My Little Pony: A New Generation, Thoughts · 8:03pm Oct 8th, 2021
Greetings Guys and Gals. 
This blog post is mainly about me talking about the new movie or in other words G5. A bit of a critique if you will. I was a bit wary of it, though after seeing it, I had to say that it was good overall, but not without its flaws.
With that being said here, there will be spoilers in the following parts. Please proceed at your own discretion.
One of the main issues that dragged the movie down a bit was the villain or antagonist, Sprout. A simple Earth Pony with a bit of an ego and no tolerance for, well, tolerance. As racism was the theme of the movie, Sprout was the one that was trying to be the aggressor here. He was potrayed as a selfish ass of sorts, committing minor crimes like drinking the milkshakes of others and other things, not caring about the ones who own said foods as he was keeping watch on the protagonist. Obviously to potray him in a bad light which of course doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
It is not really a good thing either. Especially seeing how no one in the movie took him serious. He was treated as the butt end of the joke. Always. And if the movie doesn’t take Sprout serious, why should the audience? I couldn’t. Not even at the finale when he was a hindrance to the protagonist Sunny. Even less while driving around in some goofy robot. Antagonists can elevate movies if done right. They can have depth, be intimidating, smart, serious… Unlike Sprout. Kung Fu Panda 2 was great because of the villain and I wished Sprout would have gotten more fleshed out and be taken serious. After the robot fell over, he was pretty much ignored by everyone. No one reached out a hoof to him in Friendship, trying to build bridges. He just fell in line as soon as the movie didn’t need him to be a villain anymore.
Secondly…Sunny. Not to say I don’t like her, because I do, but there was one point that had me shake my head in disbelief. That was then Sunny had two crystals together. As a short explanation, there are three magical crystals, one for each pony tribe, that were separated and are important to get magic back (of course they only work with friendship and harmony between races). Sunny thought there were only two as unicorns and pegasi had lost their magic.
I had a friend that pointed out that she probably didn’t account for earth pony magic. Not that I was satisfied with the answer as she still could have easily deducted that the large round hole in the two crystals would mean there was a third one. I groaned and realized: The two pegasi guards were right, Sunny IS retarded! 
Jokes aside, I am aware that this was supposed to be the whole losing hope scene. A down mood and all that, but it could have been executed better.
Then there is silliness. The movie was over the top silly. Pretty much trying to get a laugh or giggle out of the audience a bit too often. It should have been toned down in a few places, however it is worth to note that there were definitely some nice jokes there, so I still had fun.
The racism was too on the nose I would say, though it was funny sometimes with the two pegasi guards calling Sunny stupid. Dunno why, but that part stuck with me the most. 
In other cases the racism in the movie is completely forgotten. Neither of the two pegasi that join the group make any comments about it. And the Rarity-like Pegasus character seemed like one that would make one. For example, noting that Hitch is actually really good looking and well kempt even though he is an Earth Pony. Something that falls in line seeing how he was depicted as popular and very attractive. At least if the calendar with his model-like photos is anything to go by. Hitch could be flattered by it, but then also throw a comment back at her. The moment the pegasi joined in, there was in general a lack of the racism topic aside from Hitch mentioning it sometimes. Though he wasn’t showing worry or scepticism at having pegasi and a unicorn in the group, aside from the remarks during ‘Fit Right In’ song. They could have played with the theme better. At the start they laid it one too thick too much only to then skip over it at parts that might have needed it.
Also, personally speaking, Hitch going into the pegasi city out of worry for his friend Sunny would have fit better than out of duty. He believes pegasi are dangerous (or at least wasn’t supporting Sunny to say they were harmless), so he should feel worry at the capture of his friend, wanting to rescue her, while also maybe trying to hide it. It would make more sense in that situation and would build character better than treating it as a small joke. Not to say the scene doesn’t work, I only think it could have been touched up with a bit more seriousness here.
None of these are my main issue with the movie though. It is that this movie seems to be a canon sequel to Twilight’s own universe. A far off future. And it shouldn’t be. If a story is a sequel, it will affect the prequel automatically. In this case, Twilight is probably dead or broken down, sipping green milk on an island. 
Alright, enough jokes for now. But it leaves the question what happened. Twilight was implied to be immortal. Why else would Luna and Celestia leave their throne to her if she would die about 80 years later and leave their country in ruin? So, she was murdered, died by disease, fell in a battle or something else. No idea what’s with Celestia and Luna or Discord. It was ignored in the movie, despite trying to coax out a feeling of nostalgia.
At the start of the movie it leaned heavily on its predecessor, with Sunny playing with Mane Six toys and the past of Twilight and the united pony tribes. Not to mention that little song and dance between Sunny and Hitch which was like Cadance and Twilight’s own.
Other similarities are Hitch being the new Fluttershy with the animal affinity, though he takes it in a different interesting direction. Still, it worried me that they tried to stay close to Twilight and her friends. We have a Pinkie Pie Pony, Rainbow Dash and Rarity from what I saw. Although with their own little tweaks which made them endearing. Not gonna lie, Rarity and Rainbow pony as sisters sounds like it could be fun, so while sticking a bit closer, they do try to give their own spin on it. It is something I find positive, though it felt like there should have been more screen time to connect them better with each other.
Another issue that comes with sequel territory are the crystals. They are supposed to be the new Elements of Harmony, but I have to wonder about them. Did they always exist when they are connected with the magic of the pony tribes? What about griffons and their flight? Is there some other magic of other races as well with other crystals? What about the windigos? Shouldn’t they wreak havoc if they are that divided? How come the divided ponies in the Hearth’s Warming Tale didn’t lose their magic if that is now established canon?
For that matter, how come the noble unicorns are now the Earth Ponies in this setting as they are building things from scrap, while Earth Ponies and Pegasi seem to have a higher technological level with them? It wouldn’t really be a question if it was a different universe but here one has to ponder how prideful unicorn nobles went the way of the dodo as they surely would have seized power after Twilight was gone.
A lot of questions with no answers. They work in the constraints of this universe as official sequel but don’t really act like it. My point being that this being a sequel is not only detrimental to G4 but also to itself as G5 is forced into a Universe with existing rules instead of being able to build one by itself from scratch.
The biggest gripe I have about it in that section though is about legacy. Twilight’s achievements were reset. The entire world was reset. No more world peace. It was obviously done to give the new cast something to do, but that is a very cheap writing trick. It should have been in its own universe, so that it could have these problems without Twilight having to lose everything.
The connection feels like it was made solely to draw in a bigger audience without any thought about what it would mean or entail to have it play out like this. While talking with some friends, even they admitted that Ember or Spike showing up would be a bad idea. And technically they could as this is the same universe.
Anyway, that was enough talking for now. Despite my many negative points, I did enjoy the movie and would rate it a 7/10. It is something I can recommend. I only wish it would not be a sequel and personally I will regard it as an Alternate Universe.
I personally think that criticism can be rather valuable, so I try to be open about it. Sometimes it feels like a movie or episode could be better if it was handled differently, so I try my best to form my thoughts into a coherent argument. For now I will be interested what follows this movie. Let’s hope for the best. If anything though, we will get some nice porn out of this~ Already saw a lewd one about unicorn tongues being tazers in a sexy way. Gotta take some time to read that! 
My score is literally an 8/10
I agree with some of your points (others not so much) but overall I think it’s a fun film that has potential
I never liked the whole "losing hope" part of these new stories. It makes it all so unsatisfying in the end. Like that part in Moana when they kinda gave up after getting knocked back that first time.
There's a good possibility Argyle was just a simple fantasy writer. But the evidence is too over welming to ignore.
I'm thinking the gems were something Twilight created as a new kind of Elements of Harmony. As to why?? Maybe, she and her friends are also trapped in limbo after facing an unbeatable foe. Maybe after their passing, Twilight couldn't cope with immortality without an anchor like her friends. Maybe she abandoned equestria to find a way for her friends to acend as alicorns with her so they wouldn't die.
There's no telling what the next show holds. But I'm excited to see it!
I give this movie a 9/10
I actually like Sprout being the antagonist and I also like the fact the movie doesn't really have a big villain. I understand why some people have gripes with the lack of answers of what happened. But I personally don't care about it because it'll probably get answered in the series. The questions supposed to bring you back into the series and I don't want the movie to dedicate its time to explaining everything, that'd be too much exposition and the fandom won't have anything to theorize about. I do agree that putting this in the same Equestria meant to attract the G4 fans and it worked well! That intro nearly made me tear up again
I don't think Sunny's stupid for not thinking about the existence of the third crystal because y'know, earth ponies barely have magic. And I know some people that didn't figure that out too.
I love the overall tone of this movie, not too serious and just silly. That's why I had a lot of fun. I like the overall theme of this one. The three tribes are more afraid to one another than at conflicts and at each other's throats. Might explain why the Windigoes didn't do anything? I love Sunny, she's probably my second fav because she's so good. Izzy is my fav. Hecc all the characters are actually likeable and I can attach to them immediately
5593249
Fair enough. I just wanted to give my perspective on it and think a few tweaks would have done it some good. It sure has potential in any case.
5593299
Losing hope can be powerful if done right. I think the movie could have worked on it to make it fit better or leave it out like you mentioned.
And yeah, there are ways to write this bit about Twilight in. I personally of course am more worried about it. Like mentioned I don't like the idea of a reset as it feels like Twilight's work was all for naught. Gotta wait and see how it turns out.
5593315
It is true that movies can function without a big villain. Madagascar did it before, though I would argue that Madagascar did it better, though that are just my personal thoughts on it.
As for Sunny, she might not be stupid. I personally simply found the idea funny as that joke with the pegasi guards got stuck in my head.
So it was more me finding humor in the situation, though I still think at least one of the ones in the group could have figured it out.
Fear instead of hatred could be an explanation for the windigos. Then again, they are viewing each other as monsters and it was easy for Sprout to make the crow want to attack the other tribes, despite none of the ponies taking him seriously. I mean, there was a scene where Sunny and Hitch talked to him and some ponies took off their gear at their words, showing how little influence he had. Sprout's mom probably would have been the better choice for the role of inciting a mob.
The characters are indeed likable. I just wished they would have them more interact more. It feels like in one point of the movie they just hurried it along when the two pegasi joined. Like I mentioned, comments about Hitch looking great despite being an Earth Pony is one possibility or some general wariness. I hope they will have some interesting interactions in the future!
5593392
Will we see you making stories for the new characters~?
5593395
Possibly in the future. It is a bit too early now as I would wait for more content that helps "motivate" me more. Not to mention that I have lots of projects still as well. So, it will take a bit.
5593392
One thing tho
The musical numbers works well to move the plot along. Just dig into musical theory here. In fact it’s pretty out front so you don’t even have to go into a musical matrix or anything