Elmagnifico reacts to Rainbow Rocks

Since I really don't have anywhere better to share this, going to put my initial thoughts about the new movie here.

-The Dazzlings specifically say "Equestrian Magic" is what is missing from the mirror-world. Makes me wonder if there are other sorts of magic there, which puts me in a mind for a Dresden crossover of some sort...

-Ah, Flash. Or should I say Flat? As in, his characterization? I do appreciate Sunset's comment about how there wasn't anything between them, but I'm less than happy to see the man himself again. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the /idea/ of Twilight having a love interest, but come on. Dude's about as interesting as a sawdust sundae.

-I feel like they really wasted a good plot for having the rest of the Mane Six come through the portal and meet their counterparts. There are plenty of ways to explain suspiciously-similar newcomers. Applejack, at the very least, can dismiss any queries about her doppelganger as "Visitin' cousin". Dual Pinkie Pies would probably get dismissed as Pinkie being Pinkie, if it were Equestria we were talking about. For the rest, I imagine this dialogue between the Rarities:

"So the problem is, we all look too similar."

Both Rainbow Dashes felt a strong urge to flee when they noticed the gleam in their friends' eyes.

"You know what this means?"

One Applejack plugged her ears and rolled her own eyes, while her counterpart just covered both ears with her hands. The rest of the group caught the full fury of the following mind-numbing falsetto scream of joy directly in their auditory organs, such that a few of them actually missed the ensuing shout.

"MAKEOVER!"

-With that out of the way, another thing that sorta-ish broke my suspension of disbelief. I know *why* they didn't send a team of Royal Guard crack magic commandoes or similar at the monsters that took the greatest unicorn wizard in history to defeat, in a watsonian sense. This is a movie about magical girls with an equine theme, and something like sending the Mareines doesn't play into it. Moreover an alien invasion sounds like the sort of environment the Dazzlings would thrive in, so that's out.

On the other hand, throwing a princess at it does seem like a sufficient-force-ish sort of way of dealing with the sirens, but this involves going to a land where the princessly magic is inaccessible, one would think there would be more meatshields involved.

At the very least it seems irresponsible of Twilight to just hop through the mirror without a plan or any sort of backup, beyond her equestrian friends summoning help if she's not back by x time or somesuch. Even that wasn't even given a nod though. Princess Celestia needs to give her youngest co-ruler a refresher in tactics.

-I've enjoyed these little moments with Twi and Sunset, as well as Sunset and the rest. Character interaction is, in my humble opinion, the key ingredient to good storytelling, and thus far RR has had plenty of great interaction, for a kid's movie.

-I'll buy nobody noticing the lines between Rarity's costume and the catwalk, but can they really not tell there are big red-and-gray magnets attached to them? Also if they're strong enough to pick up a person, those things should have interfered with the mic, Rares' keytar, and/or everything ferrous for a good five feet. I could lift a small car and re-suspend my disbelief from the undercarriage with those things.

-Dear Rainbow Dash: You idiot.

-I mean that in both senses by the by, you let your subconscious needs and desires rule you, and look where it got you. Also, that was pretty darn stupid. Rarity, Sunset left you plenty of time to intervene, but did you do anything? Noooo.

-Vinyl is awesome person? Completely canon now. Also, seeing her car transform like that makes me wonder if the "magic" in the mirror-world is a spark of some sort, perhaps related to a matrix...

-Mega pony avatar of rainbow laser? Yes. I guess the crowd's got deer-in-the-headlights syndrome since they've stuck around *after* the Sirens are revealed and Twi&co. fought the spell off, even temporarily, I'd expect a little more panic.

-Oh hey, the return of Flat Sedentary. I think I've figured out why is a show/franchise about friendship, and how complex a relationship that is. Love is even worse in that respect. Granted, there are plenty of stories that have romances this flat with love interests this bland, but I expected better of pony. Admittedly there were Shining and Cadence who had scant more characterization when they were introduced, but I think the issue here is more of balance. I expected better for our protagonist. The dichotomy of fleshed out character vs. flat-board here is just jarring.

-Pinkie getting her hair frizzed in the portal is just hilarious though.

With that, we hit the end of the movie. Sunset wrapping things up was a good finisher. Overall, I'd say this measured up well to Equestria Girls. Given my good-but-not-oscar-winning rating for that one, that puts Rainbow Rocks at a solid 4/5.