Friendship Games

[KatonRyu 1,033]

I liked this movie, though not as much as Rainbow Rocks. Just some bits and pieces of the movie I have on the forefront of my mind (and remember all of this is my opinion and interpretation):

 

- When Sunset saw Twilight, her smile was just adorable. Being a rabid SunLight shipper, that scene meant a whole lot more than was probably intended.

 

- Sunset's anger at Twilight for stealing the magic. I loved that particular moment because to me, it felt like Sunset was yelling at her former self. It shows that, while others have forgiven her, she hasn't really forgiven herself. Other things in the movie support that, like Sunset feeling guilty about not being able to control the magic.

 

- Twilight's peer-pressure induced turn to evil. Some might call it contrived, but I actually think it was done quite well. For Twilight, the only thing that mattered before the plot kicked off was going to Everton and collecting data. She was blackmailed into participating in the games to begin with. Then her device began stealing the magic of the Humane Five, causing Sunset to blow up at her. Twilight, not knowing the real reason behind that outburst and not having a whole lot of confidence to begin with, took that really hard. Finally, her team collectively tells her to stuff her fears and use the power she collected, coaxing her by saying 'she wanted to learn more'. It's really not strange she caved in and unleashed the magic.

 

What I did consider to be a bit contrived, however, was the Heel-Face Turn of Twilight's teammates. Sure, Twilight had gone out of control, but that does not immediately make nasty people nice. Given their attitude, though, I'm not surprised they turned on Cinch.

 

- The last thing I want to comment on is Sunset's transformation. In my headcanon, Sunset was destined to be a princess, so to see her with a horn and wings was awesome. I can't say I liked the dress much, though. I found it to be too stereotypically girly. I mention that mainly because Sunset, even with her lighter image, wasn't really all that girly. Honestly, her anthro form in RR looked perfect. I get they were going for a regal look, and they pulled it off with the luminous wings and horn, but the dress killed the image. If it were less frilly, and perhaps cyan (y'know, her new dominant color?) or her natural colors, the image would have been much better.

 

All in all, I liked this movie a lot. Lots of great moments to fanboy over Sunset and not a lot of Brad. Although I admit I didn't mind him in this movie because he wasn't really shoehorned in this time. Maybe he should hook up with Human Twilight so I can keep on shipping SunLight.

[kenazraventooth 79]

This movie blew my mind and I enjoyed it more then rainbow rocks BECAUSE of how Twilight was pushed by.. that awful principle... er. but the MidTwilight and Sunset forums were really nice that had the right amount of focus on the games themselfs. ending felt a biiiit rushed but it was to beautiful that i think it can be forgiven. Heck we even have a couple new character that are a bit interesting  them selves! Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat both had interesting bits.

though with that last scene makes me wounder if it will pop up in the show since the ending bit places it on the timeline of the show. i doubt it but it would be a cool glance 

[Passion 3,484]

That was... something. I'm not sure how to decorate what I'm trying to say in words. Don't misunderstand me though, I wasn't blown away.

 

I absolutely ADORED Rainbow Rocks for its soundtrack and general musical-esque feeling it had. The OST from it kept with me for weeks after I've watched the movie, and in fact I still catch myself listening to it every now and then. Rainbow Rocks story was simple and very... well... how to say it? MLP-show fitting? Expected? It was a story I'd easily place inside the show and wouldn't even be slightly surprised to see it. I also loved how they've handled Sunset in there.

 

And now came the Friendship Games. It had a weak start in my eyes, really weak one. To a point that 10 minutes in the movie I was actually bored watching it. But then it sorta... evolved. I can't say it was magnificent movie or it caught my attention right away. But I found myself after 40 minutes sitting with my eyes plastered at the screen and trying to comprehend everything what was going on. Oh, of course, it was crystal clear, but ... somehow it kept me interested. It did a good job on making me watch it until the final.

 

It's just weird. I've just tried comparing it to RR in this post, but I feel I'd fail in doing so each time I tried. Simply because these two movies are so different from each other that I feel they shouldn't really be put on same shelf together. I liked both RR and FG, however I did so for an entirely different reasons for each movie.

 

PS: The most popular shot (the one above) from the movie actually made me facepalm hard and whisper "Oh my God, they actually went there...", because my mind managed to realize this shot will appear like 0.2 sec before it happened, and when it came, I was halfway of formulating a sentence sounding something like "They wouldn't..."
I've never been proven wrong so fast in my entire life yet. I guess I've underestimated the writers there...

PS2:  Rarity doesn't cease to amaze me... Seriously, so... many... costumes... I contracted fabulosity just by watching that scene.

PS3: Pinkie Mona Lisa, 'nuff said.

[throwawayaccount9238179 1]

In friendship games, there is a birthday cake symbol on the 30th of the calender at the intro. Do you think that means either Twilight or Spike's birthday is on the 30th of a month? Also the month shown has 30 days so it is either April, June, September or November. (Just speculation)  

Edited September 28, 2015 by 16wongmc1

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

Hmm, it was no Rainbow Rocks, but I still enjoyed it. I liked how some of the Crystal Prep students were mean and some just seemed pretty cool. I think P. Cinch-y was fine as a villain, at least her motivation made some sort of sense, not just a "I want power / to take over the world". The movie did really well in getting me to dislike her, so I have no issue on that count. She's kind of like Diamond Tiara, if she grew up without getting better and took over a school. The twist that they "pony up" when exhibiting their element was a little obvious, but seeing human Twilight was great. I'm glad Equestria Twi only got a cameo at the end. A bit low key for a finale, just didn't have the heart-pounding awesomeness of the one in Rainbow Rocks, but the alternate forms were cool.

 

This:

reminded me of this:

 

Oh, and this (and the judges reaction) made me laugh so hard, it's the best moment of the movie:

Search your feelings, you know it to be true...

 

Later, peeps.

[Persona22 205]

So apparently, Pinkie's cake is becoming a meme...

 

https://www.derpiboo.ru/989921?scope=scpe67d595674d3c76eab7e30abb718b3e854f118c0d

 

Here, go nuts:

[Fluttershyponygal 83]

So my intial reaction to the ending of this movie was this clip I made in a nutshell:

 

 

But then I gave it a second viewing and I stand corrected on the Twilight suddenly going evil part. Granted the foreshadowing was so little it took a second viewing for me to catch it...>.>

 

Twilight's singing lines at the very end of the song just before she goes evil. She expressed a lust for magical knowledge in those few lines along with the "I want to understand!" look she gave the device.

The fact that it took a second viewing for me to catch it still doesn't excuse how abrupt it was but at the VERY LEAST we got SOMETHING of a foreshadowing. It still doesn't explain why the magic turned her evil though.

The best guess I can make is that she got a "Magic high" which compromised her rational thinking as magic tends to do when you get too much at once.

[simba86 1,541]

i liked rainbow rocks better, friendship games was OK but i am kind of dissapointed in it 

[FlootahBabby 265]

I think Fluttershy and human Twilight switched personalities XD

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

One thing that would have made Cinch a more interesting villain is if they had actually given her a reason to have this strange obsession with crushing Canterlot High. Unleash the Fanboy's review of this movie wrote her characterization as "cartoonishly evil" (in a negative context, of course). They should have given her a better reason than pride and arrogance, because, in all truth, they should have really stopped caring if all they did was crush Canterlot High. What was so special about this time that they had to win?

 

Instead, I think of Crystal's extreme pride as a cover for a fear that an elite prep school like theirs could have actually been shown up by a public school like Canterlot. They do have an image to maintain if they want to continue to attract the best students. It is in their own best interests to make sure a public school doesn't make a prep look like all show and no go. Image means a lot when it comes to a school's future prospects.

 

However, I found myself calling them the Private Prep School for Stuffed Shirts (Sponsored by Pearson Education) because these characters really didn't offer much in the way of personality. Many of Twilight's classmates are set up in the first act, but for the rest of the movie, only Sugar Coat and Soury Sweet really get anything to do. Unfortunately, both of them turn out to be just as stuffy as their principal.

 

The only reason why anyone remembers the Sirens is because of their variation in personality, which led to some interesting dialogue between them. Here, unfortunately, we have some wasted potential. There's an entire school you could characterize here, and they start to capitalize on it in the first act with Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap. However, any foil they could have played to Crystal's haughtiness is lost because these characters are all but forgotten after the first act.

 

The UtF review also mentions how Sci-Twi and Flash Sentry's encounters are dropped after the beginning as well, but your mileage may vary on that. I say anything is better than being reminded for the umpteenth time that Rarity likes fashion, Pinkie Pie is a goofy party animal, etc.

 

In the end, they still could have made Crystal Prep villainous without going over the top with it. Characterization really was not one of this movie's strongsuits, unless it was Sunset Shimmer. Still, not being the focus of the story shouldn't force you to go without any chemistry with any other character in the film.

One thing that would have made Cinch a more interesting villain is if they had actually given her a reason to have this strange obsession with crushing Canterlot High. Unleash the Fanboy's review of this movie wrote her characterization as "cartoonishly evil" (in a negative context, of course). They should have given her a better reason than pride and arrogance, because, in all truth, they should have really stopped caring if all they did was crush Canterlot High. What was so special about this time that they had to win?

 

Instead, I think of Crystal's extreme pride as a cover for a fear that an elite prep school like theirs could have actually been shown up by a public school like Canterlot. They do have an image to maintain if they want to continue to attract the best students. It is in their own best interests to make sure a public school doesn't make a prep look like all show and no go. Image means a lot when it comes to a school's future prospects.

 

However, I found myself calling them the Private Prep School for Stuffed Shirts (Sponsored by Pearson Education) because these characters really didn't offer much in the way of personality. Many of Twilight's classmates are set up in the first act, but for the rest of the movie, only Sugar Coat and Soury Sweet really get anything to do. Unfortunately, both of them turn out to be just as stuffy as their principal.

 

The only reason why anyone remembers the Sirens is because of their variation in personality, which led to some interesting dialogue between them. Here, unfortunately, we have some wasted potential. There's an entire school you could characterize here, and they start to capitalize on it in the first act with Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap. However, any foil they could have played to Crystal's haughtiness is lost because these characters are all but forgotten after the first act.

 

The UtF review also mentions how Sci-Twi and Flash Sentry's encounters are dropped after the beginning as well, but your mileage may vary on that. I say anything is better than being reminded for the umpteenth time that Rarity likes fashion, Pinkie Pie is a goofy party animal, etc.

 

In the end, they still could have made Crystal Prep villainous without going over the top with it. Characterization really was not one of this movie's strongsuits, unless it was Sunset Shimmer. Still, not being the focus of the story shouldn't force you to go without any chemistry with any other character in the film.

[TheRockARooster 51,089]

Just finished watching Friendship Games, it was an OK movie but IMO it wasn't better than Rainbow Rocks out of the three movies it's probably my least favourite.

Edited September 29, 2015 by therockarooster

[best poni 1,519]

I loved it! It wasn't my favorite in the series, but I still love it!

[best poni 1,519]

I liked the movie. Even though it wasn't as good as rainbow rocks, I still loved it!

[NavelColt 22,880]

Oi, where to start. I thought I had this movie solidly nailed in my list of, 'Rainbow Rocks > Friendship Games > Equestria Girls' (which I'm finding is the general fandom consensus), but watching it again byway of brony reaction Youtube videos, I'm making more connections and taking notes of things I didn't give as much attention, before. While Rainbow Rocks is a better movie overall, there are a lot of individual things that Friendship Games did better, or did at all that Rainbow Rocks didn't.

 

ALT = Alternate Universe Twilight

Twilight Prime = Twilot Sparkle Hoars

 

Pros

That Twilight Tie-In and Subplot

As Sunset was the tragic focal character of Rainbow Rocks, AUT was the tragic focal character of Friendship Games; Sunset Shimmer acted as the willful and regretful ex-villain seeking redemption for her past, whilst AUT essentially acted as the naive, 'Curiosity Killed the Cat' character. It was not only interesting to learn more about her, but to follow her through her bizarre and troublesome adventure in becoming a victim to the technology she created to learn more and more about a powerful and dangerous subject. It had more twists and turns than Sunset's plot did in RR, which I found to be highly entertaining, as the previous two movies have been very predictable most of the time, whereas this one threw me off at least twice.

 

ALT's character wasn't what I was expecting it to be from the Rainbow Rocks teaser, but I think they executed her very well as is.

 

That Fucking Finale was Glorious 

I'm pretty sure the folks at DHX went out of their way to redeem themselves along with Sunset Shimmer, for the terrible climax of the first movie, because this was essentially the perfect way to pull off the, 'Suddenly Demonic Entity' climax that Sunset failed to do well in Equestria Girls. Midnight Sparkle's design was well-done, well-warranted, and I love that her super form focused around breaking reality and causing more portals to Equestria, because it displayed through action and magic, the desire AUT had to learn more about magic.

 

As Midnight Sparkle tore open more and more patches in reality, it really felt like the protagonists were running out of time, something Shimmer's Demonic presence lacked in the first movie. When the climax isn't warranted, willing suspension of disbelief flies out the window. But when it was well-woven into the story and was a twist of all things, suddenly you're glued to your seat, hoping this Queen of Black Magic is stopped before she can infect Equestria.

 

And of course, this also put the final nail in the coffin for Sunset Shimmer's reformation - solidifying herself as the Element of Magic for the EQG-verse by becoming the anti-thesis to Midnight Sparkle, and reforming her in the same way Twilight Prime did for her in the first movie.

 

Sunset is Best Human

This was already confirmed by Rainbow Rocks, but I feel it should be re-bolded and underlined now that AUT has officially gotten major screen-time. Sunset's character was again a major driving force for the film, both for the characters and the audience. We got to see her really coming along on the path of goody-two-shoes (more letters to Princess Twilot, and even freaking out when said Princess doesn't respond - she learns from sensei well), but we also got to see her at her worst under the pressure and stress of the games (those expressions and tones when she scolded AUT for being too curious were straight out of the first movie and it was so sweet to see her digress like that, just for a moment due to the situation).

 

Tiny Side Details that Always Matter

From camera angles and choice of words to pure imagery, this movie had a lot of moments that simply surpassed both its prequels, which should always be expected for a proper sequel and beyond, in my opinion. Twilight crying for help and getting absorbed into an orb of pure magical energy, for one example. It really felt like parts of this movie tried to push the boundaries for darker themes, much like S4 and S5 of FiM has been doing. We only get a bit of that in the finale of Rainbow Rocks, and none whatsoever in the first movie, whilst in Friendship Games it was throughout.

 

Cons

Please Sir, can I not have any more?

I'm gonna flat out say it - almost none of the songs from this movie were catchy enough for me to remember afterwards, which is entirely opposite the case from the previous film. What bothered me more though was that this movie kept trying to have as many songs as it could (no DHX, you do not need the one-shot villain principle to have a song). Rainbow Rocks was chock-full of songs, but that was totally fine, because not only were most of the songs catchy (as damn well they should be, most of them were sung by Sirens), but the entire premise of the film was based around music.

 

This one had nothing to do with music, but they tried to have a ton of (rather long) songs anyway.

 

Bad-ass Sirens > Crotchety Principals

The Dazzlings were far better villains than Principal Cinch. They had a tie-in to the FiM world, they had bad-ass powers, they were mythical creatures that hadn't been done in the show itself yet, and then we get a crotchety principal who does the blackmail trope with AUT to get her to do what she wants. Now, this is partially redeemable because AUT turns out to be the real focal climax antagonist at the end, but still. Nope.

 

Act 2 is Best Act

I'll be honest, the movie didn't really get my attention until it was already half-way through, when the actual games started. 80% of the great content I've mentioned from this movie came in the second half. The first half had a lot of dialogue and build-up that, yes, while needed, fell flat and made things a little boring for a while.

 

What Rainbow Rocks did by introducing the antagonists first, having them do their 'muwahaha we're evil and going to kick your puppies' bit before the dialogue and build-up occurred was great, because things weren't boring - you already had an obstacle you were waiting to see pop up for the characters. While AUT did her shady bit with coming over to scope things out on the bus, that wasn't the first thing that happened, nor was it very involved. It wasn't done badly, it just didn't catch my attention enough. The first thirty minutes or so of the movie did seem to drag a bit. I'll have to watch it again to see if this changes for me, maybe it was just the mood I was in, but I'll keep this as a point for now.

 

--

 

Overall, really good movie. Not quite as good as Rainbow Rocks, though it did have a lot of individual parts that surpassed it. And obviously a much better film than Equestria Girls. Let the AUT and Sunset shipping art continue to commence forth!

[One-Punch Man 316]

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate Friendship games an eight.
I didn't like Principal Cinch all that much, she was way too hammy and silly...her song was the worst in the movie, and she even resorted to blackmailing poor Twilight. :c

But...other than that, I loved it! I mean the whole movie gave me this sense of awe for some reason. It made me think, Sunset is facing the demon she once was head on, and realizing she is capable of doing what (pony)Twilight can do all on her own. Rainbow Rocks was Sunset learning to walk again, and Friendship Games is her taking flight. I can't wait to see where she goes from here! Also, this story seemed more serious than the others. The writers focused on telling an awesome story, and man did they! I was expecting a cameo from Sonata, Aria, and Adagio though...I was sad I didn't see them scheming in Crystal Prep or something. xD
I love the Acadeca song..I have been replaying it a lot today! 

On my scale for the other movies...Rainbow Rocks is an 8, and the original Equestria Girls movie is a 6.

Edited September 29, 2015 by SugaCoat

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

I may be in a minority here, but I loved the villain song. Especially with all the Crystal Preps joining in the emotional blackmail with "It'll be your fault if we lose" accompanying Principal Citch's voice telling AU Twilight that to learn about the magic, she has to release it.

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

That bit with Twilight getting sucked in made me think of this:

 

 

Brohoof if you got the reference!

[Woodie Pecker 46]

ATTENTION: SPOILER WARNING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

 

 

The movie has its problems.

 

The villains are under developped, forgettable, badly designed, one dimensional jerks and I just don't see the point in them. I was hoping to see One-on-One competitions between the Wondercolts and the Shadow Bolts, with characters from the show, like Rainbow vs Lightning Dust (I know that she wasn't in the trailer, but come on. Indigo Zap looks like a recolored human Lightning Dust), Rarity vs Suri, Pinkie vs Cheese Sandwhich (he wasn't in the trailer either), Fluttershy vs Coco Pommel, etc.

 

But frankly, what I got was a movie that should have focused more on ONE story, rather than jumping from one story-line to the other. Either human Twilight's quest to understand magic OR the Friendship Games. When I think about one of the story-lines, all I can think is: "Was that other story really necessary?"

 

The climax of the movie, I find, is extremely rushed.

I don't like the songs, but that is just my opinion.

And Flash doesn't even give us a reason to hate him in this one, so he's even more useless than in the other two movies.

 

 

But there are good things.

 

The animation is even better than Rainbow Rocks.

The fact that they actually TRY to do research on magic in their world.

The Rainbooms transforming by living up to their pony versions element. That's a cool idea.

Sunset Shimmer got more character development.

The climax, while rushed, is still pretty entertaining.

 

All in all, I guess it's the second best of the movies, though the first one wasn't that good to begin with. But that's just what I think. What about you?

Edited September 29, 2015 by Woodie Pecker

[WubBeast 49]

so my community how did you enjoy the third movie who is your favorite character of the shadow bolt and have it you like human Twilight's for or dark magic form and the music

[ManaMinori 4,145]

So....what exactly was the main moral of the movie? Yeah, there's the blatantly obvious "stop being stupid and messing with dangerous sh*t you don't know anything about, open your mouth and ASK, if you want answers" lesson, but I feel, like with Sunset, constantly undervaluing her own efforts and potential, the Shadowbolts relying on SciTwi's magic to win the games for them (in spite knowing that they've always relied on their own effort to win, every other year), and Gigantic idiot SciTwi, herself, relying on someone else's influence to detrmine her future, the clear lesson (that was overshadowed by everything else) should've been to have confidence in your own abilities, and go for what you wang, on your own strength and determination.

 

Only Sunny seemed to remember it, though, at the end

[UnknownFry 169]

Pretty good movie, and I may like it slightly better than Rainbow Rocks, and it was well worth the wait.

 

Characterization was superb for the most part, save for the Shadowbolts as they were underutilized.  Each of the HuMane 7 got their moments to shine with Sunset and Twilight leading the way as Sunset was pressured in keeping the magic limited without understanding it getting increasingly frustrated over the lack of response from Princess Twilight. Twilight on the other hand just wanted to study the strange energy, but she got forced into a situation in where she was used and not appreciated culminating into her corruption as Midnight Sparkle, and Sunset understood more than anyone else what Twilight was going through. Ultimately both of these characters were able to find what they needed even if that was not the same things they wanted.

 

Spike was gold in this one as he was Twilight's one and only true friend for most of the movie.

 

It was nice to see Dean Cadence, Vice-Principal Luna, and Principal Luna to play something of an active role in conducting the games, but Principal Cinch stood out as the ruthless and cold calculated individual who kept her students in line while pressuring Twilight into doing what she wanted by threatening to jeopardize the status of her application to the Everton Independent Study program.

 

While there was a whole of songs in this one compared to it is predecessor in Rainbow Rocks, I felt the songs used here better captured the experience the characters were going through especially with ACADECA, Unleash the Magic, and Something More That is Out There. Unleash The Magic stood out as it captured the moment of the climax perfectly well as Twilight caved in after being torn down by Sunset and also her peers as Crystal Prep.

 

The visuals and animation in this one were particularly well done especially with the transformations of Midnight Sparkle and Daydream Shimmer, the brief little fight along with those rift tears. Another scene that stood out was the competitive event where the magic went loose with plenty of over the top action.

 

Voice acting was superb with the most part especially Midnight Sparkle as Tara Strong really captured the feel of a crazed villain, and she did a good job with capturing the awkwardness of regular Twilight. Iris Quinn really nailed Principal Cinch with a cold and ruthless tone.

 

I may be rating this one a little high, but I give this one a 10/10, as I enjoyed it for what it was and had a great tine with it wanting more.

 

The last scene was gold with Twilight meeting Twilight and hopefully they will do more with it in the future as well.

Edited September 29, 2015 by UnknownFry

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

436k for the world premiere.

 

http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-100-saturday-cable-originals-network-update-9-26-2015.html

 

Kinda disappointing, but understandable, if a lot of bronies and target demo are living at home, and can't exactly monopolize the TV in prime time on a Saturday night.

[Brony Mata 134]

436k for the world premiere.

 

http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-100-saturday-cable-originals-network-update-9-26-2015.html

 

Kinda disappointing, but understandable, if a lot of bronies and target demo are living at home, and can't exactly monopolize the TV in prime time on a Saturday night.

what am i looking for in the link?

[Brony Mata 134]

i will never understand how yall can write like 6 paragraphs worth of review or something from these/this...

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

what am i looking for in the link?

Rank Program Net Start Mins Rating (000s)

77 MLP EQU:FRNDSHIP GAME-M DISCOVERY FAMILY CHANNEL 8:00 PM 90 0.12 436

Edited September 29, 2015 by EquestriaGuy