G5 Premiere Movie - Half-time Thoughts

So the reason I've been off the site lately (if anyone even noticed) is cause I hadn't seen the movie yet and guessed that it would be the number one topic, with spoilers everywhere. After failing to actually set aside time for it for over a month, I've finally started watching it in bits and pieces on my phone. I was going to wait until I finished my first watch before I did a review, but then I realised that my opinions from the halfway point might be interesting too (if only to my future self).

So here we are - my take on the movie up to the point where the five leads finally come together as a group. (If you've not seen up to there, then SPOILERS!)

Story

The prologue was pretty good at establishing the basic concepts of the movie, and the beginning of the "present" story at reiterating and reinforcing them. (This isn't a very subtle movie.) The scenes after Izzy arrived were also pretty decent, although mostly familiar - and I was a bit disappointed that the monstrous shadow of her arrival was only an exaggeration for effect.

I have to admit, I was a bit surprised that the Zephyr Heights segment came before Bridlewood, given that the former had been given a lot of focus and seemed like it would be the climax. But reflecting on it, it does make sense - the pegasi princesses needed introducing sooner rather than later if they're going to get established as leads.

The actual developments there were interesting (I wouldn't have guessed Zipp would be the more protagonistic of the two to start with) and while the idea of the crystals was rather hastily and flimsily introduced (and really, no earth pony one? Or is that the big twist?) the actual heist scene was probably the best in the movie so far, with lots of "anything can happen" energy. (I also wasn't expecting to see the royals brought down so quickly - I guess they already had enemies in the halls of power...)

As for developments back in Maretime Bay... well, see Predictions.

Character Impressions

Overall, our leads do seem a bit shallower than the Mane 6... but I have to remember I'm comparing half a movie with much more established characters. So I'll give them some more time.

Sunny
So far she's pretty much been all about her ideal. Which is a bit of a problem, cause she's uncomplicatedly in the right, so all her challenges have been external - pony VS society. Hopefully she will face a challenge to more than her perseverance soon - maybe something to do with her own idealised stereotyping of the other tribes, or something about the reasons they fell apart?

Hitch
Well, he's fun at least. And the "animal magnetism" was unexpected. Still, he has a lot of expectation on him, as both the franchise's first male lead (at least since Tales) and an officer of the law in a time when such characters are more scrutinised than ever. Hope he'll pull it off. (I also wonder if he has a bit of a crush on Pipp.)

Izzy
Well, we know which pony people will kill to protect this time. She does seem a bit too oblivious and "along for the ride" right now - hopefully in Bridlewood we might find more about what drove her to set out in the first place. (Although remembering the prologue, I do have an idea...)

Zipp
Well, she rounds out our trio of "ponies seeking more". She also looks like she might end up as both the brains and brawn of the group (sorry, Hitch). And she's the heir, too - if the royal line remains relevant.

Pipp
Pretty shallow so far - but she's got room to grow. I wonder if her fans will forgive her?

Sprout
And speaking of shallow... I wonder if there will be any more to him than meets the eye? "Jealous of our hero cause he's just not as awesome" is an archetype which could easily grow tiresome.

Setting

Well, it's not Equestria. (Except supposedly it is, which kind of bugs me...) I'm not a huge fan of the "one city per tribe" thing, but it works for this movie - I wonder how much they'll stick to it in the follow-up show? Still, it suggests that the pony population has crashed.

I don't mind a more advanced tech level, but I am leery of how such isolated settlements, devoid of magic, can manage such a "modern globalised" lifestyle.

Themes

Well, this is especially an area where I need to see the whole thing. But the movie is pretty unsubtly one-sided at this point. (See Sprout's song.) For more than one reason I really want to know how the tribes became separated, and why they seem to hate and fear each other so much. Cause if the other side is just everyone opposing Sunny's obvious truth, then that's not really saying much useful - I mean, even Chancellor Neighsay had his reasons, and that's not a high bar to clear.

Predictions

Well, some things I know are ahead from trailers (Bridlewood, that dance arcade game). And some I can guess at (more on Izzy, particularly her having set out after getting Sunny's message, and a confrontation with Sprout's mob back at Mareatime Bay for the climax). And it can probably be guessed that there will be a happy ending overall.

But, there are still things I can't predict yet - like if magic will be restored yet (at least fully), or how and where our leads will end up - even the general state of pony society when the movie ends. So I'm going to stay off here (and spoiler-free) until I've got all the way to the credits at least, at which point I will follow this post up with a look at the complete movie. See you!