Rainbow Rocks

[Will Guide 21,360]

It came out! Rainbow Rocks appeared on Netflix last Saturday! THE RAINBOW DOES ROCK, PONYVILLIANS!

The great thing about the Netflix viewing is that its poster shows the Rainbooms with Twilight and Sunset up front!

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

Just saw it for the first time. It was amazing

 

Actually though, it was much better than the first one (not that it was bad). I think this movie really didn't try to take itself seriously and as a result it was able to focus on and assemble some really funny moments. The songs were good too. Overall this ranks up there with some of my favorite episodes of the show. It was of course silly and what not, but I appreciate the effort that was taken to make it entertaining. I didn't think I could ever enjoy a movie that was about a high school battle of the bans, but this one did it!

 

Was this supposed to be a satire of the genre by the way? I don't know, it was hard to tell. It took this generic stupid storyline and made it wacky and over the top and ridiculous. It sacrificed hard logic for comedy, which worked well IMO. This movie might just be brilliant. Idk but anyway it was awesome. Wish I had seen it in theatre

Edited December 23, 2014 by LZRD WZRD

[OnePonyWonder 8]

The great thing about the Netflix viewing is that its poster shows the Rainbooms with Twilight and Sunset up front!

Yep. It's nice giving the spotlight to Sunset Shimmer for once, instead of giving it to Twilight (as usual).

[Dsanders 5,747]

This has been bugging me for a while, how do you guys feel about the Equestria Girls universe being officially and canonically tied with the MLP universe?

 

 

I haven't seen much of a reaction, which is surprising considering how the majority of the fans who watched EG when it was released were relieved to know that Hasbro didn't plan on making this canon. But now that it is indubitably canon, what are your thoughts?

 

I'm personally cool with it.

 

With the exception of Flash x Twilight :okiedokielokie:

Edited December 25, 2014 by Dsanders

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@@Dsanders, 

 

 

I agree, that would be a funderful Idea! (Flash x Twilight though.... Meh. I don't really have an opinion either way.... But It's funny watching her composure crumble around him. (I know it sounds mean, but it's true.))

[Lordav 3,427]

@@Dsanders, 

 

 

I agree, that would be a funderful Idea! (Flash x Twilight though.... Meh. I don't really have an opinion either way.... But It's funny watching her composure crumble around him. (I know it sounds mean, but it's true.))

I think it would be great... More sunny 

 

 

As for Mr flash here.... Silver Quill almost diid the right thing

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

This has been bugging me for a while, how do you guys feel about the Equestria Girls universe being officially and canonically tied with the MLP universe?

 

 

 

I haven't seen much of a reaction, which is surprising considering how the majority of the fans who watched EG when it was released were relieved to know that Hasbro didn't plan on making this canon. But now that it is indubitably canon, what are your thoughts?

 

I'm personally cool with it.

 

With the exception of Flash x Twilight :okiedokielokie:

 

 

Personally, I love it! Rainbow Rocks really did some nice world-bruilding with Starswirl and the Sirens, and if Twilight didn't destroy the portal she built it could potentially lead to some nice cameos, I think.

 

It's like with the comics really. I'd rather they be canon than not.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

This has been bugging me for a while, how do you guys feel about the Equestria Girls universe being officially and canonically tied with the MLP universe?

 

 

I haven't seen much of a reaction, which is surprising considering how the majority of the fans who watched EG when it was released were relieved to know that Hasbro didn't plan on making this canon. But now that it is indubitably canon, what are your thoughts?

 

I'm personally cool with it.

 

With the exception of Flash x Twilight :okiedokielokie:

Equestria Girls has always been canon. Claims that it was not are just wishful thinking.

 

Meghan McCarthy had been asked about it on Twitter, and she said that she was new to the term "canon", so she gave some confusing answers, but she said that Twilight Sparkle actually had all of those experiences in Equestria Girls.

 

She also said that Equestria Girls wasn't going to have an impact, on season 4. Which leaves open the possibility for future seasons.

 

But honestly, I don't know why anyone would think that something put out by DHX, directed by Jayson Thiessen, written by Meghan McCarthy, songs by Daniel Ingram, and featuring the voices of Tara Strong, Asleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, and Tabitha St. Germain would not be canon.

Edited December 25, 2014 by Andaasonsan

[Rainbocow 0]

Ok, I get why people want to dislike this, but it's actually pretty cool. Especially the music! Awesome As I want To Be is pretty catchy and you know it!

Ok, I get why people want to dislike this, but it's actually pretty cool. Especially the music! Awesome As I want To Be is pretty catchy and you know it!

[hawkflame 3,310]

I know I'm late to the party, bu I saw it for the first time a week ago and had a *blast*. 

 

I thought the first one was okay.  Wasn't terrible, and while I certainly could see the flaws, I did manage to enjoy myself while watching it.  Nothing I'd see a second time around, though.  There are major pacing issues, the final battle was way too short, and it felt like it was sort of treading water for a long time with these characters.  A lot of character establishment for characters we kind of already knew anyway.

 

Still, I did *enjoy* the characters, and it was amusing seeing Twilight dealing with the human world for the first time.  But nothing I'd go out of my way to watch again. 

 

Rainbow Rocks, on the other hand, was a movie I spent *all day* yesterday rewatching.  I was grinning the whole fricking time.

 

irst off, Sunset Shimmer... wow, what a character arc for her!  Her progression in this film was so satisfying, and really very understandable and nuanced. She wants to be a god friend and a contributing part of the core group but still has insecurities and feels like an outsider because she feels like everyone is just expecting her to screw up.  But in the end she finds in herself the confidence to move forward and kick ass and contribute to the group.  I feel like in many ways, she's more the main character than Twilight.

 

The sirens were fairly two dimensional, but their voice performances, interactions, and animation behind them were really well done and entertaining so the fact that they were "just evil" didn't really matter to me. 

 

The Humane Five were pretty much who they were in the first movie- basically their Season 1 pony counterparts, *especially* Rainbow Dash.  But I liked Season 1, and therefore I still like them, even though they don't have the development of later seasons. 

 

The music- Holy Crap, Daniel Ingram and the writers have really outdone themselves here.  This may be some of the best music in the entire franchise. I'm *still* humming Battle of the Bands. 

 

And then the finale.  Epicness upon epicness.   Multiple transformation sequences (including Sunset Shimmer getting her own anthro form, which made me *so* happy), Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight unleashing their own *individual* magic attacks (maybe it's just the Rarity fanboy in me, but seeing her spray diamonds out of her keytar was *awesome*) all topped off by the power of the seven of them doing a Final Fantasy style summon of a GIANT SKY ALICORN to finish off the Dazzlings for good.  Holy shit.  

 

Oh, and the post credits scene was pretty nifty too. 

 

All in all a great exeirence of a film.  Really well written, funny, with some great characters and some jaw dropping animation and music.  Call me a heretic, but I think it may be up there with any of the best episodes of the series. 
 

[Poetic Stone 1,040]

I've said before and I will say it once more, I love ranbow rocks best one yet, can't wait for the next installment.

[hawkflame 3,310]

I have never had a problem with it being canon. I don't understand why anyone did.  Even if you hate them and think they're the worst thing ever, you could still feel free to ignore them.  They don't have any direct impact on the series and I doubt they ever will.  I view them as basically side stories within the main continuity.  

 

An analogy would be like the Rebels tv series vs the Star Wars movies.   Rebels is "canon" within the Star Wars universe.  It happens in the same chronology as episodes I-VI and now the new trilogy.  But do you need to watch Rebels in order to watch the movies?  No.  

[Manman20x6 359]

I didn't really enjoy Rainbow Rocks at all.

 

My biggest gripe with the movie is that the plot was completely predictable. As soon as the movie started, I correctly guessed almost everything that was about to happen. There were no plot twists, and the closest thing to a "surprise" was Vinyl Scratch playing a role slightly bigger than background character (Although she didn't even get any dialogue, so it's not much of a role either way).

 

The songs were... generic. Almost all of them sounded like the mainstream pop drivel that most of us love to bash. Additionally, although there were many bands shown, we only got to hear three or four of them. This ties into my next issue.

 

Flash Sentry is still a boring character that doesn't do anything for the whole movie. Even though he is supposed to be a major character and a musician, we don't even get to hear him play any music. He mostly just makes Twilight blush, and acts like a jerk while he is possessed. By the end of the movie, his relationship with Twilight has not evolved in any way, and we still have no reason to find him interesting.

 

The dialogue was full of forced-sounding teen lingo that totally felt like it was written by middle-aged executives going "Oh, teens these days like to say stuff like "For realsies", let's put that in our script!". I cringed every time a character used slang.

[Samurai Equine 51,370]

Turn back now, my fellow bronies and pegasisters, while you still can...!

...I didn't really like Rainbow Rocks either.

The holidays gave me a chance to finally see it, and... It just felt out of place. I liked some of the music, and there were bits and pieces that I liked, but... I don't know. The movie just didn't live up to the hype and the web-exclusive preview clips (the ones that did not appear in the actual movie) kind of painted a different movie that we didn't actually get.

 

And the more I watched it, the more the movie just fell apart for me. Human Dash just seemed like way too much of a jerk at times, it felt kind of pointless to test the limits of their friendship when we've all ready seen things like this in the TV series, not sure why Twilight was so shy/awkward about singing when she never was before, it seemed really odd that they'd just randomly be a band let alone role with it so hard at the end and during the scenes in the credits, etc, etc... No amount of fanservice (the good kind), and there was plenty in this movie, could save it.

 

Honestly, with a premise of traveling to an alternate world, there was just so much they could have done with it, but they just did this and it was a real shame. The first Equestria Girls was better. It was more balanced, it really set things up while staying as true to its FiM roots as possible. Outside of the fact that they kept the continuity going in this 2nd movie, the only good thing about it was... The trilogy bait.

 

I just find it really sad that the 2nd movie ended up just being filler for the 3rd movie, which will obviously be much better. I hate when the 2nd movie is the weaker one, when it only exists to "hold us over" til the third act. I thought practices like that were extinct by now. I say bring your best for EVERY movie. But I guess we all have a moment of writers block, and some habits just die hard...

 

 

 

...But other then that, 10/10, would definitely buy it and keep it in my collection. Just like the first Equestria Girls movie. 

Edited January 7, 2015 by Samurai Equine

[Dulset Tarn 441]

I didn't really enjoy Rainbow Rocks at all.

 

My biggest gripe with the movie is that the plot was completely predictable. As soon as the movie started, I correctly guessed almost everything that was about to happen. There were no plot twists, and the closest thing to a "surprise" was Vinyl Scratch playing a role slightly bigger than background character (Although she didn't even get any dialogue, so it's not much of a role either way).

Hey wow, you basically took the words right out of my mouth. Every single conflict in the entire movie (Dazzlings and the school, Dash and Fluttershy, Dash and AJ, AJ and Rarity, Sunset and everyone, Twilight and the counterspell) was completely out in the open before the first act even ended. First problem is that every single one of those conflicts will be resolved exactly how you expect they will be, so the ENTIRE movie is spent just waiting for that with no spice. The second problem is that there are absolutely no new conflicts added in after the first act, or old ones resolved before the very end. You get everything right at the beginning, the middle is completely worthless, and the end is exactly what you knew would happen an hour ago (with flashy visuals and Vinyl).

 

In the first movie, they at least TRIED adding new conflicts like the auditorium being destroyed or Sunset framing Twilight, and despite being resolved near instantly they at least make the movie that much less boring.

 

The other major issue I have with the movie is that while the first movie was like the worst thing ever because it took an AMAZING story idea (evil former student of Celestia's shows up to face off against Twilight) and turned it into a shitty high school drama with absolutely none of the charm from Friendship is Magic... The second movie avoids that problem by having no good ideas to start with. The first movie took great ideas and squandered them in the worst way, but this one... just wasn't even engaging. It had none of the connection to Equestria that the first movie had, so there was no sense of investment because Canterlot High is boring as shit and no one cares about it. There's no Element of Magic. There's no time limit to return to Equestria. There's just lots of silly songs. And don't get me wrong, I LOVE the songs in this series, but these were just disappointing all around. I find it hilarious that in the first movie, Sunset says "I don't care about this pathetic little world, I want Equestria!" And then in this one the Sirens, who nearly took over all of Equestria in the past, only care about taking over the human world. Wow, writers, way to make the conflict exciting.

 

Anyway, while I do see the squandering of good ideas in the first movie as somewhat worse than the complete lack of good ideas in this movie, everything else that the first movie does badly, the second movie does worse. So it took me a while to figure out, but in the end I did settle on just barely preferring the first movie to the second. At least it's worth talking about, while this one leaves you with absolutely nothing.

[takai 1,060]

I've become dangerously obsessed with the Dazzlings. They're so perfect. Especially my goddess, Adagio.

 

That is all.

[paradoxical 1,735]

Wasn't the fact there was a human Twilight already confirmed when Pinkie Pie briefly mentioned another at another school?

 

While that's true . . . Sometimes it's hard to say; I got a source of information: Pinkie Pie!  I don't know why.  She knows everything she knows with 100% accuracy as far as I can tell.

 

But every time she opens her mouth it's hard to tell if she's being serious.

[izzythebee 9]

who is your favorite bad guy? :okiedokielokie:

me its Senata

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Oh and one more thing. If the CMC actually sang the amazingly kickass song from Show Stoppers (which we know they had written in the first movie) then they would have won the battle of the bands in a heartbeat.

[hawkflame 3,310]

 

Hey wow, you basically took the words right out of my mouth. Every single conflict in the entire movie (Dazzlings and the school, Dash and Fluttershy, Dash and AJ, AJ and Rarity, Sunset and everyone, Twilight and the counterspell) was completely out in the open before the first act even ended. First problem is that every single one of those conflicts will be resolved exactly how you expect they will be, so the ENTIRE movie is spent just waiting for that with no spice. The second problem is that there are absolutely no new conflicts added in after the first act, or old ones resolved before the very end. You get everything right at the beginning, the middle is completely worthless, and the end is exactly what you knew would happen an hour ago (with flashy visuals and Vinyl).

 

To me, predictability isn't necessarily a flaw.  I think if you're invested enough in the characters, you *want* to see a particular progression of the story.  Setting up seeds of conflict early on to be resolved later is a good idea, because the progression and escalation of these conflicts seems natural and not forced.  They evolve from little things that could just be easily brushed off as jokey banter into bigger things that drive them apart.  

 

The middle is far from worthless, it's the key part that holds the film together organically.

Edited January 10, 2015 by hawkflame

[Dulset Tarn 441]

 

To me, predictability isn't necessarily a flaw.  I think if you're invested enough in the characters, you *want* to see a particular progression of the story.  Setting up seeds of conflict early on to be resolved later is a good idea, because the progression and escalation of these conflicts seems natural and not forced.  They evolve from little things that could just be easily brushed off as jokey banter into bigger things that drive them apart.  

 

The middle is far from worthless, it's the key part that holds the film together organically.

I don't suppose you'd like to offer any examples at all?

[hawkflame 3,310]

I don't suppose you'd like to offer any examples at all?

For one thing, the AJ/Rarity conflict. It could have just as easily played as some kind of inter-character banter, as it really wasn't given that much focus aside from Daft Punk references. The focus throughout the movie was appropriately on the pressures and feelings faced by Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, so those other conflicts didn't feel like they would be a major point of contention. But that and the other side conflicts,(Fluttershy's songwriting, everyone's problem with Rainbow Dash's ego)naturally evolved into something that would be a major point of contention.  .It wasn't something that I would have necessarily pegged at the start, but it made sense and I thought it was handled well.

 

As far as predictability goes, yeah I figured that Sunset Shimmer would be fully redeemed in the end.  But you know what, the way she was written, animated, and portrayed, I gotta say they got me.  I love the fact that just because she's reformed, they really show that true redemption and acceptance aren't going to be easy.  Ilike how humble and unsure of herself she is as a result of what happened, and how even among the rest of the Mane Six she still thinks of herself as something of an outsider.  That she finds her confidence at the end when called upon by Twilight to help them out is *really* satisfying.  They built up a particular arc for her, and you could say it was predictable, but I'm glad it happened the way it did.  

 

If you're made to care about the characters, a story being predictable doesn't really matter, IMO.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

If you're made to care about the characters, a story being predictable doesn't really matter, IMO.

I can agree with that, but I can't care about a Sunset who's even more bland and one-note than in the first movie.

[hawkflame 3,310]

I can agree with that, but I can't care about a Sunset who's even more bland and one-note than in the first movie.

 

A once proud and horrible villain who is now humbled and unsure of herself because she's still hated by everyone else who are just looking for her to screw up again and still feels like an outsider even among her friends?  Doesn't sound that bland to me.  

[Dulset Tarn 441]

A once proud and horrible villain who is now humbled and unsure of herself because she's still hated by everyone else who are just looking for her to screw up again and still feels like an outsider even among her friends?  Doesn't sound that bland to me.  

She's guilty and penitent and that describes her character throughout the whole movie in its entirety.