In case anybody reading this didn`t know, I am a big fan of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Obviously, seeing as how I devoted an entire month on the blog to it). I watch the show, talk about it with friends, wear a shirt or two to gaming events, and at one point carried around a Pinkie Pie tote bag at GenCon 2013 (actually, very good for storage. I still keep it in my closet). So naturally, when I heard there was a new My Little Pony movie coming out, I was very excited to see it. The only problem with that is there was no theater around that was showing the movie. So a week or so (after it aired on TV), I looked it up on Youtube when I had a few hours and sat down to watch My Little Pony: Equestria Girls. And let me say that it wasn`t exactly what I expected.
But back to the point, this really isn`t a bad movie. Not at all. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it. It`s one of those movies that you enjoy depending on your previous experiences with the topic. For example, if you knew absolutely nothing about My Little Pony, other than the fact that it features some undersized horses that, presumably, belong to you, you probably wouldn`t enjoy it. But if you`re a brony, like me, or have seen a few episodes, you would probably enjoy this romp.
So to start off the actual discussion of the movie, Princess Twilight wakes up to find her crown about to be stolen by a mysterious pony. She chases down the pony but unfortunantely cannot catch up (maybe if she actually used her wings....) and is powerless to stop the pony from escaping through a portal with the crown. The next day, she and the other Alicorns decide to send Twilight into the portal to discover what lies beyond (hey, since Celestia is the most powerful, shouldn`t she do it? Or maybe Luna?). But Celestia warns Twilight that beyond the portal may be something unlike she`s ever seen (once again, go in yourself if you`re so curious, princess.). And with that, she steps into the light and into another world, with Spike at her side-.
And winds up in front of a high school as a human, with Spike next to her as a talking dog.
The one question I have is, if she turned into a human, and everyone else in the school is human, why is her skin still somewhat purple? That`s kind of odd. I know it`s a kid`s film and I shouldn`t be pointing out every flaw, but still , I would like some answers on the topic.
Twilight learns to walk upright and enters the school. She encounters many cameos, such as Cheerilee the High School Teacher, Lyra the music student and others, while Twilight sings a song about how confusing humans are. It`s not a terrible song, but it`s not one of the best in the series.
So Twi bumps into the human version of the evil pony, Sunset Shimmer (who aparrently was once Celestia`s best student but turned evil), and she tells Twilight how she will get to keep the crown and rule the high school with it`s powers. And since Shimmer knows all about the human world and Twilight knows nothing, she`s pretty much screwed. Twilight defends the human version of Fluttershy (who, admittedly, is kinda cute) from Shimmer and her henchmen Snips and Snails (aparrently they got bored of serving Trixie), and Fluttershy replies by doing the exact same thing she did in the cartoon: by being shy and quiet and ignoring Twilight until she sees the dragon/dog in her backpack, and flips her lid. Aparrently this Fluttershy keeps birds and rabbits in her backpack, so we can`t really get mad at Twilight for this (am I the only one who wants to see her try to fit her bear pal in there? She certainly wouldn`t be bullied then)
Twilight talks to Principal Celestia about the crown and the principal says it will be given out to the Fall Formal princess. Afterwards, Fluttershy and Twilight eat lunch in the cafeteria (with a cameo by Granny Smith as the Lunch Lady) and another bit of pony/human transformation hijinks ensues as Twilight grapples with the art of eating a piece of fruit with your hands. Fluttershy then explains the clique scene to Twilight (she could totally fit in with the nerds) and tells her to win Fall Formal princess, she wouuld have to win over all of the cliques. Twi then asks where she can find the head of the Fall Formal committee to sign up to be in the Fall Formal princess running. Fluttershy directs her to the head, and let`s face it, we all know who it is.
Yep, it`s human Pinkie Pie, and the only way fr her to appear is for her to bury Twilight in a shower of streamers and invade someone`s personal space. Naturally.
She wonders how Twilight knows her name (This leads to the question "Is Twilight psychic?") and grows somewhat angry as she mentions Twilight was sent by Fluttershy. Pinkie calls Fluttershy a "meanie" (the commonly used High School word for a mean girl cannot be used in a G-rated movie) and continues to invade Twilight`s personal space, completely forgetting the topic of discussion.
In an interesting point here, Pinkie asks Twilight if she knows "A girl who lives in the city and has a pet dog named Spike that looks exactly like that one", to which Twilight answers "Maybe". This seems a little off-topic, but I`ll get back to that.
Anyway, Twilight signs up for the running (after she struggles with the pen) and in comes human Applejack, delivering apple cider soda (is that a thing? If it isn`t , someone make that a thing. It sounds delicious) to the party. Oh, and Big Mac is there too, just because we needed another cameo.
Pinkie and AJ begin to talk about the Formal (and complain about the yet-to-appear Rainbow Dash) until Sunset Shimmer enters the room, complains about the decorations and pops some balloons while acting relatively menacing. Shimmer acts like a jerk and gives the typical High School Movie "I`m going to win" speech. She then roughs up Twlight in the hall (after discovering she is a pony) and reveals that when you bring an Element of Harmony, like Twilght`s crown, to another world, disastrous things happen. Shimmer orders her minions to go gather data on Twilight, and the High School storyline continues.
In another high school scene, Twi approaches a vending machine (that has Sweeite Belle`s hair as a paint pattern, for some reason) and then gets a lesson in how to use it by Trixie (better known as The Great And Powerful Trrrrrriiiiixxxxieeeeee). The next few scenes are like that: cameo, school joke, end.
Back to the actual plot: Twlight goes to the library to study and has troubles with a computer while annoying the crap out of Cheerilee (aparrently also the librarian), while Snips and Snails spy on her and record her computer fails. So the pony and her dragon/dog get into library hijinks (picking up a book in her mouth, losing a battle with the photocopier, etc.) until the library closes. Spike makes a bed of books for Twi to sleep and the two turn in for the night.
So after hours, Twi discovers a yearbook that shows that her friends used to be...well, friends until something happened (meanwhile, Spike gets a little doggy boner over human Rarity), so she seeks to help them all reunite before the Formal.
Naturally, the next morning, Twilight makes a list of talking points to convince everybody to vote for her. But Sunset Shimmer used the results of Snips and Snails`s spying, and distributed propaganda to embarass her. While Twilight tries to cope with the taunts (reminds me of middle school), the human Rarity pulls her into an empty room and puts her in an outfit that she claims "nobody will recegonize her in". That, of course, doesn`t stop the other ponies, who barge in to have a fight around Twilight`s allegiance and how they don`t like each other. So Twilight convinces them that Shimmer messed with all of their friendships and go to patch things up with Rainbow Dash.
At this point, we`re only halfway through the movie. WOW. For a short movie, this is a LONG review.....
So they meet up with Dashie, who challenges Twilight to a soccer game to win her alleigance (I would think Dash would be on the Track team, but this works too), which she of course stomps Twilight into the ground in. But Rainbow Dash joins up with the group again because she REALLY wants Sunset Shimmer cut down to size. Plus, she knew she would win all along. Why? Because she`s awesome. And that`s not me saying how much I like Dashie, that`s her actual reasoning.
Later, at the coffee shop (run by Mr. and Ms. Cake, because it`s been a bit since our last cameo), Twilight runs into a guy named Flash Sentry (seriously? Who names their kid Fash Sentry?) who takes an interest in her. They hit it off a little before Sentry goes away, but since he`s the love intrest, of course we`re going to see him again.
So the main group decide to wear ears and tails that Rarity made once to show their unity and win followers for Twilight in the most My Little Pony-esque way possible: They break out in a coreographed song and dance smack in the middle of the cafeteria that somehow gets every cameo in the lunchroom applauding, instantly turning the election in her favor. Really, this is a pretty good song, so I`m okay with the time it takes up. I would probably have to put it in the top songs from the show.
So Sunset Shimmer trashes the Formal`s decorations and blames Twilight, who is sent down to Vice Principal Luna to be punished by being removed from the princess running and postponing the dance.Twilght decides to confide in her human friends that she is a pony, but in a suprising (and somehow not suprising at all at the same time, if that makes sense), Pinkie Pie beats her to it, saying EXACTLY what`s going on:
"You`re from an alternate world, and you`re a pony princess there, and the crown actually has a magical element embedded in it that powers up other magical elements, and without it they won`t work, and you need them to help protect your magical world, and if you don`t get the crown you`ll be stuck in this world and won`t be able to go back for a REALLY long time?"
(actual quoting- I had to play that part a lot to get it right)
So yeah, Pinkie spoils that for everyone, and they all accept it like it`s a normal thing in this world. They all go and clean up the dance with help from everyone, Pinkie makes a reference to the show, and another decent song plays. Everything works out and Luna allows Twilight to have the dance that night.
So they get ready during a slightly worse song and head off to the Fall Formal (it`s pretty much just the Grand Galloping Gala with a DJ), where everyone dances and Sunset Shimmer is nowhere to be seen. Principal Celestia announces that Twilight wins, Dashie hugs the crap out of Fluttershy, the same stuff you`d expect in a High School movie. But Snips and Snails steal Spike (aparrently they don`t check backpacks for dogs) and lead the gang out to Sunset Shimmer, who will smash the portal back to Equestria with a sledgehammer if Twilight doesn`t surrender the crown (but wouldn`t the hammer pass directly through the portal?). So after a chase scene where everyone has the crown and loses it, Shimmer captures the crown and gains it`s power. So what`s she going to do, use some magical powers or....
Or, you know, she could turn into a GIANT EVIL DEMON SORCERESS.
...... What? Why are you looking at me like that?
THERE IS A GIANT EVIL DEMON SORCERESS IN MY LITTLE PONY. I KID YOU NOT.
So Sunset Shimmer turns into a GIANT EVIL DEMON SORCERESS IN MY LITTLE PONY and proceeds to wreak havoc at the formal. If you really need to know why I love the climax of the movie so much, FREAKING GIANT EVIL DEMON SORCERESS IN MY LITTLE PONY, GUYS.
So the GIANT EVIL DEMON SORCERESS IN MY LITTLE PONY (yeah, I`m going to do this every time I bring her up) mind controls everyone at the dance (including Flash Sentry) and turns Snips and Snails into EVIL DEMON MINIONS IN MY LITTLE PONY.
So when it appears all hope is lost, Twilight uses the power her new human friends gave her and charges her element without the crown. All of the humans grow wings, horns, ears and tails and use the supreme power of their friendship to blast the GIANT EVIL DEMON SORCERESS IN MY LITTLE PONY into a crater, the EVIL DEMON MINIONS IN MY LITTLE PONY back into Snips and Snails, and all the mind-controlled people back to normal.
So sadly, the portal opens and Twilight must say goodbye to her friends. They promise to look after Sunset Shimmer now that she`s been crushed by the power of friendship and Twilight returns to her world, greeted by a pony who looks suspiciously like the guy she had a crush on: Flash Sentry, the newest guard in the court of Canterlot.
So, that`s the My Little Pony Movie. How does it stack up against against other movies I`ve seen?
Well, for a movie like this, it`s actually pretty good. The story makes a bit of sense, the characters are well-done in comparison to the cartoon, and the visual gags are great.
But there`s one thing I find confusing: When Pinkie said there was a twin (mentioned above), did she mean there was another Twilight Sparkle in that world? I mean, if it was a parallel universe, there would need to be a copy of her in this world as well. Did the human Twilight know anything about this counterpart? Did she just temporarily disappear from the Earth while another version of her roamed free in the world? I would love to see the actual human Twilight`s reaction to all this when she comes back to school.
OVERALL RATING: 5/10
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People have mixed feelings about this flick. Did I like it? It`s a guilty pleasure, but yes, I enjoyed it very much. If you take it seriously, like most people do (by holding it up to everything in the show), then yeah, you`re going to hit a few bad spots and decide the movie sucks. But if you just laugh along as you go, laugh at the human/pony jokes, then it`s a fun movie to watch. It`s nothing special, but it`s not terrible, not at all. I`d say if you like My Little Pony, it`s worth at least a shot. And the best part is, it`s Griffin-Free.
