Present Perfect vs. Movie Magic · 2:47pm May 23rd, 2017
Given how disappointed I was by Dance Magic, I tried really, really hard to keep my expectations for Movie Magic low, even as EQD teased an increasingly exciting slew of preview images.
I had nothing to worry about, this was great. :3
I mean, an entire act of this is kind of just fan wankery with no real purpose, but the fact is, I enjoyed it. Part of the reason I enjoyed it is that this was interesting from the get-go. An in-universe Daring Do movie? I was right there next to Rainbow Dash in being super-stoked about everything going on, and that is exactly the kind of feeling you want your audience to have to make something like this work.
Better yet, I'm like 90% certain this rewards fans for being fans. It's been almost a year since I read Daring Do and the Masked Thief of Marapore, but not only are there references to it here, I think that's the book they're actually filming! I mean, you've got your three relics, your volcano, mysterious 'stallion' with hidden agenda... Sounds like the same thing to me!
Much as I loved seeing the EQGs dressed up as the Power Ponies (with Sunset as the Mane-iac? What. And they even dressed up the dog as Humdrum! I don't even), I have to recognize that it was just a callback and nothing more. Though it was kind of funny seeing Rainbow Dash use her super-speed. It's like, you're Zapp, shouldn't Pinkie be doing that? :V
On that note, it's cool that they have their pendant thingies and can "power up" with them to use their super-powers. Not having their powers 24/7 means things like, oh, I dunno, Sunset doesn't have to wear gloves all the time to live a normal life? A pretty good idea, if you ask me.
And Juniper Montage is cute as fuck. The plot of the episode wasn't super-amazing, I mean, it's pretty easy to figure out the girls' first lead is a dead end, but again, lowered expectations helped, and the plot wasn't the main point anyway. (Also, bizarrely, the director really stood out to me. Maybe it's because we haven't had a lot of adult male characters in EQG, and he wasn't there as antagonist, killjoy or lame punchline?)
Suffice to say, Movie Magic isn't the deepest of pony episodes, but it was immensely enjoyable. Like, four outta five minimum.
And now I have no idea what to feel about the next one. Though I definitely feel dumb now for writing this. :B Of course they wouldn't get Daring to play herself in her own movie!
The entire thing kind of felt like set-up for the next one, if that made sense? It was entertaining set-up, though, just
kind of like a bread sandwich, I guess. It'll fill you up just fine, just not the first thing I'd reach for on the menu.
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I can't even remember what the next one's supposed to be. :B
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I'm waiting for the dub myself, the VAs add so much personality to the cast that I feel it just wouldn't work without them.
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Oh yeah! I'm trying to not get excited about that one, too.
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This one didn't suffer for it, in my opinion. Dance Magic might be better with the original cast.
4544084 Of course it will be, no one does marshmelodrama like Tabitha.
Wait... there's an EQG animated show?
I should be happy, shouldn't I? But I just feel irritated. Like, "Do I have to watch this stuff, too? Is this so they can fuck up the characters in even more ways?"
But at least now there's a pony show without Starlight Glimmer.
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Uh, I got bad news for you on that last point...
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Admittedly, she's only slated to show up in episode 3 (can I call these episodes? it feels weird), and despite this, I'm looking forward to it because her EQG design is super cute. Also, the plot surrounding it sounds different, if nothing else. That's all I ask from these. :B
I LOVED how the director was just EQG George A Romero in terms of design. Excellent touch.
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Oh, is that who he's modeled from? Okay!
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That would be my opinion, yes.