Friendship Games

[IsraelYabuki 446]

Talk about going over the top with all that hate the EQG Twilight got from those Crystal Prep people, except for Cadence and Shining Armor, but the students and principal were just stone cold. But during that magic fight, that was amazing. So many inspiring ideas for my own O.Cs came to me after watching that movie. Very well done on Friendship Games, loved every second of it

Edited June 11, 2016 by IsraelYabuki

[foreverpeace94 13]

I absolutely LOVED when human twilight was walking down the canterlot high halls and everyone says hi to her as if her presence is THAT normal.... hasn't pony twilight only been here TWICE? 

[Adagio Dazzling 42]

I loved to watch this movie everyday and the only reason why I because the movie is awesome at songs and style of it.

And my friends love it too! 

[Nightmare Moon Draws 31]

OMN, This is the best MLP Movie so far! I was waiting FOREVA to get it on DVD and it was BEAST! 15/10

[Emiko Gale 199]

I like this Equestria Girls movie the most...The only thing I don't like is Cadence and Shining Armor's character designs...But I love Sci-Twi. I can relate to her.

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

I personally liked Rainbow Rocks better, but this movie wasn't a disappointment, just a bit underwhelming. The story is well written, for the most part, the characters are as likeable as ever and the animation is superb, it seems Hasbro is used to animating the Equestria girls style. The only things I didn't like were this movies "villains" (I'm not talking about Evil Twilight, she was fine and it was a great choice to have Sunset help this universe's Twilight the same way FIM Twilight did for her, it shows development since the first movie.). Rather It's the Crystal Prep students I have a problem with. They're displayed so prominently in the opening credits but they barely get any screen time to really show their character, and when they do, It's for a joke. Definitely a bit of a drop in quality from the Dazzlings. However, the Mane 6's humour was spot on and it got a good amount of smiles and laughs out of me. In the sound department, the voice acting is sound, but the music was good, I just felt it wasn't their A-game and was a bit too cheesy this time around, even for MLP standards. If you push that aside though, you have an awesome movie that's a really good time. Oh, and there's plenty of fanservice and hidden cameos like the other movies, so It's got that going for it too.

[Brightbart 268]

We will stand for Everfree

We will stand forever free

 

Overall I liked it, I thought it was rather anticlimactic but the songs were good. Disappointed that we didn't get to see more midnight sparkle in action but that's expected. The animation however was beyond excellent. They left it at a cliffhanger so hopefully that means we'll get to enjoy a 5th EG film. 

[Evelyn Light 28]

i honestly really like the friendship game. i belive it gives a huge insight on sunset shimmer.

[Thrond 3,263]

This is about what I'd expect an Equestria Girls movie written alongside season 5 to play out like. Whole ton of ideas which are barely even worked into a coherent whole, drowned in shenanigans and plot. This thing's overstuffed, and its most interesting ideas - specifically regarding Sunset's place in the human world - are woefully underdeveloped. Lots of stuff here just goes nowhere: the scene of Sunset shouting at SciTwi could have been built into anger issues, which would have established continuity with her past self and given her some much-needed flaws, but that event is never brought up again. I have my issues with the deleted scenes, but watching them only makes me more acutely aware of how Sunset's main conflicts here never really go anywhere. We never really learn how magic works, and the implications of magic cropping up in a non-magical world are barely touched upon. SciTwi never quite gets the screen time and development she deserves, as she's way more interesting than Twilight had been in any of season 5, but instead she's left in a role where she's reacting to things most of the time and given little agency. I wish the film had allowed her to express some confidence near the end to make her resemble her counterpart at least a little bit more, but I still like her a lot in this regardless. 

 

Still, the movie has high school motocross, so it's hard for me not to enjoy it. There's just so many utterly bonkers ideas like that. I don't care much for the anime-influenced finale, but I appreciate how utterly out-of-left-field it is, even if I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense, and pretty much the entirety of the games themselves are thoroughly entertaining to me. The songs aren't as good as Rainbow Rocks, but the humour is arguably even better, and again, HIGH SCHOOL MOTOCROSS.  How can you not love that level of absurdity? SciTwi is really charming, and Sunset is just as likable and sympathetic as ever, even if her character arc comes across as only half-finished here. Most of the new characters are not much more than one-note caricatures, but they're amusing nonetheless, and I'm happy to see Cadance here, even if she doesn't ultimately do much. I want to see more of the girls' personal and familial relationships, not this superhero crap!

 

So, yeah, the movie is a mess, but it's at least a really entertaining one. A real shame about those shorts, though - barely half of them were any good at all, and where Rainbow Rocks was followed up by three great music videos, Friendship Games got... animated line flubs. However, the actual gags in that blooper reel, combined with the last scene of the movie itself, make me want to see the pony mane six + Spike meet the human mane seven + Spike. Would Princess Twilight's friends have just as terrible clothes as pony Twilight? Speaking of which, I do appreciatethe tentative steps which this film makes away from everyone wearing a skirt, because when I was in high school, nobody wore a skirt. I'm a lot more inclined to go easy on Friendship Games after Legend of Everfree left me so cold, but at least Everfree mostly did away with the skirts entirely. 

 

Also, can we talk about how Sunset Shimmer is totally crushing on Princess Twilight throughout the whole thing? She's constantly talking about her, complaining that her texts aren't returned, always comparing Twilight favourably to herself, and when she thinks Twilight has returned, she makes this face. I mean... I'm just saying. And that one deleted scene where they're on a date doesn't help! 

Edited November 27, 2016 by AlexanderThrond

[DEAD_ACCNT 46]

was it just me.... or... did this movie... suck?

Is some scenes it does but in some it's doesn't.

Edited January 9, 2017 by ApplejackEQG

[Vitaj 45]

You have got to admit, evil Twilight was indeed 20% sexier than the original one

[lilownme 0]

Tut tut.NO HASBRO NOOOO!What is up with this new Twilight? The whole point of these movies was to show the interactions between pony Twi and her Human friends!So why are you guys getting further and further away from the main point?You didn't even bring her out in the legends of everfree.This other Twi is really annoying and should at least not be the new leader.Atleast give that role to Sunny.

[AlolanVulpixMc 22]

i don't who is worse in this movie Principal sinch or twilight but i think sinch is by far the worse (sort of) atagainist

[Thrond 3,263]

I'm really coming around to the songs in this one. "Acadeca" MVP, but pretty much all of them are good, and I might even start introducing them into rotation alongside the "Rainbow Rocks" soundtrack. I also love how, despite being at about the same scale, this movie takes itself less seriously than much of season 5, and it's really got a lot of funny moments. Watching the (relatively) mundane high school competition,  the magical threat, Sunset's anxieties, and Twilight learning about friendship all play off of each other is a total blast, and I forgot how funny the Crystal Prep students are. Sugarcoat is probably my favourite just for her blunt, unfiltered insults. These movies often look better in motion than in stills, but each of them looks better than the last. "Legend of Everfree" tops this one, but I think the imagery in this is more fun. 

But Cinch is a weak link, and probably the worst of the villains across all four movies - and that's saying something. Her venomous delivery makes me wonder why nobody notices the blatant contempt she has towards everyone around her, and her motivation to protect her precious reputation isn't terribly satisfying to me. I also dislike the climax, where Twilight's complex motivations basically dissolve into a barely coherent desire to go to Equestria and... understand all the magic? What? Plus, even when this came out I was starting to get really tired of po-faced epic confrontations of this show, and I don't care much for the anime-ish imagery of the climax either. Why is possibly the dumbest and shallowest part of the movie also the most dramatic? I'd prefer if the magic overload drove Twilight to retaliate against Crystal Prep, or if the kindness shown by the mane six drove her to reject Cinch entirely. But then we wouldn't have the apparently mandatory grandiose face off, and god forbid we have a climax which doesn't trade complexity for bombast. 

I do really like Twilight in this, though. Before she was watered down in Legend of Everfree, she actually acted like the Twilight, although a bit more reserved due to coming from a more oppressive environment. She's also got genuinely complex motivations: she wants to understand magic, and she's being pushed towards serving Cinch's interests in order to protect her future, but she has no intention of hurting anyone, and the CHS students are showing her more kindness than anyone at Crystal Prep barring Cadance. I don't like that Cadance was so willing to go along with Cinch's plans - a single scene of doubt would have helped a lot - but as a moderating force at Crystal Prep she's still pretty enjoyable.

Too bad the story feels so unfinished. There's several scenes and plot threads which go absolutely nowhere. Cinch asking Twilight to spy on CHS? Never brought up again. Sunset exploding at Twilight? Never resolved. The apparent theme about Sunset needing to not wait for others to give her answers? Comes out of left field. Twilight's magic device? Entirely unexplained. I think this one could easily surpass "Rainbow Rocks" if it had just another half hour to flesh out all of these elements, but it just gets flimsier and flimsier as it goes on. It doesn't really lose me until the climax, but even before that it becomes harder and harder to ignore all of the loose ends. This movie has a denser, more nuanced plot than its predecessor, and if it were finished, it'd be easily be the best of the lot. Instead, it's fun, but a notable step down. Could easily have been a full-length feature film, and I would absolutely have watched that version, but alas. 

Also, pony SunLight forever. No, but seriously, what's with some of the imagery in the climax? The film barely builds up any sort of understanding or friendship between Sunset and Twilight, and then they're supposed to establish some sort of bond? It's not completely without basis, but it's yet another thing which the movie severely undercooks. I'd also argue that Sunset's heroic turn was the first step towards her dullness in "Legend of Everfree," and for similar reasons I'd prefer if Midnight Sparkle just hadn't been a thing. Can't blame this movie for the next one's failures, though. 

Score: 

Entertainment: 8/10

Characters: 8/10

Themes: 6/10

Story: 6/10

Overall: 70/100

Edited April 8, 2017 by AlexanderThrond

[SrSolitude 0]

I just had a question about Sunset Shimmer. If the Sunset Shimmer we know right now is come from Equestria, and the ending of the MLP Equestria Girls Friendship Games where two Twilights encountered at right of their front at each other. And here comes my theory/question, "Which means there's another Sunset Shimmer?"

[powerpuff-tsubasa 448]

I really enjoyed watching this movie and understanding Sci-Twi's struggle. It truly builds up the drama between her aloofness research and social struggles. I nearly wondered: Was she REALLY controlled by Principal Cinch?

 

p.s. i dislike cinch and her robotic students the most (cinch all along the way). the songs were just as good as the EQG's predecessors. 

[Skytower 71]

On 6/16/2016 at 1:01 PM, foreverpeace94 said:

I absolutely LOVED when human twilight was walking down the canterlot high halls and everyone says hi to her as if her presence is THAT normal.... hasn't pony twilight only been here TWICE? 

  She made an impact both times.  First as princess of the fall formal and then as lead singer for the Rainbooms.  

[Persona22 205]

I made dis

 

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mials4xjnhr31e3/Video.mp4

[Tacodidra 61,141]

It was alright but I preferred the first two. It was nice to finally see the other Twilight. On the other hand, there was even less of Equestria and the ponies than in Rainbow Rocks, at one point I even thought they wouldn't be shown at all. Fortunately that wasn't the case.

The conclusion was pretty good after a slow start, though I felt it was something of a repeat of the first movie. I liked the music, though Rainbow Rocks fared better in that area too. My favorite thing about the film was Sunset Shimmer finally getting more screen time. I genuinely like her as a character in spite of there being no FIM equivalent for her (or could that actually be a positive?). I hated Cinch, but that was probably the intended reaction (though I found her more unpleasant than almost any other MLP-related character).

The film was a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. I could watch the film without getting bored, but I doubt I'll rewatch it any time soon. The Equestria Girls series has exceeded my expectations (which were admittedly low) and I plan to watch the rest of it, but I just don't seem to like it quite the same way that I like FIM...

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

I loved this Movie ! It had great new Songs and interesting new Characters, also i liked the evil Version of Twilight, she looked really cool. Not sure what else to say, im not good at that.

[Nye 1,652]

A tad bit disappointed that the games couldn’t be finished. But a good movie with tons of character development on Sci-Twi.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Merging the Discussion and Review/Reaction threads for Friendship Games. Just doing some cleanup.

[ajtabs 17]

I feel like sun set shimmer is bossy in the friendship games...she is alot like starlight glimmer 

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

On 9/28/2015 at 9:31 AM, KatonRyu said:

I liked this movie, though not as much as Rainbow Rocks.

I feel the same.

[Cash In 22,295]

I enjoyed Friendship Games quite a bit.

Sci-Twi is a fairly interesting character and I was quite intrigued by her, as I actually watched Legend of Everfree (The film after this) before I watched this one. Because of this, I was curious on her origins. I liked how it all played out, although I'm surprised that it took so long for anyone to notice Twilight's amulet thingy causing trouble in CHS. Principal Cinch wasn't the best 'antagonist' per se, but I'll admit that I'm quite curious about her past and how she ended up the way she did. The Shadowbolts were alright as well, but I did like some more than others. 

The humour was good as per usual, albiet absolutely absurd sometimes - Motocross as an event, with kids in control. You couldn't possibly tell me that's a good idea with a straight face. Music was top notch as tradition would have it and I'm happy that Sunset Shimmer got a lot of screen time here. I've made it no secret that Sunset's my favourite character, so it was quite nice to see her gain further development.

I didn't enjoy Friendship Games as much as Rainbow Rocks, but it was still a fantastic film.