Equestria Girls: The Dance Mirror Movie · 3:12pm Jun 29th, 2017
What? That's the best thing I can call it.
Warning: Spoilers abound. Proceed with caution.
So, yeah. Instead of one big movie, we have three episode-length stories stapled together. And it premiered early in Poland. And I found the episodes on YouTube, so I don't know how DHX is going to officially release them, or if they have already.
...
This is a weird year for MLP. 
Anyway, follow me below the break, and I'll just share some random thoughts I had.
For those worried that Dance Magic might render Reformation Brigade non-canon, don't worry. The time scale balances out. Though if you expect me to write a story about how Cinch stepped down and gave the job to Cadence, I'm afraid you'll be sorely mistaken. There's just not enough meat to the bones of that story.
Anyway, the episode itself was rather standard fare for MLP, though it's honestly the best of the bunch. Sugarcoat continues to be the Best Deadpan Snarker, and Rarity's freakout was a joy to watch in Equestria Girls format. Only complaint is the lack of Indigo Zap, but I think there's a story around here that explains where she ran off to. I'll have to read that sometime.
Movie Magic may not be Rarity Investigates!, but as a Scooby-Doo style whodunit, it's serviceable. Pinkie Pie gushing about the eccentric movie designer was the highlight for me. Everything else just felt like a buildup to the last part of the trilogy, with Juniper Montage as the villain.
Speaking of which, Mirror Magic is probably my least favorite of the trilogy. One of my complaints about Legend of Everfree was that the geodes were never explained. They literally just fell out of the sky. So you can imagine me rolling my eyes when Juniper's mirror was treated the same way. It's a cool concept, sure. But I'm not that invested in it if I don't know why it's there.
Now, that's not to say it's horrible. For one thing, it turns out DHX is one step ahead of me this time around. I wanted my next Equestria Girls: Reformation story to be about Sunset and Starlight meeting, and they beat me to the punch. I'm actually happy about this. Great minds think alike, after all.
However, we weren't given a chance to properly explore their chemistry before Juniper zapped Sunset into the mirror. In fact, Starlight herself voices this disappointment at the end of the episode, only for Princess Twilight to say "Meh, you can stick around with those guys for a bit." I mean, I didn't see Starlight anywhere in the new MLP Movie trailer. Maybe this is where she went. 
So, that sums up my thoughts. A strong start with some interesting moments, but it kinda petered out at the end. Will this inspire new entries in the Equestria Girls: Reformation series? Perhaps. We'll have to wait and see. 
For me, personally, I felt the exact opposite.
Dance Magic, the special, just felt dull with comedy that was okay at best. Heck, I like it even less than the first EQG movie.
The SONG, Dance Magic, however, is among the best of the entirety of EQG.
Movie Magic was fun and enjoyable, and I liked it more than Rainbow Rocks, but not quite as much as Friendship Games.
Mirror Magic was EASILY my pick for the best of the 3. Not only was I laughing hard at the comedy, but the interactions between Starlight and Sunset were great.
Heck, I like this special more than Legend of Everfree, making it my favorite EQG thing yet.
As for Starlight not being in the movie, she's there:
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Personally, I found Movie Magic to be the least interesting of the three and I think Mirror Magic was my favorite. I just loved the interaction between Starlight and Sunset and Starlight's design in the human world. Dance Magic was a close second for me simply because we got an expansion on most of the Shadowbolts.
As for Indigo Zap, I think one of the writers said she was on vacation at this point in time, but that was really just an excuse for them not to have the voice actress have time for one special and character only: Starlight Glimmer. Don't hold me on that, I still have to find the source of that myself.
They were explained though... kind of. When Midnight sparkle destroyed the statue it caused a crack to form in the portal (this was shown at the end of LoE) which is causing magic to leak into the human world. This magic created the Geodes as well as the Magic Mirror, I realize this explanation is basically that magic does what ever the hell it wants but its a good enough explanation for any magical event I think (Plus it allows some creativity for future magical problems).
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My problem with Mirror Magic is that they didn't spend enough time building on Sunset and Starlight's chemistry. Also, I find it odd that Starlight is in the MLP movie, but she's not with the Mane 6 for any of their shenanigans.
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...
Y'know, if there was a scene in any of the movies where they explicitly said that, I'd be more on board with the whole idea. In a future installment, perhaps?
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Honestly, I thought they spent just enough time with that.
If it had gone the route of "they're rivals, at least for a while", then maybe I'd be more inclined to agree.
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I have to disagree. Yes, they hit all the familiar beats their relationship would have, but most of the episode was dedicated to Juniper. And honestly, I'm not a big fan of Juniper Montage. As a villain she's bland, and as a character she's a vain, egotistical brat. Not a good combination. Also, in a show that has been criticized for its abundance of rushed eleventh-hour redemptions, Juniper is the worst offender. There was never any indication that she cared about anyone but herself; why did Starlight's attempt to empathize with her work at all?
Maybe if Movie Magic did more to build Juniper up, I'd like Mirror Magic a lot more. As it stands, though, I think it's wasted potential.
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Honestly, I found her fun to watch. And that stuff about her as a character is true, but I personally love those kinds of characters.
I seem to be the only one who's fine with the vast majority of the redemptions.
The only ones that felt rushed to me were Gilda's and Sunset's initial redemption.
Sunset's was fixed immediately with Rainbow Rocks, and Gilda is a character I never really cared for.
I like to think of it as that good old "Everyone has good inside them, it just takes the right person to reach it" cliche.
That, and it lead to one of the funniest moments ever:
The lampshading of how forgiving they are.
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You like bland villains?
Compared to the other villains of EqG, Juniper simply doesn't stack up. Sunset was interesting because of her ambitious motivations and her persuasive skills. The Sirens were interesting because they were manipulative temptresses that knew just what to say to get what they wanted. Cinch was interesting because the way she pressured Twilight into doing what she wanted made her someone people loved to hate. Gloriosa Daisy was interesting because she wasn't really a bad guy; she just made bad decisions.
What does Juniper have? A haughty, self-entitled attitude and a magic mirror that she couldn't use properly. Now, there's potential in the whole mirror idea. It would've been better if the mirror didn't break, and she saw just how selfish she was being in her own reflection. But that's not what happened. She makes a face turn out of nowhere with her "who would want to be friends with me?" speech; something she never cared about prior to that breakdown.
For the record, I don't mind the redemptions, either. They reinforce the message of the show, if anything. But Juniper's just comes out of left field for me.
As an addendum, I did find the lampshading of the forgiving nature of the cast to be quite funny. Again, the episode was not terrible. I just think it could've been a lot better.
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I was referring to the "vain, egotistical brat" part.
While true for Sunset, her plan felt more like she was just making stuff up as she went along.
And the Sirens felt more like generic "take over the world" villains to me.
Gloriosa and Cinch, I'll give you.
And the attitude is part of why I love her so much.
The mirror, however, she did learn how to use over the course of the special.
That would have been interesting, but I like how she was talked out of it by Starlight, who herself was talked down by Princess Twilight.
I prefer to be an optimist, and believe that deep down she did.
It just took Starlight's speech to bring it to the surface.
Heck, Juniper is a villain that I'm mostly neutral about, and the reason I love the special the way I do is mostly because of the comedy and the Starlight and Sunset interactions.
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Maybe if we actually saw hints of that at any time during Movie Magic or Mirror Magic, I'd be more forgiving. But all I saw was an egotistical spoiled brat who only wanted the fame and fortune of being a movie star. That's not compelling enough for me, I'm sorry.