I made it clear to some of my friends, but for those here, no, I haven't watched the FIM Movie yet and am steering clear of spoilers for the time being. That won't be long, though. Earlier this evening, I bought a ticket and will see it tomorrow.

And with seeing it may come forth a review.

Now, unlike past reviews for this series, if I write one, it's gonna be a little different in a few ways.

1. The animation and music will be talked about and judged.
   
   Traditionally, I don't, because they're really well done, and my focus is primarily the story. The only times I talk about them are when they do something extraordinary or if they screw up in some way. Unlike the rest of the series, the FIM Movie is animated in Toon Boom Harmony, a completely different program. A different program and theatrical release mean new character models, revised set design, and different animation movement and style. The music is performed through an orchestra, so you're gonna get a different type of feel for it than the show.
2. There won't be exact lines of dialogue quoted in the review. I'm able to do it in ones for the comics and episodes, because I can read or watch them online, where they're readily available. Every episode and EQG flick has a transcript in the FIM Wiki. That's not the case for the FIM Movie. I'm paying $15 to go to a theater, so the best I can do is paraphrase it. I'm gonna have to retain a general sense of what the plot will be and what the characters do and will read plot spoilers afterwards as a reminder. And, no, I won't read any transcript for the movie until it's released for home viewing.
   
   Once it gets released, and if I desire to rewatch it, I might edit it to include lines to indicate which are significant in a positive or negative sense.
3. NO continuity references, comparisons, or contrasts. NO judgment of continuity being reinforced or contradicted.
4. I won't judge existing characters as in character, out of character, flanderized, or a combination. Whether any of the Mane Six are given solid development, balanced, not shifted to the background, and don't act flat are what I'll generally look for.
   
   The villains and new heroes: the same thing. Since they're brand-new, I'll be judging their development (including whether the character is underdeveloped or not), believability of their motives, richness of personality (or lack thereof), stereotypical or not.
5. The entire review will be hidden under the "spoiler" tag. Many still haven't seen it, and the movie is getting released internationally at later dates. So, out of respect, I'll keep it completely hidden. If I edit the review further in the future, perhaps I'll un-spoil it.

It's getting a little obvious what I plan to do, but for those who still wonder, I will judge the MLP Movie as a self-contained movie, NOT a continuation of the TV series! Why? If I treat it like it's part of the series, then I'm being unfair to not only the movie I'm watching, but also the rest of the series that came before it. Yes, Big Jim stated on Twitter it takes place between seasons 7 and 8, but this movie should hook people who'd never seen FIM before and wonder if it's worth watching. The FIM Movie is its own entity and ought to be judged on its own merits.