Present Perfect vs. Legend of Everfree · 8:31pm Oct 2nd, 2016
Well, here we are, in the days of EQG #4, and I can find out how well my trepidations played out. By which I mean, what's the pattern? Are odd-numbered movies good and even-numbered movies bad? Was Rainbow Rocks a fluke, with the presence of two less-than-stellar movies giving the odds at a bad movie 2-to-1?
Well, I can't actually answer that question properly. But I can at least say I enjoyed LoE. :)
If I had one criticism for this movie, it would be that it's too safe. They seem to have struck upon a formula, their long-standing characters are firmly entrenched in what they do, they have a 'new' character to explore, they didn't take any risks. On the upside, Legend of Everfree has finally escaped that dog of Equestria Girls to date: rushed pacing. Even Rainbow Rocks had this problem, it just made up for by being fucking awesome.
So what do we have now? Well, we've got a new ship in the form of Twimber (or is that Sprurkle?). I'm sure fanboys were howling, but I didn't give a damn, other than perhaps a soft roll of the eyes initially. We got a cool-looking new villain with an interesting motivation. We got fucking dapper-ass human Filthy Rich being rich and evil because Humania is worse than Equestria.
Most importantly, we got a new status quo. It seems the EQG-verse is headed in a "magical girl anime" direction, and given their explicit emphasis on superheroes (I typed "superhoes" at first, lol), I am all for this. To be perfectly honest, I'm finally really looking forward to the fifth movie, because I'm interested to see where this goes. (Plus, to put my initial question in perspective, we now have either a 50/50 shot at a good movie, or a trend showing that things are looking up in general.)
And I can't say I'm disappointed by how they used Sci-Twi. It's great to have a fresh new take on Twilight Sparkle's character (and a shying away from "we have to peek into Equestria every movie"). Her struggle with magic was, okay, not the deepest emotional conflict, but it was conflict, and it was believable. (An aside: I love is-just-a-talking-dog Spike. He's way better than dragon Spike.)
PLUS THERE WAS SO MUCH SHIPPING FUEL I MEAN NNGH AGH SO MUCH TOUCHING AND SUNSET BEING A GOOD FRIEND AND HEY MAYBE SHE'LL GET BACK WITH FLASH I'VE ONLY WANTED THAT SINCE RAINBOW ROCKS A GUY HAS NEEDS HASBRO A GUY HAS NEEDS
As for Timber Spruce, I'm mostly concerned that he spent the movie abusing a position of authority to get with a high schooler. I mean, nothing says he's necessarily older than Twilight, but c'mon, his whole m.o. was "My sister runs the camp, I'm here to hit on campers." He wasted zero time getting blushy with her, I mean, come on.
I think my only other complaint would be that Rarity was a little too monomaniacal. Her runway/fashion show obsession got old. But that's really all I can complain about, other than a distinct lack of amazingness. (Granted, we have the "Pinkie's head" scene, not to mention Bulk Biceps dancing in his fantastic pink suit. Also, Flash will always have Derpy.) Well, that and they reminded us of the plots of the previous three movies like five separate times. I get why, but, geez, you don't rehash the show this much and it's aimed at younger kids.
Heh, and I guess I don't have to worry about canon screwing my fic. :V Hooray!
So, in all, a fun movie, very little wrong with it, I'd still place it second after Rainbow Rocks, but it was considerably better than Friendship Games. I don't think there will be a Fast Times at Camp Everfree, sad to say. (Though I did get a few goofy-ass ideas...)
Flash Sentry graduates from 'butt of every joke' to 'guy who got screwed over by the daunting complexities of the universe and is horrifically confused by his circumstances'.
And thanks to having actual character traits, Timber Spruce gains automatic bonus points. Plus, we can always say that Sci-Twi gets the human and Princess Twilight gets to be lesbians with the Alicorn of Redemption. SUNLIGHT CANNOT DIE!
I think I'm the only one who puts Rainbow Rocks at third place... Slice-of-life is my pony cup of tea, and that Deus Ex Machina with Vinyl Scratch was probably the most jarring moment MLP has ever thrown my way.
Overall, I agree: Legend of Everfree was safe. Only one thing really stood out to me as great, and one thing as a jimmy-rustler.
The Bad:
Despite my endless love for Rarijack, the Humane 5 continue to be one-dimensional parodies of the characters we know and love. Rainbow, without her ambition. Applejack, without her adult responsibilities. No development or exploration of their characters. The last three movies have been the Sunset-Twilight show, and Everfree only heightened the trend. Most of the plot happened without the Humane 5's knowledge or involvement, and their every scene was just a gag-reel of obvious quirks. Look at Pinkie! She's so random! Look at Rarity! She likes fashion!
Sunset has dominated the actual character development for three movies. Sci-Twi is only now starting to muscle in, and even *Flash Sentry* had one of the most adult-like turning points to date. But nothing gets left for the Humane 5. We even have to take their word that Twilight is actually friends with them, 'cause the movie doesn't much show it.
"Hey Rarity, where's the seventh and purplest member of our band of inseparable friends?"
"If the last six scenes are any indication, she's either having meaningful conversation with Sunset in their tent, or bumping into Timber in the woods with Sunset there to advance the plot."
The good:
I will cheerfully pump up a great part of the movie that I don't think gets enough attention: Gaia Everfree. Let me ask, and I'm genuinely curious, is she actually the only villain MLP has ever given us to have even reasonably sympathetic motives? After five years of would-be overlords and sneering sadists, here we get this lady who just wants to protect her park. I really liked "We Will Live Forever Free" - it had maternal, even loving dialogue that jarred delightfully with her actions and were sung without the smallest bit of irony.
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Yeah... between S6 (Quibble Pants, Sunburst, etc.) and this movie, 2016 has become the year of male characters finally getting to be something other than emasculated butt-monkeys.
4237274 But what about Fancy Pants?
I'd place it at the worst. Rarity was the worst I've ever seen here in show or EQG. If she had ten lines, nine of them would have been about fashion. Plus the threat from Filthy Rich made no sense. So they don't make their payments. Why does that mean that he gets the camp? They never said he was a co-owner. He just seemed to be there. I also think a lot of the conflict was kind of rushed. Not the worst movie ever, but not that great.
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Yeah, let's not forget yet another fucking awesome villain song. :D Just more proof we need more of them!
Nor should I really gloss over the fact that Flash seemed like an actual goddamn person in this movie. Finally.
I thought the movie was fine myself and have to agree with most of what you said. What I seem to be the only one to either think or say was what this movie reminded me of.
It felt like a Scooby Doo episode only with real supernatural forces at the end.
Everything felt like Scooby Doo. The band of characters stumble into a mystery; the greedy land developer; the ghost story used to frighten people away from plot-specific locations. It all felt very much like that.
I agree that Rarity was the most grating part of the movie, I have never seen her character so flat. I wish they would have done more with the rest of the characters to flesh them out at least a little bit. I also still strongly dislike what I see as the shoe-horning in of Twilight into EQD (Friendship Games with the deleted scenes instead would have come off much better). Yes, she gets some rather neat character development, but I think the story could have worked better if it was still Sunset and the gang as by necessity they would have had more interaction with her and more things to do.
Overall I thought it as a fine entry, but nothing to write home about.
Also something I don't see the reviews mention: There is a post-credits stinger after the movie. It's cute and makes all the right jokes, even if they are a bit expected.
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Yeah, even my watch-friend made a Scooby Doo reference.
And the stinger was all right. I may have just had my hopes up, given how strong the one for Friendship Games was.
Quite enjoyable all around, though I do agree that Rarity could've used a little depth. Though I suspect she was focusing on the fashion show to ignore how she was surrounded by icky, messy, sappy, muddy nature.
Hmm. There may be a Dueling Keyboards short there...
As they get further down the line, there's less and less point in saying this has anything to do with Equestria.
I would've enjoyed more pathos from Sunset, as she seemed pretty damn desperate to get her magic back, and make the entire world in general more magical. But that would require introspection, which this series now rarely seems capable of.
I've been saying literally for years that magical girls (with a little pony influence thrown in) is what I have been wanting out of EQG, so pretty much all of this movie was up my alley.
Poor confused Flash, but hey, Sunflash does appear to be at least slightly in the cards. That "why do I love pony women" fic I vaguely recall seems just a little prescient.
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Hey now, it was a Bass ex Machina, and not even really a Deus ex machina given the writers hadn't really written themselves into a corner, they could have just had them show up with a few amplifiers and been ready, so wasn't the only way out. Or had vinyl drive up and have them in her trunk, given how into music she is. Having a Bassmobile wasn't the ONLY way to get out of that, so not a Deus ex Machina, just a really awesome bit of absurdity.
As to the rest, mostly agree, that the Humane 5 are just second rate copies of the character we care about is one of my biggest underlying gripes with the whole idea of EQG from the start, but this was fun enough, and the Pinkie's Mind scene was freaking awesome. But.. given they really aren't there for more then to be around and fill time, with it being Sunset and Sci-Twi that fill in the real major narrative force, I'm fine with that by now, last time it really bothered me was RD being such a fucking asshole in RR. Yeah Rarity was not well done but.. she really wasn't a major part of the story anyway.
And yes Gaia Everfree, and her song, were flipping AMAZING! On the pro side, can we add, Tina and Lucy were not utterly freaking worthless for a change? Just, everyone really felt well done outside the Humane 5. Even Flash.. and seeing him get taken down was so great, now if they would just write him out of the thing entirely.. sorry but I really do not freaking want to deal with romance BS. Flashes was idiotic, the Timber thing... was annoying for existing, but way way better done. At least till the end, him trying to take credit for saving everyone was freaking idiotically annoying, but beyond that, it was more.. I hate romance plots in general then anything really wrong with what was going on.
And I did kind of find Starlight a bit sympathetic once we found out her backstory, but overall..... I guess Midnight Sparkle would kind of count, it was Twilight just getting in over her head and being pressured by Cinch, so she was rather sympathetic... but no, nothing quite like Gaia, and it was rather awesome.
4237345 It's Filthy Rich, he has any number of ways to have screwed them out of it, all they had to have done was take out a loan with the title to the land as collateral, and he'd have been able to acquire it, so moment they miss a payment, he has legal right to take the land. There are so many underhanded ways he could have gotten them into that position.
4237483 Well Daniel Ingram Tweeted that Say Goodbye to the Holiday's was the first of three Villains songs he had coming out, so assuming he meant one as this one, means still got one more for the finale.... and given the hints and possibility of who might be coming back.......
Overall I really did like it, maybe it was 'safe' but it worked well. The Humane 5 were still shallow second rate copies of the character we love, but they were just around to fill time and be there for jokes and stuff, not really part of the main narrative, so could over look it, and the Pinkie's mind bit was awesome. The villain was amazing, the songs were great, and character all well done aside from the Humane 5, Flash getting shot down... and not just acting like an idiot, as above my only real complaint is the freaking romance BS, but that's just a case of just plain not wanting any romance like that added, and unlike with Flash, this was done well enough to not be idiotic or just plain wrong on it's own, just annoying for personal reasons. And going full on Magical Girl Anime could be interesting to see what happens from here.
A lot of stuff they could have explored more, like Sunset's desire to have magic back, or go0ne more into stuff but on the whole, second best of the group after Rainbow Rocks.
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I was waiting for Twilight to accuse her of wanting the evil magic back because she missed being a unicorn. A healthy dose of pony angst/homesickness would have been great.
I think there's a pretty nice chance the next movie will have a superhero theme. Superhero stuff is really in right now, not just with Marvel and DC movies but in children's programming. I think there are like three superhero-themed live action children's sitcoms running and five more traditional super hero cartoons.
4237702 Then tell us that! It'd take two seconds and I'd have fewer questions.
That says it all right there. "Safe."
Equestria Girls is safe to the point of being bland. I wish it could be as bold and daring and creative as Steven Universe. I wish the actual MLP show could be.
DJ Pon3 was seen talking in the background with Fluttershy, so it is now confirmed that she isn't mute.
Flash spent the entire movie getting shut down.
This makes EQG4 instantly gain 20 points for Gryffindor.
4237915 Why? It doesn't matter to the plot really, and would have just been more 'as you know' exposition. There are multiple plausible ways that could have occurred, all very very easy to come up with, and that is all that matters.
4238353 I have to disagree. In that vein, let's not forget that during their big fundraising ball, they showed none or almost none of the former campers. Just shots of the current ones. That robs this triumphant moment of some of its impact. As far as I know, none of the former campers showed up.
4238423 Except they clearly did as it worked. Also we have Timber being dragged off to meet some of them. Yes it would have been better to actually show more of that and make clear the scale, but not a huge sin to not, that would have required a lot of effort to create more character models they'd only really ever use once for a few quick scenes.
4238436 I guess. It still annoyed me, though, as well as the re-used animation. I stand my ground on the Flanderized Rarity.
Mad Timber Spruce Prediction:
He's been infected with magic too and is a Were-Timberwolf. When he gets mad, it's auto-regenerating giant wooden wolfie time! When transformed, he loses a lot of his human intelligence but, fortunately, Spike is quite able to translate. Oddly enough, the Wolf, still views Twilight with affection. So, she has a boyfriend who occasionally sheds... splinters.
Why? It's a logical continuation of Twilight's fears about her powers. She is emotionally close to someone who really does have uncontrollable and potentially dangerous powers, so she in some ways explores and learns to defeat her own fears by giving Timber more control over the Wolf.
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For a second there, I thought it was a dumb idea, but then you made it have meaning and dang. :O
I'm totally fine with this (if yeah, the camper/guide thing is uhh...), for one simple reason: he was given more personality and relevance in his first couple minutes than Flash has got over the course of three movies. Though he did get a bit more in this one.
Hell yeah, I love superheroes! Which is to say, I'm all with you there.
One thing from this was that for me, the experience of watching a whole show in which Twilight seemed stripped of her curiosity and desire to learn and solve problems, even if it wasn't our Twilight, was jarring and uncomfortable. But then, that's kind of the problem of having two people with those same traits as core characters--if not for that, there'd be a lot of her and Sunset stepping on each other's toes, or else likely excluding the other characters even more than was the case.
I agree with most of your review. The movie did play it safe when it came to the plot, but I enjoyed getting away from the high school setting, plus it sets up an interesting change by giving the 7 friends powers that they get to keep and control.
And Gloriosa Daisy is my favorite EG character next to Sunset. Unlike every other villain in EG and MLP, Gloriosa has real world problems that I can actually relate to. Her parents are dead, she's struggling to run her family business, and she owes a massive debt to someone who uses intimidating collection practices. She's not power-hungry; she just wants to save her camp that's been in her family for four generations. And yet she still smiles through it all as best as she can and tries to give the campers the best experience possible. Much respect to her. Plus, her song was right up there with "Battle of the Bands" and "This Day Aria."
I liked Timber when he wasn't hitting on SciTwi, which was maybe 50% of the time? Any concerns about him flirting with SciTwi could have been alleviated if the writers had just had Gloriosa say that he's only an assistant counselor - which he most likely would have been for most of his life, anyway, if he was raised on the camp grounds.
I didn't notice how one-note Rarity was until someone else pointed it out to me. Hopefully her new shield power will give the writers something else "easy" to work with when writing her.
Also, this movie actually made me feel sympathy for Flash. Not just during this movie. I mean I went back and rewatched the earlier movies after I saw this one and it made me view him in a more sympathetic light. Poor guy is always getting shot down and friendzoned even though he's gentlemanly and plays guitar. I hope he finds romance eventually with either Sunset or Derpy/Muffins - I don't mind either way.
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If nothing else, we might have a good setup for a solid fifth movie now, what with Flash having an actual character and all. If they can go that far, who knows what they'll do next?