friendship games Why are these films so praised in spite of their horrifically poor writing?

[Silver Stream. 708]

I honestly have to say that Cleverclover does have a good point in saying that you don't have to be analytical to see that there are huge plot holes within a storyline. I'm not...and I can see them plain as day.

 

However, if you have to switch off your common sense in order to enjoy a film, I think it's best to leave it alone because not only does it puts frustration and irritation on yourself, but it also offends many people who actually enjoy the films and doesn't appreciate it being bashed so harshly because it does not meet the our reality or because you've seen far better.

 

The writing needed work, but overall, I was personally satisfied with it. There were some holes that could've been covered while others couldn't when it came to major realistic outcomes...but you expect that in a movie about girls ponying up with equestrian magic in a human universe. Honestly, there shouldn't be a huge war about it. I just think we expect too much from MLP and while I'm not saying you should just accept whatever they give you, try not to let it bother you too much. If it does, go enjoy the cartoons that doesn't make you want to rip your hair out and let the others enjoy it in peace 

[Sunset188 193]

There was Tommy Oliver, a popular YouTuber who would review MLP episodes, but he got fed up with it because he found that whenever he criticized something, his fans would dislike his videos rather than respect his opinions.

So he just stopped making videos about MLP. 

 

As for why they watch cartoons in first place, well, I think it's because cartoons are still a respectable medium that shouldn't be given a free pass.

Analysis and criticism isn't always a bad thing. For example, it is through critical lens that we are able to see what makes FiM such a great show. We break down the components, analysis the structure and see "hey, this show is revolutionary and worthy of being remembered because it does this right whereas terrible cartoons such as X, Y, and Z do this and that".

 

Being critical of cartoons is why we have FiM in the first place. Lauren Faust has spoken critical about G1 and little girl's shows in general from her childhood

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2010/12/24/my-little-non-homophobic-non-racist-non-smart-shaming-pony-a-rebuttal/

 

If she had just said "it's nonsensical fun for kids. No need to challenge the audience to be mentally engaged", there would have been no need for G4 to raise the bar of children's animation intended for girls.

Without a bar, there is no standard and standard is created through analysis and criticism.

 

I agree with what you're saying here. MLP's critiques have helped the show and we can see that despite being unrealistic, it is a positive and well-written cartoon. A lot of the other cartoons they have for kids today on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon look so beyond stupid to me that I'm thankful I didn't grow up with such crap.

 

However, I still stand by my point of the "nonsense" being okay for this movie. Because not everything can make sense like it would in the real world.

[Lunas Sorrow 21]

you have to consider that this movie was originally intended for the young female audience and well the simpler it is the better as to not give a bad influence to the young minds of children whilst making it enjoyable to watch

 

and by making it as simple as it can be plot holes will definitely appear here and there

Edited October 5, 2015 by Lunas Sorrow

[RavenholmZombie 1,329]

I don't see the problem here. Many of us enjoyed Friendship Games, Rainbow Rocks, and the first movie despite the lackluster writing, or the poor world-building, or the character designs.

People will like what they want to like. Let them like what they want to like instead of putting them on blast for liking something that you don't like.

 

Am I saying that constructive criticism against EQG is bad? No, I am not. Things become better through constructive criticism. However, I think the problem lies within us. We're coming into EQG with the high expectations that we have because of FiM and, to be honest, we're simply setting the bar too high for EQG. Sure, it's catching up, both Rainbow Rocks and Friendship Games are miles better than the first movie, but it will take time for EQG to catch up to FiM in terms of the quality of writing, animation, and world-building. It's good that our critiques aren't falling on deaf ears over at DHX and Hasbro Studios.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Lance Shield

[Singe 2,109]

Expectations set up by FIM since the movies do carry the FIM brand and wants to be part of the continuity, instead of being independent.

[Silver Stream. 708]

I think pretty soon Eg will be standing up on it's on. Not sure but it'll be interesting if they did

[Singe 2,109]

Cinch was written to think small, compared to the bigger one being the "never before seen magic." She would nail two birds with one stone by offering Twilight an incentive to stay at Crystal Prep to study the magic anomaly with the promise of funding and fame. Cinch's reputation/legacy would be much bigger when Twilight Sparkle makes a discovery. 

 

After Cinch witnesses the event, she shifts gears changing from pressuring Twilight to bribing her. A speech where we see a visual of Twilight's future as Cinch describes what it could be like if she decided to stay at Crystal Prep and study that anomaly. Twilight takes the offer. Cinch agrees to a tie where the games end and Crystal Prep returns to their school. Then Sunset Shimmer and the Mane 5 head to the city to break into Crystal Prep to find Twilight and get their magic back. Confrontation leads to Midnight Sparkle and the destruction of Crystal Prep. Resolve and they are friends. Extended ending to show what happens to the Crystal Prep characters.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Singe

[Silver Stream. 708]

I think that applies Principle Celestia and Luna as well. I find it a little ironic that Luna wanted magic to be kept out of the games ONLY because she didn't want to risk forfeiting the games when there were bigger risks than that. But then they choose six of the magical students to participate...

[Singe 2,109]

The Friendship Game was setup to get the Mane 6 and the Crystal Prep 6 through while eliminating all the male participates in Round 1.

 

Though I think it would have been better just having them be separate mixed teams for Round 1 and 2, then have the chosen 12 do Round 3.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Singe

[Alexio 9]

Cause it's a movie made for children. Not being that guy, but the writing is terrible because of the movie is set for children to watch with parents. The Equestria girs franchise is the opposite of MLPFIM, its written for little kids more then FIM is.

[Silver Stream. 708]

I try not to lean on the fact that the movie is made for children because I know that there are other kids movies and shows that have better writing. I just think that we shouldn't be too harsh on the plot holes because not everything that's "too hard to believe" can be explained realistically like some people look for. As I pointed out in another thread I made discussing this same topic: I think we expect too much from them when we shouldn't/ 

[SilverDusk 43]

I think the thing you have to remember is EQ is a movie designed to sell toys to kids. Its easy for us to see these holes in the story as adults, but kids aren't going to think twice about it, and thats probably all they care about.

 

The movies are cute, have catchy songs, and I get to see my favorite ponies as humans. Thats why I enjoy them. It doesn't have to have flawless writing for me to enjoy them.

[TubeSock2018 325]

The movies are cute, have catchy songs, and I get to see my favorite ponies as humans. Thats why I enjoy them. It doesn't have to have flawless writing for me to enjoy them.

This.

The films don't have to be perfect to be enjoyable.

Edited October 7, 2015 by pollo20x6

[Yamato 1,347]

I blame it on government mind-control lasers.

[RarityFan01 2,444]

- Why do the people in this world feel nothing like legitimate human beings, acting entirely numb to the existence and presence of magic (with the exception of SciTwi)? 

 

It would get in the way of the actual story since it's unimportant. Unless there is a reason for them to be shocked, there is no reason for it. 

 

- Why wasn't the existence of magic a massively reported news story? Why didn't anyone think there was anything strange about magical rainbows shooting up into the sky, or the any of the other unexplainable things that appear to happen near CHS? 

 

Again, there's no reason to. It wouldn't do anything for the plot and would be a waste of time. (If this or the previous one did happen, I guarantee that there will be complaints about unnecessary stuff.)

 

- Why did the Crystal Prep students want Twilight to unleash her magic, despite having just escaped danger that was only caused when her magic got loose? 

 

They figured that they could use it to their advantage. 

 

- Why was Midnight Sparkle evil while "Daydream Shimmer" was good, despite having received a transformation from the exact same source of magic? 

 

They had different intentions. Think about it this way. Two people can be raised the exact same way in the exact same environment with every variable being the same, but their personalities could be completely different. 

 

- Why and how was SciTwi able to create a device that can locate and extract magic, apparently without even knowing how it works? 

 

She didn't make it to locate magic. Her intention was to locate anomalies. These kind of things exist in our world and are used to find paranormal activity. (It doesn't suck much our anything like that, though.)  

 

- Why was Cinch so devoid of human empathy, in spite of being an actual, full-blooded human? 

 

Her behavior is very real. Look up "Antisocial Personality Disorder." You can look up up by the previous names "Psychopathy" or "Sociopathy" as well. I'm not diagnosing her or anything. I'm just saying that her type of character exists in our world. 

 

 

Movies typically have a certain amount of screen time, especially if it's to be aired in theaters or on TV. Also, more time means more budget, so movies don't typically add unnecessary things just so they make sense. So a major reason movies have plot holes is because it would take way too much time to answer all of them. Besides, it lets other people fill plot holes in their own ways. If movies were rigid and explained everything, it wouldn't leave much to the imagination.

[Silver Stream. 708]

I blame it on government mind-control lasers.

 Everything I know now has been a lie up until now. I should've known....

 

Also agreeing with what Rarity fan pointed out

Edited October 7, 2015 by Princess Sunset

[Swifty 249]

Its okay for children, but i doubt teenage and older bronies would watch these movies without the FiM connection.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Holy crap, I thought I was the only person that hated FG; looking at EQG and Ponychan, it seemed like there was nothing but praise for it.


On that note, probably one of the biggest things I found as an issue was that the Sports plot and the shadowbolts honestly, from a storytelling perspective, felt stapled on and completely unimportant. The real point of the movie was about twilight and sunset, and the Sports plot honestly added NOTHING. The entire angle of the shadowbolts being foils to the mane six was NEVER Touched on, the shadowbolts never really learned any lessons they just decided "Letting people die is kind of a dick move" and then turned good, and the sports plot of the movie is besides pointless.

 

They should have just had twilight be investigating magic and taking risks because Cinch found out that she was investigating magic for her research and threatened to cut her scholarship or kick her out because magic doesn't exist, and focused on that as the reason for twilight finally unleashing the magic out of desperation.

Honestly, the sports angle and the shadowbolts felt like they had a completely different plot for the movie, hasbro yelled "NOT TOYETIC ENOUGH, Add sports! and motorbikes!" and so they did without really putting any effort in.

Honestly, I feel bad about them wasting the nega mane six angle because that's something I've REALLY wanted for a long time.

 

 

 

past that, I disliked the climax and ending because I'm sick of having nothing but focus on Twilight and sunset in both FIM and EQG. I felt RR did a good job of keeping Sunset's plot minor while still focusing on the mane six as a whole and their dynamics as friends, but this movie? Screw that, the others are basically background characters for how much they contribute, leading up to them being power batteries at at end.
I get that they wanted the focus of the movie to be about Sunset and twilight's duality, and I accept that as their goal. Its just not a goal I WANT, I'm tired of twilight, and I don't want another Twilight coming along and engulfing everything as well. We got a whole other universe here, show us how the other 5 are different, who they ARE. At this point, we're just expected to accept that they're cardboard cutout copies of the other 5 from equestria in human bodies, with only Twilight being different, which I find infuriating and boring.


Overall, this movie was a huge step down from RR and I find it to actually be WORSE than EQG, which is a big drop.

[Lil Pip 775]

I categorize these movies in the "so bad it's good" category.

Like, Principal Cinch is sooo obssessed with high school sports, it's hilarious.

No real human being acts like that

 

I could go on and on, but it would literally be an essay.

 

If you really want to understand a bit more, check out the video I posted on this site yesterday

https://mlpforums.com/topic/139194-friendship-games-review/#entry4127038

 

It should give you an idea why I couldn't possibly write out what exactly it is about the movies that I like because it is a complex situation. The films are ridiculous and they are poorly written.

 

They just have a charm that, despite terrible writing and scenarios, are just plain fun.

She didn't care about the sports she cared about her school's reputation, which is related to her reputation.

I'll say it again, I don't have to be analytical in the slightest to see that the writing of this film is just plain nonsensical. 

 

Why am I watching cartoons, you ask? Because I know that many cartoons are, generally, written far better than this. And I don't have to switch off my common sense to enjoy them, as I have to do with this film (as well as the previous two). That's why. 

Analytics are for the excessively intellectual. It being nonsensical is a complaint that its not intellectual enough. Plenty of forms of entertainment have plot holes, but it is true. Not everyone can enjoy it, and not everyone has to enjoy it. But when people do find reasons to enjoy it, its usually for character personality or events occurring. Not its technicality.

[Singe 2,109]

Celestia and Luna must have been smoking something during the Friendship Games or as serious as Cinch about winning.

The Mane 6 were allowed to participate despite Luna wanting the magic far far away. Why else would they not do anything during the giant magical plant attack like evacuate and still continue the games since magic got involved.

 

Edited October 11, 2015 by Singe

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

I want to just respond to OP's question, as I realize I didn't really address his "Why are they praised?" part.


it had a giant DBZ fight scene at the end, and Sunset/twilight fans orgasmed over it. That's pretty much 100% it. Even when I go to places that rave about FG, when the ACTUAL interim parts come up, the games themselves, the shadowbolts and cinch, people don't praise it. But when you bring up the final fight? Good god does everyone lose their mind and rave.

Basically, us bronies are very starved for magical girl stuff in MLP, so if you have it in it, bronies tend to overlook the flaws and rave about the action.

[Singe 2,109]

I want to just respond to OP's question, as I realize I didn't really address his "Why are they praised?" part.

 

 

it had a giant DBZ fight scene at the end, and Sunset/twilight fans orgasmed over it. That's pretty much 100% it. Even when I go to places that rave about FG, when the ACTUAL interim parts come up, the games themselves, the shadowbolts and cinch, people don't praise it. But when you bring up the final fight? Good god does everyone lose their mind and rave.

 

Basically, us bronies are very starved for magical girl stuff in MLP, so if you have it in it, bronies tend to overlook the flaws and rave about the action.

 

Midnight Sparkle was only around for less than 5 minutes of the film.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Midnight Sparkle was only around for less than 5 minutes of the film.

thats all that was needed

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

The first one was the most flawed, but it still laid a decent foundation.

 

The second one, however, took that foundation and built a palace on top of it.

 

And the third one just renovated that palace even further.

[Singe 2,109]

thats all that was needed

 

I do agree that mostly everything outside of those 5 minutes can be forgettable.

 

It's really while I think Midnight Sparkle should have a slow buildup in the movie as Twilight gathers more magic and gets corrupted.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Singe