is definitely better the second time around!