Skarsnik's Spoiler-Covered Review of My Little Pony: the Movie · 8:35pm Oct 10th, 2017
I saw it at long last. I watched it in fa feater, an' I observed da whole thing wiv an open mind. So... da first question is obviously first. What did I fink of our most expected and pony-filled adventure free years in da makin'? Youse gonna find out now.
Switchin' out "game" wiv "film," I can honestly agree wiv my dear friend, Reggie. Da film was fun. A big, cute, bouncin' ball of fun. A specific type of lovable, adventurous an' energetic fun dat anyone can enjoy - if dey just open deir minds ta da possibility of dere bein' a world of wonder where small, pastel-colored ponies, of all creatures, are da type of beings one can't 'elp but get behind an' root for, no matter da amount of diabetes-inducing sugar an' cherubic looks it may seem ta possess on da outside.
My Little Pony: the Movie is, at its core, a real, delectable treat for da kids and fans of da show, an' on da outside an' everywhere else is a delightful ride for average moviegoers. Da film was not perfect by any stretch, but it was, wivout question, fun. Any 'oo would say it's just dere to be a run-of-the-mill, vapidly-told tale meant only ta sell toys clearly only saw da nitpicks to be had and did not give two cares for anything else at all. My eyes are upon youse, Michael Rechtshaffen of da 'Ollywood Reporta. Youse a so-called "top critic", an' yet your miserable excuse for a review can go a'ead an' kiss my green arse. The Emoji Movie was a wretched amalgamation of ads and vacuous product placement; da movie equivalent of a simple, inedible mud pie in terms of ingenuity. Youse can go a'ead an' stuff your stupid face with somefink so fittingly bitter as dat if youse meant what youse said about dis movie some'ow actually being below dat festerin' tower of excrement and whoremongerin' product placement.
Da plot was quite simple in its basic form, yes. A bit rushed in some parts when it was played out, a few may also say, as with some of the villains. CoughcoughStormKingcoughcough. Seriously, as entertaining and well-voiced as he was, Jared Leto had more time as his twisted mockery of the Joker than he appeared onscreen. Also, he got brutally killed in an epic manner, well-deserving of the pg rating. Go figure. And yet, it was nothing short of entertaining to watch unfold. Parents who brought their children to see the film will be most amused by it for sure. Likely enough to last through it. Even if they hadn't watched a single scrap of the popular show it was based off of in order to get a firm, juicy feel of the ever-expanding setting and developed characters it adapted so well to the big screen, it has immense potential to charm those originally outside of its parameters.
The ones who made the film really gave it their all to make My Little Pony: the Movie a work of moving color and animated joy, quite close in fact to being compared to the all star-produced works of art from the Disney Renaissance, if I dare say. The color was vibrant and eye-opening to watch at times, and the animation was incredibly fluent, meshing well with the 3-d backgrounds. Both went together hand-in-hand in a manner few other modern, animated films have been able to capture - a real breath of fresh air in these trying times where 2-d animation now plays second banana to the inconsiderate form known as computer animation, given the noxious amounts of seizure-inducing fusterclucks cgi films seem to have been feeding us lately. The backgrounds, both 2-d and 3-d were fantastic, and you can tell only the greatest of effort was made into making them as beauteous as they turned out to be. Not bad at all for a big-screen movie adapted from something so incredibly pitiful as a show. And that's all without mentioning the expert voice acting we got as well. Big props go to Emily Blunt for her role in making Tempest Shadow a rather intimidating and complex villain you can't help but love to listen to (my personal favorite character of the film), and a great big thumbs up to Taye Diggs for the smooth vocals in his role as the feline con artist Capper, and Zoe Saldana in her role as the sky pirate Captain Celaeno (personally, I think Capper could have used more development as well). The returning cast from the show were no pushovers either. While on one side I believe Fluttershy should have deserved a little more screen time, Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain and Cathy Weseluck all killed it in their roles as the main heroines and heroes who glue this entire, mini, pg-rated epic together by bringing their wit, emotion and flavor to the characters that have so endeared themselves to the peculiar fandom that possibly made this film the reality that it now is. It was amazing to see them all act together as they were essentially meant to, thanks in part to the showhands who got placed in charge of the movie.
And for the music?
I can say, with no shred of doubt, that the music was undeniably incredible. If the animation is the body of this tale, and the story and voice acting is the blood that flows within its veins, then the music was the soul of this film. Tempest Shadow's piece was undeniably the greatest villain song in MLP that I know of.
Overall, the film was a surprisingly exceptional piece to watch. The style was splendid, the jokes were humorous, and the message was filled with mirth. Children will no doubt love it, fans will positively adore it, and parents will smile. Only the most cynical and jaded of viewers will find whatever ignorant reason they can to try and shoot it down into the dust with the few nitpicks they can come up with, and then blame it on Hasbro just trying only to make a quick buck. Though I can see how critics getting dunked face-first into the ever-expanding world would give it its mixed reception, I can firmly say that this film deserves a B+ and nothing less.
The bottom line is, this film was superb. It was nearly everything we, the fandom, would have wanted. And the other thing, besides how Michael Rechtshaffen should go soak his head in a jar of political and biased cynicism as he deserves, is that I now ship Twilight and Tempest together. And I ship them more than any ship I have ever shipped before in this fandom.
Hmmm... I think I should write a tale about them...
I see that you enjoyed the MLP movie. The story about shipping Twilight and Tempest seems interesting. It would be cool to see what you come up with it.
I also very much enjoyed the movie. Tempest was awesome character and probably my favorite. I wish captain Celaeno got a little more screen time. I was really looking forward to her appearance after reading the movie prequel. Will see again and probably buy it when it comes to DVD.