A good fight scene vs a bad one

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

So, we have had quite a few "action" or "fight" scenes this season, and I would like to talk about when it is clear the animators are exhibiting passion for what they are animating vs when they simply are just, doing their job

We are going to start with Mistmanes legend

So, the fight scene between Mistmane and Sable Spirit is really really good, it isn't super flashy or over the top, but it's creative and visually stunning, one of the most unique sequences in MLP in my opinion. This was animated with passion I would say, when the animators were going through this, it was very clearly a "lets put out best foot forward here.

Next, Flash Magnus

This one is even better I think. It flows so perfectly as Flash battles the dragons, blocking and surfing on their fire as he is able to fly faster then the dragons, it's really really well animated and in some shots hard to tell it's 2d, when I first saw this I saw that a certain level of care was put into it, it's great, fantastic even.

And now for Daybreaker vs Nightmare Moon

This scene is also really good, while it isn't as unique in visuals as Mistmane vs Sable or flows as perfectly as Flash Magnus and the dragons, the animation is still top notch (especially with Daybreakers supernova looking move) it's good to watch and overall, just a good fight scene considering it was a worst case scenario dream from Starlight.

 

I would say that those three action scenes were clearly animated with passion, care, and love, they are all really good to look at, and I enjoyed them all immensely.

Now, lets look at the opposite of that

This one, is what I would call the definition of a bad action scene in My little Pony, it feels like little effort was put in, and overall, the animators didn't care as much with this particular one.

It doesn't start off too bad, despite the rather disappointing Maulwurf design, Pharynx is fighting it, gives up on that cool transformation after he gets hit once, Starlights magic looks like it does nothing which yeah, makes sense, but it really gets bad when "swarm" comes in, which is actually like 10 changelings who got smaller flying by the Maulfurf twice with a punching sound effect. Like seriously, they look like they got way smaller when they are flying by his chest and then running by his legs. The flow is terrible, the animation is inconsistent with the designs, and it is very underwhelming considering the thing was hyped up a but throughout the episode.

Just think back to season 2 with that Changeling fight, it was much better in every way.

Just goes to show that the show can be have really epic sequences and at the same time, really poor ones. I just hope in future fights or action sequences, they stay Mistmane/Flash Magnus/Daybreaker rather than Maulwurf.

Honestly I was just so underwhelmed after seeing that fight for the first time and after rewatching the episode I just had to make this thread.

[Will Guide 21,365]

@Ryanmahaffe

Well, I honestly wasn't looking for "impressive action". What was important about the battle to me was its outcome. In the end, Pharynx sees that the Hive and Thorax need him, want him to be their protector even in these peaceful times. All without sacrificing their character.

[KH7672 1,604]

Oh boy my type of thread, time to discuss my feelings about this fight scene:

Now would I personally qualify this as a bad fight scene....no of course not, I'm not inenpt to the effort of spectacular animation.  But the thing for me is this fight scene feels so.....lifeless so out of place in MLP.

For one Tirek was no longer this conniving, and scheming villain in Part 1. Now he's "Imma blo erythang up!" I don't care about Equestria anymore. Who needs a world to rule over when all you need is MAGIC AND POWER! Sure he's never cared for the ponies but surely a world where he can rule over them versus just a destroyed world would be better for him in the long run. Way to have Tirek just be a completely generic destroy everything villain.

And then there's Twilight who just goes insane with the magic (albeit reasonably as her home and work is destroyed) but it stops feeling like Twilight, aside from hearing Tara scream. This just turns into "Alicorn VS Big Centaur thing" these two fighters give off no personality. What do I mean by personality?

Well looking at Mistmane Vs. Sable. There is a clear difference in Mistmane calm demeanor and Sable's frantic movements and nervous composure, you can clearly see the differences in these characters as they fight. Or with Daybreaker, she is dripping with personality with all her quips and taunts. Nightmare Moon does the same but we see a difference in how reserved she is in her fighting compared to Daybreaker. There is no difference in how Twilight and Tirek fight, it's like an generic anime battle except MLP is not an anime and even anime battles allow their fighters to be characters during the fight. Seriously if this Tirek character really wants Twilight's magic why doesn't he once try to take it. He even has her in a magic hold at one point, but nope "Imma gon destoi yuu inted!!!!" 

In the end it definitely feels this was purely made just for the visuals and scenario and for me who feels more strongly about characters and their roles in the story, visuals only get you so far. I just don't like this fight scene.

Edit: Wait this was just discussing Season 7 fight scenes.........dang it, awe I ranted on the wrong thing!

Edited September 28, 2017 by KH7672

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

1 hour ago, KH7672 said:

Edit: Wait this was just discussing Season 7 fight scenes.........dang it, awe I ranted on the wrong thing!

I think your comparison are not far stretched. Mismane vs Sabre and Twilight vs Tirek are like Fighting choreography vs violence commitment, the former is more about style the latter is more about violence.