The My Little Pony Movie (2017) review

My Little Pony: The Movie (2017)
by Obake
(SPOILERS!)

The most disappointing thing about this film is that with a few tweaks, it could be something spectacular, extending beyond the limits of the show into new territory. As is, My Little Pony: The Movie is only average at its best, dumbed down from the show at worst. It feels like a flashier version of a two parter.

The Mane 6 are called to far away lands to find a way to stop a new villain's threat. This time the villains are a unicorn named Commander Tempest (voiced by Emily Blunt), and a beast called the Storm King (voiced by Liev Shreiber.) Tempest is willing to do whatever the Storm King wants, in order to get back her horn, which is broken. The King simply wants the magic of Equestria's princesses to create a storm, or something. His motivations are never made very clear.

The heroes encounter oddball characters on their journey, including an anthropomorphic cat named Capper (voiced by Taye Diggs), pirate birds led by the strangely humanoid Captain Celaeno (voiced by Zoe Saldana), and Seaponies. Yet none of these characters contribute much until the finale.

A lot has been spoken about the new animation. Though the more cutesy designs of the characters did grow on me, their movements are sometimes imperceptibly off. A good aspect of the animation are natural settings, which have a soft, Bob Ross painting style to them. But hand (or hoof) made structures look jarring, like they do not belong in the same cartoon. If only the natural settings utilized the softer, computerized look, it would not be bad.

There are good things about the movie. Spike has admittedly cool moments, such as using his fire breath to escape one of the Storm King's minions. There is also a nifty action scene involving the cast utilizing raw materials to create a makeshift hot air balloon, using Spike's hot breath (again) to keep it afloat. I also like the scene where the girls hang onto a spinning cog wheel that starts rolling through buildings. Though it was short lived.

By the last act, I was getting bored. The movie feels too long, and I believe a big part of that is the songs. Few contribute to the story. Compare to Muppet Christmas Carol, one of my favorite musicals of all time. A very different movie, yes, but both utilizing song numbers. The difference is that Carol has memorable songs that help elevate an already established tone. The My Little Pony Movie, on the other hand, not so much. At best, they are diversions, and not particularly catchy. It is telling when the most memorable piece in a musical is the (wordless) theme.

The movie is not without charm, but it the lightest of the light compared to show. Perhaps the more realistic animation does not gel well with the show's style of humor. Corniness is ramped up. Most of the side characters are annoying, like Tempest's minion Grubber (voiced by Michael Penã), and the hyperactive seapony Princess Skystar (voiced by Kristin Chenoweth.) There is also the inexplicable moment where Capper and the pirates return to the heroes aid. No explanation is given on how they escaped the ship they were aboard, the same that had been surrounded by Tempest's fleet and blown to smithereens.

All in all, The My Little Pony Movie would be fine if cut down and made into a two parter. But for a theatrical release, it does not deliver.

Extra notes:

• References I caught: The Wizard of Oz, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Pulp Fiction, (possibly) Taxi Driver. Some of these were mentioned in reviews I've seen, too.
• The singer Sia voices Songbird Serenade, a Gaga-lite type celebrity, hired to sing at the Friendship Festival. Note I did not even need to mention the festival in the main review, because it plays such little part in the story.
• Like most childrens movies based on TV shows, the movie adds more crude humor. Though in the case of My Little Pony, it is reserved for a few burps, a mention of Capper having a litterbox, and a birdman scratching his butt. Luckily nothing too low brow…
• save for a moment when the Mane 6 first meet Capper. Our heroes, about to sold into slavery by a bunch of weirdos, our saved when Capper tricks the dwellers into thinking the Mane 6 have a disease. One that he states causes limbs to fall off, at which point one of the dwellers looks down and covers his crotch. I do not want to think about what the writers are implying.
• Grubber and Skystar are so very unnecessary. Grubber's schtick is constant obsession with food, Skystar talks to shells with googly eyes. It's not that I don't like comic relief, it's that neither of these characters are very endearing.
• Speaking of which, Skystar's mother, Queen Novo (voiced by Uzo Aduba), is at least somewhat tolerable. She is content with having turned herself and her people into sea creatures, and does not wish to revert back soon, if ever. Her people do not seem to mind, either.
• The underwater song does serve a purpose (Twilight uses that time to try and steal a magic pearl in Novo's possession.) Novo catches her in the act, and is understandably furious. So are Twilight's friends, who have a falling out back on land. This is the movie's most dramatic moment, seeing the rift between these beloved characters. It is a scene I wish was in a better movie.
• Now for the Mane 6 being turned into seaponies. A problem the series has is characters being blasé towards magnificent transformations, and this is no exception. You think turning into a fish would be a hard sell, difficult to control for the first few mintues. Not so, even in a movie without a 22-minute restriction. Spike gets turned into a puffer-fish, which is a step up from a pet dog.
• Tempest's backstory makes more sense in terms of long term trauma than Starlight's. As a filly, her horn was lopped off by an angry Ursa Minor (makes one wonder if the events of Boast Busters could have made Snips and Snails future psychopaths.) The backstory is done in simpler animation, not bad, but nothing notable.
• Weirdest line of the movie? One of the pirates telling the ponies "You got back our Arrrr."
• Cute moment when Fluttershy deals with one of the King's minions by talking with him. He is left crying in her hooves.
• I saw the movie with my mom, and she found it interesting that at the end of the movie, Tempest's horn was left unfixed. I definitely agree. It shows that not everything can be fixed, and that some things we just have to accept. If only Tempest was either more redeemable or completely non-redeemable, the message would be stronger.
• It is left ambiguous as to whether the Storm King is really dead. In the credits, one of his minions tries to assemble the stone pieces, and the King's eyes glare back.
• Tempest's real name is given at the end: Fizzlebop Berrytwist

Comments

[Viking ZX]

My interest in the movie sadly waned when some people pointed out that it definitely had the old "executive meddling stamp of approval" on it, which never bodes well.

[obake]

4702987
It can definitely be seen in the final product. If only Hasbro were more willing to let the writers do stories themselves, this movie would probably have been more cohesive.