Sunset Over Paradise · 12:25pm May 31st, 2017
If you're an impatient little troglodyte like me, you've no doubt already seen the three Equestria Girls specials, with English subtitles of course because as of right now they're only in Polish—
Ah, yes. I suppose I better clear out that elephant in the room. Long story short, was busy in my final year of University studies. But that's over now. Send help
Anyway, let's discuss not Pinkie today but instead, my second favorite character in the MLP franchise. A close second, at that, if you can believe it.
To me, Sunset Shimmer is a remarkable success story. Here we have a character that began life as a bland villain with, one might argue, wasted potential. Then after that, she somehow transformed into one of the most likeable and well developed characters in the cast. Seriously, my passion for Sunset almost rivals that of my passion for Pinkie. I overanalyze her almost to the same extent that I do for the pink party pony, believe it or not. Hell, Sunset is the focus of my favorite single scene in the entire franchise. That's amazing to think considering when Sunset was first a thing, I thought she was boring and bland a villain you could get.
Now with four movies and a few shorts under our belt, I can safely say that Equestria Girls is definitely Sunset's story, and I hope it remains that way for a while to come yet. Let's have a look back and see how she's changed, shall we?
Equestria Girls (2013)
This movie is like cardboard.
I'd hesitate to say it's awful. I don't think it is, and there are certainly entertaining elements to it, but it's clear this is a very humble beginning for the franchise. It kinda suffers from the Star Wars Episode VII problem where everything feels like it's been done before. Because it has. The only differences are a major setting shift and a worse villain.
Let me make this perfectly clear: Sunset Shimmer was the worst villain in the franchise's history. Even worse than Sombra, in my opinion. At least with Sombra he was some really evil dude that had a lot of mystery to him. A fear of the unknown. Sunset? She’s not threatening at all. Her lackies are Snips and Snails. I could’ve done something as simple as break a chair over her head and saved everyone a movie, since Sunset had no powers of her own then.
Sunset is the former student of Princess Celestia. This is an interesting hook but the film does little to explore it in detail. Sunset is supposed to be some kind of evil Twilight, her opposite, but you never really get that feeling either. Sunset's just some jerk that lusts for power for reasons that are never explained in the film. Her minions are Snips and Snails of all people. Her plan is to get the crown and enslave the school and use that to somehow take over Equestria? Sunset as a villain was straight up dumb and entirely non-threatening.
Still, the film shouldn't be discounted entirely. There's some fun scenes and songs in there. Most importantly (and obviously) though, it introduces Sunset and sets things up so she can have her redemption. For that I'll always be grateful for this movie's existence, even if it's heavily flawed.
Rainbow Rocks (2014)
Holy moly, what a sudden 180 in quality.
Seriously, I don't think anyone expected this movie to be as good as it was. When we saw the synopsis, we all thought it was all going to be another generic highschool battle of the bands movie. Yawn.
We were wrong. Kinda.
The Battle of the Bands plot is definitely present here but it's kept to the background. It's a device to deliver to the true story here. That being a trio of Sirens dedicated on enslaving people with their songs and sucking their life essence, or something of that nature. It's odd how we went from the worst villains of the franchise to some of the best. The Sirens aren't quite a threat level like Discord or Chrysalis but they make up for that with their internal synergy and banter. They're a treat to watch.
What I like about this movie the most, perhaps, is how it balances the main plot with the subplot. The main plot is Twilight and co. trying to figure a way to defeat the Sirens.The subplot is Sunset trying to get used to her new situation and overcoming her fears of forever being scheduled from everyone else. It's pretty clever when you think about it. Sunset's plot about her being in everyone's shadow is in shadow of the main plot. I love that. It makes her story feel a bit more grounded.
Oh, and there's the fact she suffers consequences, real consequences, for her actions unlike a certain character...
Rainbow Rocks is the best Equestria Girls movie out of the bunch, for very good reasons.
Friendship Games (2015)
This movie is... weird. There's a lot of fun stuff in it but there's a lot of awkward stuff too. It's still superior to the first movie however.
The main problems with the movie are a plot that breaks suspension of disbelief too often and a cast of new characters that feel a bit pointless. The Crystal Prep students aren't developed enough and barely feel like foils to their Mane 6 counterparts. If they even had counterparts, that is. They just feel like they were chucked in there to give the Mane 6 something to fight against.
This movie introduces Sci-Twi, the even more nerdy, reclusive version of Princess Twilight, if you can believe it. Oddly enough, she does feel like a different character to me. Early pony Twilight was very snarky and cynical; she wasn't very shy and awkward like Sci-Twi is. Perhaps this is due to differences in upbringing; being Celestia's prized pupil is sure to give one a confidence boost. She's a bit of a dummy though. Repeatedly messing with magic despite seeing the negative effects it's causing. And somehow most of the people watching the games ignore the crazy shit that's going on? I mean, I know they've seen magical stuff before but a demon girl is one thing... portals tearing through reality to another world is entirely another.
This movie is where Sunset properly steps up to the plate and becomes the de facto leader, of sorts. We see here (and in the shorts) that she's a very active character. If Twilight is a thinker, Sunset is a doer (although the two have a healthy amount of their opposites). In one of the shorts Sunset says she preferred to get her hands dirty and the movie itself hints at this, with Sunset losing to Sci-Twi at a complex math problem, which takes a certain way of thinking Twilight would be better at.
This movie holds a special place in my heart though because I believe it has the best scene in MLP's history. That's right. The best scene of all time. And here it is:
I love this scene so much. It has about three layers of subtext to it. It's something I can easily see the characters doing, it's well written, and Sunset isn't immediately chewed out for getting a bit angry. I-It's realistic!
Unfortunately there's a ton of good stuff cut from this movie, mostly a Sunset subplot involving her thinking of returning to Equestria. It's great stuff, so do see those scenes if you can.
Oh and Principal Cinch is the villain. She's okay I guess.
Legend of Everfree (2016)
Also known as Sunset's Bizarre Adventure: Sundust Crusaders.
This movie is close to Rainbow Rocks. Very close. But I think this is just sliiightly inferior.
The 'villain' of this movie is far more interesting than Cinch and she has a cool design/powers, so that's an improvement from the last movie. Plus, now the girls have Stands crazy powers! They're pretty awesome, from Applejack's super strength, Rarity's diamond shields, Pinkie's KILLER QUEEEN ability, to... Fluttershy being good with... animals. What the hell? That's exactly what she does as a pony already and it's not even a good ability.
Whatever Fluttershy sucks. That's a no brainer.
Sunset here is still very much the leader but she's also somewhat of a mentor to Sci-Twi as well. Their relationship is fun to watch and seeing Sunset's excitement at magic in the air is adorable. It's also nice that the Mane 6 get something to do other than just being friendship power conduits. It's odd but honestly, the EQG Mane 7 feel more like equals to me now than the pony Mane 6 do, despite each getting less screen time to themselves. Weird.
Magic Shorts (2017)
I'll keep this shorter wew. All of these shorts are good natured fun. Dance Magic is the worst and Movie Magic is the best, at least to me.
Mirror Magic is pretty fun too. We finally get to see Sunset in Equestria again! Aaand... barely anything happens because we have to accommodate for Poochie!
To be fair, the above gif is a nice detail, showing how overjoyed Sunset was to use magic again. Additionally, this has been the best thing Poochie's ever been in. All it took was robbing her of her magic for her to be a half decent character, eh? It's a fun enough short adventure but Sunset got sidelined when she really shouldn't have been.
That said, she does say that she believes she and her friends got these powers for a reason... and Juniper definitely wasn't a big threat. That makes me think we got at least one more EQG movie to go, even a series. Whatever it is, it'll be fun to see what's done with Sunset Shimmer next. I genuinely believe she's one of the best characters in the series and for good reasons too.
-JaketheGinger
P.S. I ship this now.
Starlight Glimmer needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a portal that crosses dimensions. Whenever she's not on screen, the characters should be asking "Starlight? You mean Princess Twilight's new student? Did Twilight say it was okay to bring her here?"
Yea I love PinkieDash but in EG I am also very partial to Pinkie/Sunset.
Yea when EG uses Sunset things go really well. The more they try to force Twilight as the focus the more I dislike it. I also think that series needs to figure out how to use the other characters more. Yes Pinkie gets some nice comedy moments but that is about it and so she is more of a gag than a character and that is sad (some say that about some more recent episodes but due to there being a lot of episodes a season they typically redeem themselves by having a Pinkie focused episode down the line somewhere).
It is funny that I like Sunset so much but I really do not like Glimmer (or I should say HOW they use Glimmer). It could be the movie format since she is often the most interesting character and we know this is it for the time being whereas in the show I just keep thinking this is wasted effort on a character I do not feel I have a desire to see.
...Why is Sunset's magic red now?
Bring back the teal!
Anyway, regarding Glimmer: Yes, she's awful. She's starting to have her moments this season though... I'm surprised to admit I really liked her and Maud in the 'Pinkie is a pain in the ass' episode.
Got a link for Movie Magic with subs?
>Sunset over Paradise
>Golden rays of the glorious sunshine,
setting down such a blood-red light.
4553843
Guessing it's a side effect of the geode pendants.
4553858
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5o745c
Enjoy, friendo.
4553843
I genuinely don't understand what people see in Glimmer, especially when Shimmer exists.
I don't like Fluttershy at all but at least I do see the merits other people will see in her.
4553941 No no, Movie Magic
I can't find it anywhere.
4553953
Ah, my bad. Unfortunately I can't find it either but I'll keep a look out.
4553941 You misunderstand, good buddy.
Glimmer should have been de-horned and statued. Shimmer is now and always will be best pony.
That said, the recent Maud ep. actually gave Glimmer a tiny bit of character other than "Rawr horse nazi", and I liked that. Her friendship with Maud was actually kinda cute. She's still a goddamn nazi and deserves a long line of punches to the face, but this was IMO the first and closest she's come to actually having a redeeming quality.
4553996
I was agreeing you with. Glimmer, or Poochie as I like to refer to her as, is pretty bad.
Can't say I liked her that much in the Maud episode either. That said I was too busy defending Pinkie from hordes of people saying she was OOC that episode, when she really wasn't.
4554000 No, she wasn't OOC... just intolerably overbearing.