Movie Review · 7:10am Oct 9th, 2017
Since the critical reviews for the movie have been so sporadic, I've decided to write my own. First off, I'm going to say that while the movie definitely has flaws, it was far better than I was expecting. For any fans of the show, it's a must see, but I'll also recommend it to any fans of 2d animation, and it's at least a decent choice for a family film. For people outside of those demographics, it's not bad (unless you absolutely hate anything sugary like some biased critics who are an insult to the craft), but there is better movies, and you probably wouldn't be interested.
The weakest point of the film is definitely it's plot. There is nothing *bad* about the story line, it's just a generic family film plot. It doesn't explore much new territory even for pony, but there are some ideas the movie explores which haven't been explored in the show, I'll limit it by saying the movie is at times significantly darker than the show. There is some weaknesses with the writing though. First, the biggest problem with the movie is that despite having a fairly simple plot, the pace is far too fast to properly flesh out many of it's components, which is likely to result of trying to cram too much into too little screen time. If the movie was twice as long or they cut out half the characters it could have been much better. Second, the movies contains several plotholes. None of them are deal-breaking, but they are rather disconcerting for some viewers. Again, these could have probably been easily filled if more time was given.
While there is probably too many characters, they are all delightsome in their own ways, both the ones we already knew and the new ones. That's makes it all the greater shame that they ended up being underdeveloped. I think the existing characters were just as underdeveloped as the new ones, but fans of the show would have already have been familiar with them. As it is, the characters are introduced for new audiences without being tedious for fans, but like the other characters it's definitely rushed. That being said, the characters all have their moments and work well in whatever little role they have.
The last script element I'm going to cover is humor. It's as much of a drama as comedy, but the film drove me to laughter on numerous occasions. I was not expecting this; it seems that all the lamest jokes were saved for the trailers. Some of the jokes would only be recognized by fans, but there is things for everyone, even a couple which appear to be crap that made it past the radar.
The place were the movie really shines is the visuals. The 2d style is a welcome relief the the 3d CGI we've been swamped with recently, it's probably the best western 2d animated film since Secret of Kells (which I still need to see). It's really sad the style has fallen out of favor, because I frankly find it to be the most beautiful. This movie in particular was absolutely gorgeous, with a rich color palettes, character designs unlike any I've seen before, and tons of details in the scenery. At times the CGI backgrounds where a bit jarring, especially at the very beginning, but I quickly got used to it and come to enjoy the spectacle. So again, if you're a fan of 2d animation, I highly recommend the film even if you aren't a fan of FiM.
The last aspect I'm going to cover is the music. Many people compare the songs to Disney, some saying they are inferior to Disney's, and others saying they are on-par. I'd actually say they are BETTER than Disney's. The orchestral arrangements are absolutely superb, the songs are complex without sacrificing catchiness, and the vocal performances are fantastic. I believe "Open Up Your Eyes" in particular deserves an academy award, it's scene happened to be my favorite part of the movie. The one flaw with the songs is sometimes the lyrics are a bit cheesy, which further reinforces that the weak part of the film is it's script, while it's production is phenomenal.
If forced to assign a score, I'd give it a 7.5/10. Good, but flawed. Of course, being a fan of the show I am biased, and most audiences would probably find it to be pretty average in most regards, but I think the stylistic strengths counter out the weaknesses in the script.
