Rainbow Rocks Review

WARNING: I am revealing a ton of spoilers here so PLEASE be aware that if you read this and haven't watched it, avoid this if you don't want to know what's coming up in this movie. You have been warned, maggots! lol

So where do I begin? Well if you're planning to watch it, just come to the movies with low expectations (trust me, you'll thank me later)

First off, because of this this movie was once again good and even better than the first movie. And when I say that I'm 100% sure it's much better. Why do you say? Well let me explain in more detail....

The story is much more organized and goes more smoothly than the last movie. I felt the last movie felt it went a bit too fast and made some very awkward and unecessary scenes. In Rainbow Rocks, I didn't feel that many of the scenes were out of place and some even had a reason despite looking like a filler. For example, they could have skipped Twilight at night at Pinkie's place trying to think of good lyrics and encounters Sunset. Looked pointless at first but both reveal of their own struggles. Twilight's high expectations and Sunset's struggle of trying to forgive from her actions. Foreshadows in teh future how they handle this...also there was some understandable conflicts and it a bit realistic on bands like one being the selfish screenhog, many ideas being ignored, the costumes leading to tons of conflcits towards the Mane 6 without making it choppy. As for the sequence from beginning to end had a good transition from one scene to another and makes the story much smoother and had planned Acts to help progress the story. Another detail that it's a bit less predictable and really explains how Twilight gets back to the EG world, The Rainbooms ended up getting booed and even sabotaged to the point of getting locked in a stage trap by Trixie, but the last and final scene after the Credits was the most unexpecting scene that pretty much caught everyone in the theater off guard.....which made it even more impressive on the shock value.

The comedy was pretty much improved and gave me a few chuckles. Sure it did the same to me in EG, but in here it was something that was pretty memorable (Trixie obviously), Sunset keep being reminded of the Fall Formal Fiasco (funny but also kind of sad) Also Daft Punk Rarity <3

Now we get to the best part of the movie, the characters. Sure we have the Mane 6 and yes they were pretty good and did their roles perfectly. I also like Twilight's struggle in the EQ world where she's expected to have the job done as Princess of Friendship (I never finished Season 4, so it was awkward watching the Crystal Castle when I watched this). The villains were very refreshing and fun. Each member had a distinct personality. The villains are basically the Sirens, or Dazzlings for short. They are actually Sirens, a mythical creature that lures sailors to their death by their beautiful voices and spreading negativity in this story but banished by Starswirl. But they never answered this......how come the Sirens are fucking teens when they were banished here thousands of years ago by Starswirl? -__- But I do love these villains as cynical villains by their manipulation even getting into the Mane 6's head while also having some funny moments, particularly Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze as the backups and constantly fighting in a comical way and Sonata being a complete air-head. They were memorable villains and damn they have amazing vocal and I can see how they can easily deceive people with their voices. The minor characters were great and we get to see Lyra/BonBon/Octavia ponies, the CMC costumes, Bulk Biceps, Trixie and her band (I love her song btw). But I think the biggest surprise was Vinyl playing a big minor role in helping the Mane 7 by breaking them out of the stage trap and even providing her car to aid them in their band. How nice of her. Also it's funyn that she's not affected because she had headphones on the entire time which is pretty hilarious.

But I think what made this movie great was based on one specific character: Sunset Shimmer. I'm not being bias here. Yes Sunset has pretty much cracked my Top 20 favorite Cartoon Characters, but I think she's easily the character in this movie story wise and personality wise. This is important because Rainbow Rocks starts off during the Battle vs Sunset in the Fall Formal. Plus even though I really feel bad about her being treated like an outcast because of her actions in the Fall Formal, it's understandable and expected because how much she deceived everyone and not a lot of people can trust her after what just occurred. This was basically Sunset's Redemption Arc and had a struggle. Trying to forgive everyone and help out the best she can, but just ends up making the students even more hateful towards her and not even her friends (Mane 6) weren't pleased when Sunset tried to stop them from using their EoH powers too early in the early rounds. Heck even the villains heckled her about being hated, being an outcast, and no one wanting to remember her. Despite all this and her insecurities about trying to help out and no one wanting her help, she did stay strong and it did pay off where she basically was the reason that the Mane 6 stopped fighting and was the final piece needed to help take down the Sirens in that final song battle. And I think that's where this movie is great just because of Sunset and her story of trying to redeem herself and gets rewarded in the end.

The animation is once again a masterpiece in an artistic point of view. Like the last movie, it's just a spectacle and seeing how smooth each of the characters move. Also if you see the Final Band Battle against the Sirens, that's where the animation really picks up especially with the giant Rainbow Alicorn used to destroy the Sirens power once and for all.

The music is much better even though it's all pop centric but I loved some of them like "Shine Like Rainbows" and "Welcome to the Show". I just like it and it's catchy and very memorable to me. But I also love the songs by the Dazzlers. Very enchanting and memorizing while also cynical and deceptive. Even gave me some flashbacks to "I'll Put A Spell On You"

But this movie isn't perfect. It still has a few problems.

I would think the songs were still too pop-centric but that's a nitpick since I'm not into those type of songs. Plus I liked some of the songs in Rainbow Rocks....still it's not my cup of tea. Another nitpick is not much of their pony counterparts except for like 10 minutes, but I think the movie needed to be focused on the EG Universe for story purposes and not risking putting in unecessary scenes.

We also have the high school syndrome where it's so cheesy/cliche, but I think that's being too harsh with that so I'll go easy on this. It's not THAT cheesy, but I think it is something to consider that it did have a charm.

Flash Sentry, well I'm neutral on him. Some like him, but others are mad at him (for hardcore fans it's because he's trying to take Twilight away from them lol) but honestly I didn't like how he was used in this movie. I only saw him in a few scenes and it was just there for pure eye candy and it felt forced. He was only there to ask where Twilight, he meets back with Twilight, he becomes a jackass to Twilight, gets beaten in the Battle Bands, and his return to normal to Twilight in the end. I think he was even more useless in here than in the 1st Equestria Girls. Just wish they used him more than just as a tool since all of his scenes were kind of irrelevant and could have easily been removed.

And of course I still can't get used to their Furry forms whenever they play their music (Mane 6). I don't know, I still can't get past that fact. Makes it more complicated with their Rainbow Powers not being involved and Sunset now has her own anthro form. It's one thing that I can't even try to get used to. Not against furries, but really is that form necessary in this movie? W/e I'm probably too harsh with this as well.

Overall I liked this movie and I think it's recommended to watch despite this being MLP and it's mostly human focused.

Spoiler: If each world had their own counterpart....what happened to Equestria Girls Twilight and Sunset? Well one of those is answered. :)

Pros:
+Much improved story as it's more smooth and a bit unpredictable
+Comedy
+The Characters (Main, Villains, Minor)
++ Sunset Shimmer's Redemption Arc
+ The music
+ The Animation
+ The Last Scene after the Credits

Cons:
-Cheesy
-Music too Pop Centric
-Flash Sentry being used more as a tool than a character
-Anthro...still can't get over it.

Score: 8/10