My, it's been quite some time since I've posted anything here! I've been very busy with work and haven't had much of a chance to write, unfortunately. However, today I went to see Equestria Girls at my local theater, and figured I'd write down my thoughts for anyone still on the fence about seeing it.

Before I get into the movie, I'd like to talk a bit about the people who showed up to see it, as I found it very interesting. When I first pulled up to the movie theater it had not opened yet, and there was a very long line of people waiting for the doors to unlock. I thanked my lucky stars that I had bought my ticket beforehand through Fandango, because the movie did indeed sell out, and many people were turned away! Should you decide to go and see EQG in a theater, I would strongly recommend that you also buy your ticket online several days before the showing in order to avoid disappointment. Regardless, it was very inspiring to see such a large turnout for MLP. I had no idea there were so many fans in my area!

As we started packing into the crowded theater, I took a look around at the demographics of the people who had come to see the movie. The majority appeared to be stereotypical bronies: young adult males. There were also a good number of pegasisters, which was very awesome to see! I've always thought that females are tragically underrepresented in the attention the fandom receives, and the presence of so many young women there reinforced that belief. Several families with young girls were also present, though as a testament to MLP's all ages appeal, many of the parents accompanying them also seemed to be enthusiastic fans decked out in pony swag!

I've heard rumblings of concern on the internet that overzealous bronies might behave like jackasses in theaters and ruin the experience for the little girls there. While that is certainly possible, I saw none of it when I went. Everyone was very polite, and when the lights went down, everyone shut up and enjoyed glorious pony, regardless of their age. I suspect the same will be the case in the vast, vast majority of theaters showing EQG.

The movie begins strongly, with the Mane Six arriving in the Crystal Empire for a "Princess Summit" with Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. There are some good comedy moments, including allusions to Twilight still not being very comfortable with her new body or her role as Princess. The opening credits roll, and weird as it sounds, I must say they were one of my favorite parts of the movie. Daniel Ingram heavily remixes the theme song from the TV show into a catchy pop style, and a sleek animation shows the outlines of the ponies, who then transform into humans.

Following the credits, Sunset Shimmer steals Twilight's Element of Magic Crown and escapes into the portal to the human world. We then get some decent exposition from Celestia, Luna and Cadence about who Sunset Shimmer is, what the mirror is, and how Twilight only has three days to get her crown back before the mirror closes and strands her there for "thirty moons." While this exposition was sufficient for the story, I found myself wishing to know a little bit more about Sunset Shimmer and why she turned into a such a rotten egg, besides the hurried explanation that she was Celestia's old student who became impatient with her teachings and ran away to the human world, only to return and cause trouble.

Twilight steps through the portal, and Spike rushes after her, and we find ourselves transported away from Equestria! Twilight and Spike's shock at their new bodies makes for some very good comedy moments, and I very much appreciated that Twilight remained rather awkward and ignorant of human movements and norms all the way through the movie. It was not only funny, but added lots of plausibility; it'd take me more than three days to get fully adjusted to being a totally different species as well!

Twilight meets her friends all over again, and has a talk with "Principal" Celestia, wherein she learns that in this world, her magic crown is given to the girl elected Princess of the Fall Formal, and is being held by Vice Principal Luna until then. Probably my only voice acting-related complaint is that Nicole Oliver seems to have changed Celestia's voice a bit in the human world. While Princess Celestia is regal and soothing with a touch of motherly kindness, Principal Celestia's way of speaking seems more short, curt, and cold. I can see the reasoning for it, but when every other VA used the exact same style of speaking for their human counterpart, it sticks out somewhat.

The core of the movie involves Twilight seeking to win over the school in order to be elected Princess. To do that, she must first reconcile the human versions of her friends, who have been driven apart by Sunset Shimmer's meddling. Twilight also has to deal with Sunset Shimmer trying to sabotage her with the help of her minions, Snips and Snails. Snips and Snails were awesome choices for this part, and give us some excellent gags. I won't spoil much more from this segment of the movie, but I will say that the culmination in which the main six engage the school in a big song and dance number to win them over to Twilight's camp had very enjoyable music, as is always the case with Daniel Ingram, although it was by no means the best he's done for MLP. That could just be my bias against girly bubblegum pop speaking, though!

I'm sure many people are curious about Twilight's relationship with "Brad," or as he's actually known, Flash Sentry. They do engage in a bit of romance, but it is extremely minor, and hardly distracts from the movie's narrative at all. Plus, Twi's awkwardness makes the few moments she shares with Flash quite cute and funny! Flash Sentry does exist in the pony world as well, and when Twilight returns, she does still have a crush on him. Perhaps we haven't seen the last of him, but if he continues to be handled like he was in the movie, I don't see a relationship between him and Twilight derailing the TV show or anything.

The ending climaxes with Twilight winning over the crown, but Sunset Shimmer forcefully stealing it away. The power of the Element of Magic transforms her into a very intimidating giant demon thing, which one of the little girls sitting near me actually found really scary. I can't say I blame her: this was one of the more disturbing villains I've seen in a kid's movie since the ones in the old Disney movies, like Maleficent or the Witch from Snow White. I'm fairly sure that she even said that Twilight would "die," although I might have misheard. I don't think the ponies have ever been explicitly threatened with death before, so if it's true, it was surprisingly dark.

The end of the movie follows standard FiM operating procedure, teaching a very relevant lesson about the magic of friendship, and further driving it home with Twilight's conclusion that friendship is magic in ALL worlds, not just Equestria. Sunset Shimmer is redeemed, but stays back in the human world, where Twilight's friends promise to love and tolerate the shit out of her to make sure that the redemption sticks. Twilight returns to Equestria, we get some cute dialog with her friends as well as the pony version of Flash Sentry, and the credits roll.

I went into this movie with somewhat high expectations, and for the most part, they were met and surpassed! Not only was the movie very high quality, but the crowd watching it was fun and awesome as well.

Unsurprisingly for pony, the writing was very solid, and every character was characterized well. All of the mane six have several great moments; whether it be Applejack putting two jocks to shame with her strength, Pinkie Pie displaying her freaky intuition, or Rainbow Dash letting everyone know just how awesome she is. There are countless small details lovingly crafted for bronies to enjoy: Scootaloo doing the funky chicken at the dance is a good one, as is Rainbow Dash recreating her famous scrunchy-faced "So awesome~" moment from Applebuck Season. Perhaps best of all, the Great and Powerful Trixie gets a great and powerful speaking part that is extremely great and powerful!

The animation was very smooth and well done, even if the human girls are nowhere near as cute as their pony counterparts. Most of the background ponies are present in human form, and it's fun trying to pick them out. My only complaint on that front is that Octavia, who is obviously the best background pony of all time, is seemingly absent. I may have just missed her in a crowd shot, though!

As mentioned before, Daniel Ingram provides an excellent score to tie things together, although no one song really stood out as particularly amazing or catchy, save for the nice remix of the theme song.

I still feel like the premise of humanizing the ponies and putting them in high school was a silly one, but Meghan McCarthy did an absolutely wonderful job working with it and putting out the highest-quality product that she could. The general quality of the movie makes it evident that everyone else at DHX did the same.

So, is Equestria Girls worth seeing? I'd give an emphatic yes, especially since if you're reading this, you probably know enough about MLP to know what's going on. It loses some of its luster as a standalone movie, since the plot relies heavily on some knowledge of the TV show to really "get it." If you can, I'd also recommend seeing it in a theater! The atmosphere when I went was amazing, and it's cool to see other pony fans in your area!

Plus, it's got freaking Trixie!