The Hat Man Reviews! - "Forgotten Friendship" (Spoiler Free!) · 3:59am Feb 22nd, 2018
Well, another bit of EQG media has landed, and it comes in the form of the 45-minute-or-so special “Forgotten Friendship.” Here are my thoughts, spoiler-free!
First, a quick rundown of the Equestria Girls series and my general thoughts on it. In general, I enjoy it. It’s harmless fun at its worst and genuinely engaging at its best. We started of course with the original movie which was… ehh, just okay. The human designs were brand new and fresh then, so that was a thing, and some of the songs were pretty fun. (Don’t even act like that cafeteria song wasn’t catchy as all hell.) But just the same, it was a little on the generic side with its “Become Prom Queen, defeat the mean popular girl villain” storyline we’ve seen time after time.
Indeed, Sunset Shimmer, despite the interesting premise of being Twilight’s predecessor, might well have been the worst villain the series had had up to that point and still stands among some of the worst: lack of motivation, not that defined beyond being a huge b
ch, and one of the most poorly-conceived plans ever.
And then Rainbow Rocks happened… and Sunset Shimmer became one of the strongest characters in the franchise.
Seriously, even today I will watch Rainbow Rocks (or a reaction to it on YouTube) and enjoy the hell out of it. All the songs are catchy, the plot is engaging (if still pretty simple), and the villains - the Sirens - are still among the most fiendishly charming in the rogues gallery. And by taking the villain of the last series and juxtaposing her struggle with Twilight’s as she struggled to find her place, it took this bland, unlikable character and turned her into a fandom darling.
The problem with a good movie, though, is that it’s sometimes hard to follow. Friendship Games and Legend of Everfree are both entertaining in their own right, and I’d personally take either over the first movie, but neither one managed to quite capture the same charm. Since Legend, we’ve had three specials (which were just okay), and a bunch of shorts (which I like and find amusing, but play out like quick sketches and lack the depth of a longer movie or special).
Which brings us, at last, to the latest special, the nearly movie-length “Forgotten Friendship.” While Sunset has basically become the flagship character of EQG (and not even the arrival of SciTwi could shove her out of the spotlight), this is the first time since Rainbow Rocks that she’s been so much in the spotlight. So, how does it stack up among 4 movies, 3 specials, and a truckload a shorts?
...Honestly, it’s probably the best thing the series has produced since Rainbow Rocks.
The basic premise of the story is that someone is erasing memories of Sunset Shimmer and none of her friends can recall any of their past adventures together… including her reformation. With all the goodwill she's earned now undone and everyone thinking she’s back to being mean, she then has to find the culprit on her own.
Now, the premise isn't new, but “someone is selectively deleting people’s memories” is definitely outside the more high school-themed plots EQG usually tosses our way. The villain isn't hard to figure out either, though an obligatory red herring is in play. There are also only 2 songs, the second of which is better, and each gets a pretty decent meta-humor joke at the end. That said, neither song is terribly memorable.
Beyond those minor issues, though, the special packs a surprising amount of pathos, comedy (especially the meta-humor), and fan-pleasers into its short runtime, even pulling off some surprising twists. I watched it blind with my illustrator, Greenfinger, and we both found it extremely enjoyable, which is particularly noteworthy considering that Green is pretty lukewarm about most of EQG.
It's laugh-out-loud funny in some places, moving in others, and in one scene even borders on heart-wrenching. It isn’t as infectious or dramatic as past offerings, but in terms of overall enjoyability, I think this is one of the best the franchise has offered in quite a while. My biggest complaint is that I wish it was longer so we could flesh out a few parts of the story in a bit more detail, but I can’t complain about what’s in there.
In summary, if you haven’t seen it yet and have been itching to see more of Sunset in center stage, please consider giving “Forgotten Friendship” a watch!
Until next time, folks!
"Long song, huh?"
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Seriously, Nick Confalone outdid himself on the jokes in that damn thing.