MLP: The Movie Discussion Thread

[lonewolf]

Saw it (not at a theater) early Friday morning. 10/10 they pulled it off. There's been several negative reviews of it by critics but who cares (I don't listen to critics anyway. ).

 The rundown:

Spoiler

A couple things happened that I expected would, like Fizzypop... I mean Tempest (I like Tempest better ) getting betrayed and turning on Storm King. There was unexpected stuff too. I thought Capper was going to sell them out to the Storm King, but it was a sideshow he was going to sell them to.

Just like in the comic, Storm was a bit of a goofball.
Glad they showed how Tempest lost her horn and got the scar.
Skystar is adorable.
 I seriously got mad at Twilight for her 2 stunts.
Capper using Spike as a flamethrower, and actually showing Storm's minions burning...

[babypowder]

I watched it last night! It was enjoyable, and it was really solid movie. I can't think of one part where the plot suffered or anything.

Spoiler

My only complaint: It was too short! I also really wanted to see more of all of the characters, especially the seaponies. Tempest Shadow was surprisingly scary, with her lightning. Her song was EPIC. All of the songs were fairly top notch. I also really loved the part where Tempest whispers her name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist, and Pinkie gets super excited. I also think the plot went at a relatively good speed, not too fast like a lot of kids shows, and not to slow either. 

[Zapper]

To the ones who have seen it, do we see what Tempest's cutiemark looks like? (Is it berries? lol)

There's been several negative reviews of it by critics but who cares (I don't listen to critics anyway. ).

Eh, in that case I'd actually like to hear what regular movie critics who are not in the fandom or anti-fandom think of it as an animated movie and nothing else.
From what I have heard so far it is mediocre with nice songs and that's already 10 times better than Hasbro's live-action movies.

[StarSwirl05]

One thing that bugged me while watching is:

Spoiler

Why is Tempest taking orders from the Storm King and not the other way around? Tempest is clearly the much more dangerous villain, especially once she has Twilight's magic. The Storm King proves to be a somewhat dimwitted leader that could probably easily be distracted. Shouldn't she also be able to restore her horn with her magic? She was certainly able to use even the stump of her horn to great effect.

[LadyMoondancer]

To the ones who have seen it, do we see what Tempest's cutiemark looks like? (Is it berries? lol)

There's been several negative reviews of it by critics but who cares (I don't listen to critics anyway. ).

Eh, in that case I'd actually like to hear what regular movie critics who are not in the fandom or anti-fandom think of it as an animated movie and nothing else.
From what I have heard so far it is mediocre with nice songs and that's already 10 times better than Hasbro's live-action movies.

I think it will be hard to find unbiased reviews of it either way;  hardcore fans will love it (because whether it was objectively good or not, it was faithful to the source material, unlike for example live-action Transformers movies) and 'real' critics are going into it with 20+ years of thinking of MLP as "that schmaltzy toy for (ugh) little girls".

I've already seen some reviews that make me go "whaaaa? did we watch the same movie?".   

Spoiler

Like one of them essentially said, "Great for even the youngest kids, no scary elements!" which is not true at all.  I mean, I think it's entirely age-appropriate and it's not going to freak kids out the way Optimus Prime DYING in 1986 did, but it definitely had a lot of intense, scary scenes . . . plus some really intense emotional scenes.  There were a lot of moments where I was biting my nails.  It's PG rating is well-earned.

Another review said "the stakes couldn't be lower" because the film opens with Twilight worrying about the Friendship Festival.  Which is true, except then, you know, a villain takes over the kingdom.  Did . . . did the reviewer forget about that part?

One review starts out "Imagine eating a giant bag of Skittles, then throwing it all up in a fit of sugar-induced nausea and you’ll have some idea of what it feels like to sit through 'My Little Pony: The Movie.'  Shrieky, garish and incessantly perky."   It's hard for me to believe this person went in with an open mind.

However, they do go on to say something that I think is true: "The movie version of the long-running TV show 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' is unlikely to win any new converts."   I think that's true, and I think it's okay.  They do try to make the movie accessible to people who don't already watch the TV show.  But you're going to get more out of it if you already know the characters. (Which is natural . . . like watching Return of the Jedi makes more sense / has more impact if you've seen A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.)   I think kids (and not-kids) who DO already know the characters will enjoy it.

[Zapper]

Well do we really need "new converts" anyways?

It's sad that people are still hating on MLP just for being perky and colorful. What now, should little kids watch grimdark cartoons that make them cry? I think the problem is that people expect MLP to be a drama or mystery thriller just because one is called "Tempest" and has a scar

Take out the music and beautiful African visuals and you end up with a mediocre Hamlet rip with an unlikeable protagonist. But critics still love The Lionking.
It's important to know a bit of context for MLP, so I agree most critics are probably biased one way or another.

[LadyMoondancer]

No no, the only kids movies allowed now are:

- CGI animated characters in ~the real world~ generating a relentless string of fart jokes, poop jokes, and 'hijinks' alongside a minor celebrity (Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Lee, etc) who is paid enough to put up with it

- smarmy CGI animals (usually) in a totally CGI world who constantly drop culture references and songs, with the same "misfit who doesn't fit in" lesson that Dreamworks and Sony Pictures will never get tired of ever.

- Pixar / Disney



Oh, to answer your question about her cutie mark

Spoiler

no, we don't see it, sadly!

[Leave a Whisper]

To the ones who have seen it, do we see what Tempest's cutiemark looks like? (Is it berries? lol)

There's been several negative reviews of it by critics but who cares (I don't listen to critics anyway. ).

Eh, in that case I'd actually like to hear what regular movie critics who are not in the fandom or anti-fandom think of it as an animated movie and nothing else.
From what I have heard so far it is mediocre with nice songs and that's already 10 times better than Hasbro's live-action movies.

That's kinda sad and very true. This must be the first good or at least decent movie Hasbro has done in forever.  Seriously? When was the last time they had a decent/good theater release? I can't remember.

[Zapper]

That reminds me that the Sony Hack revealed that they wanted the MLP movie to be like Smurfs and Transformers with ponies coming to the real world and all trying to fight a big threat to both worlds (they wanted Celestia and Luna to have a secret evil brother who was more powerful than them because of reasons).

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

That reminds me that the Sony Hack revealed that they wanted the MLP movie to be like Smurfs and Transformers with ponies coming to the real world and all trying to fight a big threat to both worlds (they wanted Celestia and Luna to have a secret evil brother who was more powerful than them because of reasons).

Ouch... really glad that didn't happen.

[Al-1701]

Finely saw the movie.  It's been a long time coming.

Spoiler

I was so glad that this did not suffer from the TNG movie formula I was dreading (for the most part).

DHX needs to ditch Flash now that they have Toon Boom.  While a television series using it won't reach this level of quality, it will still be light years ahead of Flash.

I said it escaped not becoming like the TNG movies for the most part.  The part that didn't escape was the sense that they needed to give all of the characters something to do even if it added little.  In fact, the Mane 5 minus Twilight were the weakest part of the movie, especially Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack who were just there and doing their stereotypical shticks.  The Storm King was also in that awful valley of being too silly to be a serious villain (seriously, he invades Equestria to steal their magic because he wants to improve his brand?) but not allowed to just go full on gag villain to have some fun.

Okay, with that out of the way.  It was a good movie.  I found Tempest a more compelling villain than her boss.  The rodent was annoying, but fortunately not mugging the camera has much as I feared he would.  However, the headline was Twilight.

Seriously, when Twilight tried to the steal the pearl.  I was like, "This isn't Twilight.  Twilight's conflicts always come from the fact she's so blindly by the book."  Seeing this darker side to her was absolutely refreshing.  I doubt we'll see it in the series though.  One of the little kids at the theater burst into tears when she erupted at the others.

The PG rating was well deserved.  Tempest frying things looked brutal, and the Storm King was (kind of) killed off in the end.  And these things were needed in the film.  We needed to see how dangerous and brutal Tempest was to understand the stakes of the chase.  And the Storm King had to go.

Even the setup worked.  It was the standard two part story setup with the royals quickly incapacitated but those petrifying crystals were such a great device for it.  We could see them overwhelm the princesses' magic to show they were powerful.

So, yeah, I give a thumbs up to this movie.  I hope the experience will help the writers in writing the series.  It probably won't, but who knows.[/spoilers]

[Sunset]

I totally agree with the not winning over new converts thing.  It would have to be on a Disney/Pixar level to do that.  And Hasbro is no Pixar.  And it shouldn't have to be.  I'd say the movie is about on the same level as Trolls and other movies like that.  In fact it shares a lot in common with Trolls except MLP has original music.  Which can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it.

I saw this one video on YouTube in which the reviewer talks about dragging her 8 year old son to see the movie and she justified it to him that you have to see the bad movies along with the good as a reviewer.  Soooo, going in biased much?

[Al-1701]

I was ready for them to fall flat on their face with this.  I had seen it before with the TNG Star Trek movies.  And I was glad to be wrong.

However, it does seem to not care about expanding its audience.  Which is the real shame of it.  I still wish they had gone with an original group of ponies (even if it was still in Equestria).  Then FiM fans and newcomers would be in the same place with them.

[LadyMoondancer]

Spoiler

Seriously, when Twilight tried to the steal the pearl.  I was like, "This isn't Twilight.  Twilight's conflicts always come from the fact she's so blindly by the book."  Seeing this darker side to her was absolutely refreshing.  I doubt we'll see it in the series though.  One of the little kids at the theater burst into tears when she erupted at the others.

Spoiler

That part was so. intense.   I loved it.  Yeah, when I was reading that review that said "innocent fun, nothing your kids will be worried about!", I thought of that scene.  And all the scenes of ponies falling to their almost-doom.

I liked how frazzled Twilight was in this, dwarfed by the enormity of her mission.

[MilkyTaroMochi]

That reminds me that the Sony Hack revealed that they wanted the MLP movie to be like Smurfs and Transformers with ponies coming to the real world and all trying to fight a big threat to both worlds (they wanted Celestia and Luna to have a secret evil brother who was more powerful than them because of reasons).

Excluding the whole "more powerful than Celestia/Luna just 'cause" thing, I wouldn't mind if it turned out they had a brother but I say that in a "...Why aren't there any male alicorns (in general)?" way. That is probably the one that will always bother me about the whole Flurry Heart situation. But yeah... good thing Sony didn't get the movie. We don't need another "cartoons come into the real world" movie....unless it's like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but that's a special case.

Spoiler

Tempest Shadow was way MORE scary than I expected and got so much more screen time.  I love this edgelord pony!  She kind of reminded me of the Evil Queen from Snow White--angry, but quiet; intense.  And you know, I'm glad her horn wasn't magically healed by the staff or one of the princesses at the end. Because really, the problem was never "ohhhh, your horn sucks, gotta get that fixed", it was that she had bad 'friends' back in the day and then closed herself off.  (Also, I just like the idea of a unicorn with unfocused, uncontrollable power.)  I do wish we'd gotten to see what her cutie mark is.  Or does she even have one?  Did she never find her place?

Spoiler

Haha, Egdelord Pony! 
I am also glad that her horn wasn't fixed as well, and even nicer that Twilight told Tempest that she was amazing just the way she is. It's a really nice message, you know? ...And plus, she doesn't even "need" the horn - those battle moves Tempest she has, especially when she gave that guy that brief beatdown during the "Mane 6 are with Capper" segment? Girl is a one-pony army!

I kinda headcanon that her cutie mark is (berries +) fireworks-related, like how the "fireworks" looked when she showed Twilight "what her magic can do" at the end of movie.  I feel she did find her place - in Equestria.  Really, I sure hope this isn't the last time we see her, or any of the movie characters. I feel some good story potential in them.