My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) - Reviews/Reactions/Discussion Thread

[Jeric 46,851]

39 minutes ago, PathfinderCS said:

And another from a non-brony angle; Tamara Just Saw!

 

This was one I was waiting on. A few amusing things I took from this 

1) She associates a pro LGBT message with the show in general ... because friendship?

2) In my experience, this is how a non fan actually responds when watching the show with an open mind. Hilarity ensues when they try to get names correct. 

3) Twilight and Cadance get no cool hair because of the rule of averages. 

4) recognized Tara Strong but didn't know for sure she was in this or what character she played. 

5) Didn't like the animation when compared to Disney. 

This was a funny review. Like Andre she had a hard time disliking this. 

[simba86 1,541]

I like the new animation style, it just seems way more expressive with tons more facial and eye movements that really helps to convey emotion better than the old animation style, it looks more hand drawn and there is more going on in there faces. hope to see more of this animation in season 8.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Review from someone who has been a brony for a while:

 

[Katze 198]

Anyone else get that feeling?

[Octavia_Melody2 187]

Just my two cents:

 

[MAJOR SPOILERS}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE GOOD:

-The souped up animation. While DHX studios does an excellent job, whoever they got to do the movie animation was superb. Seeing it on the big screen, I almost felt I was "actually" in Equestria, especially with the camera angles and "flying" camera views.

 

-The interaction between the Mane Six. Lots of jokes, conflict, etc. I actually liked the conflict between Twilight and the others. Twilight is under so much pressure to be a "perfect" princess and this causes neurosis and poor judgement. I felt this was in-character and her flaws are actually what I like about her.

 

-Tempest. Awesome sympathetic villain with a somewhat understandable backstory. Too bad she never got her horn back.

 

-The parrot crew. Nice additions, especially the captain. They were fun and had the best action scenes.

 

 

THE BAD:

 

-Storm King. Kind of a lame villain, like a watered-down Sombra. I know they tried to go with the whole hip/funny villain theme but it didn't work for me. I felt Discord (or even Chrysalis) could've wiped the floor with this guy.

 

-Musical numbers. Songs were a little weak in my opinion, especially compared to the numbers in some of the episodes. Just couldn't top "This Day Aria" (I even felt "Under Our Spell" or "What My Cutie Mark" was better.)

 

- Some new characters. I didn't care for Capper or Sia all that much. While Capper wasn't as bad as I expected (I thought we were about to have another Jar Jar Binks) he was still kinda irritating and the humor fell flat. Also, I'm not a Sia fan so I couldn;t get on board with Songbird or her musicial numbers.

[MilkTea 284]

Just watched the movie, and in all honesty, despite some of the flaws I noticed it was really good! (In fact I even sat through the credits, including the part where the names are just scrolling down. Am I die hard or what xD)

I’m also happy about how Twilight and Pinkie got the most attention out of all the mane 6. I ship them like to see them interact, plus they’re two of my favourites. : D Just wish we got to see more of Fluttershy and Applejack.

Edited October 16, 2017 by MilkTeaFD

[Vulcan 3,254]

I loved it, The style and writing were similar in style to earlier seasons. It also had a ton of disney references which I really enjoyed. Overall 9.9 out of 10...because I was expecting a bit more for the after credits scene....Even a 4th wall Breaking Pinkie Pie would have sufficed. 

[Castle Bleck 19,334]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the Audience Score is currently 87%.

 

Sounds about right for this movie (8/10, IMO).

[Widdershins 9,959]

Aaallrighty then! Finally got around to making my own review of the movie! Here y'all go!

Spoiler

 

 

On 10/14/2017 at 8:10 PM, Jeric said:

1) She associates a pro LGBT message with the show in general ... because friendship?

  Well, I think she does bring up a valid point there. We're just SO unused to having affection being shown in big media these days that we can't just have buds be buds without it feeling a little like they're a little something more to each other. 

  @Katze Hoh, puh-leeze, bruddah! Like Raininator Dash ain't always in Warp Speed!

1 hour ago, Vulcan said:

It also had a ton of disney references which I really enjoyed.

  What... really? It did? Well, I didn't catch any of that! Which ones are you talking about then?

  Frankly, that seems a bit cheap to compare the animation to Disney here. That might be high praise, but its still entirely different methods. I kind of wish the show always had this level of animation put into it! Disney has always seemed to have its intentionally cartoonish style to it.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

 THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! I just saw "My Little Pony The Movie" I must say I thought it was really good. The animation was beautiful and the music was used to nicely compliment the story. I really liked Twilight's arc. Some of the previews and spoilers I heard from other bronies made me concerned that Twilight might be portrayed as OOC or a jerk. Luckily that was not the case in my opinion. You could easily see how Twilight's insecurity leads to her anxiety, guilt and frustration to the point of lashing out. Actually Twilight seems like the realist in the movie being that she was appropriately on guard about the new characters while the other Mane 5 seem a bit more naive and overly trusting, and Twilight gets more desperate so her stealing the pearl while wrong did make sense. Rainbow Dash was great and I loved the scene where Twilight rescued Pinkie, and Tempest's voice actor was amazing. Her song reminded me of the villain songs I grew up with. 
However the movie had a bit too many characters, some things aren't explained at all, and the movie is paced like an episode rather than a movie in that the ponies could have actually taught the new characters about friendship more gradually, especially Tempest since they have a full length running time to use. I like that Tempest still had a broken horn by the end because it provides a good message about acceptance. I also loved that Lauren Faust got credit. I hoped she would.

Edited October 16, 2017 by StitchandMLPlover

[Azureth 687]

Anyone find it odd that apparently repairing a broken horn seems to not be a thing? I find it hard to believe Tempest is the only Unicorn to have their horn break. 

[BlinkZ 1,151]

sWAtching
> Why does Twilight smile remind me of Cats Don't Dance
> Celestia uses politician speak
> why not jsut go yourself Celstia. Teleport away before it ....oh right you wer jsut hter to give the hint to Twlight...of course.
> dark magic orbs..got to admit at least they did fight this time
> man the animation just in this uncanny valley when they face the camera. from the side it looks fine but facing the camera. i dont knw why ti just uncanny.
> SERIOUSLY THEY USE A BUCKING RING TONE! oh come on that so doesn't fit
> Why am i getting a huculies vib from that call scene..like really heavy feeling
>  "how do you know what cellphones are!"  I know it a joke but it really distracting.>

>  hmm is that betrayal I smell, ah yes it is baking nicely.

> steal all the magic, tirek anyone? no just me? did that even happe in this movie continuity yet?

> Needs all four princes's..how oddly specific requirements for doomsday machine.

25 minute mark wow i'm nickpikcy

[Ivan The Adorable 304]

I've just suddenly come down with an existential crises regarding the presence of highly anthropomorphic animals in Equestria alongside the regular animals.

I don't know why I didn't question this at all during the movie.

The more I think about this movie, the more it oddly feels like a lot of it was written for an entirely different story and then pony stuff was spliced in. Get the conspiracy theorists in here. Let's exchange notes while we suspiciously guard our own personally filtered water canteens from each other.

Exhibit A: Human-like anthropomorphic animals make up roughly half the plot
Exhibit B: The ponies mostly don't initiate dialogue with non-pony characters, instead responding to cues in the plot.
Exhibit C: Seedy alien port town?
Exhibit D: Imperial air ships?
Exhibit E: Sky pirates?
 

You can't convince me this wasn't someone taking their one chance to get their space opera story animated

[Varrack 1,080]

13 minutes ago, Ivan The Adorable said:

I've just suddenly come down with an existential crises regarding the presence of highly anthropomorphic animals in Equestria alongside the regular animals.

They actually live outside Equestria. Klugetown and Abyssinia aren't part of Equestria.

[PinkieShadow 4,056]

Without to many words :

- I liked it a LOT !

[Oleks 1,993]

Time to write another MLP movie review than no one will read, but anyway.
Rather than talking about the faults and bad things, I’ll try to focus on all the good aspects I found in it. Spoilers below.

1. The new animation style was good, and it was nice to see 2D animation on big screen for a change. The new VAs were brilliant for the most part.
2. Tempest is one of the best villains in the history of MLP, in my opinion. Although when I saw her for the first time I thought that she was a badly colored edgy OC. Her song was amazing too.
3. It may be a marketing thing, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Pinkie Pie as “the second leader” of Mane Six.
4. Some battle scenes were awesome. I mean, the airships action, Tempest in close combat, Spike the flamethrower – it all was pretty cool.
5. Most of the secondary and background characters I wanted to see in the movie made a cameo. The appearance of Ursa left me open-mouthed.

All in all, I liked the movie, partially because I didn’t expect too much from it. So, I’ll give it 7.5 and a cupcake out of 10.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

On 10/17/2017 at 1:16 AM, Azureth said:

Anyone find it odd that apparently repairing a broken horn seems to not be a thing? I find it hard to believe Tempest is the only Unicorn to have their horn break. 

I like that fixing a broken horn is not easy. It makes the pony world more realistic. I would love it if the show had more broken horned unicorns. 

[Nsxile 26,898]

Just got back from the movie and all I have to say is, it was absolutely awesome!  The writing for both the mane six and side characters were fantastic, the songs were amazing, the two villains were great, and the character building and depth was excellent. It balanced its tones amazingly well and the foreshadowing was also done very well... The only thing I can really criticize is that it felt almost too short, but that's it really. The visuals were stunning, the jokes hit and were hilarious, and the voice acting was on point. It was a near flawless movie and is probably the best I've seen this year. I give it a final rating of 9.5/10.

[Thaliel 116]

Very enjoyable. There was not a single moment where I got bored. A LOT of songs, but that's okay. Adding it to my list of DVDs to buy

[TBD 17,254]

8/10: I would have rated  7/10 even I haven't read the  prequel comic..

It was pretty good than I expected, although one thing I would like to fix is maybe give more time for these other new characters (beside Tempest) to share their backstory and a decent "reform" transition instead of boiling it up in 2 mins. The final battle should have been more epic, but nothing to make a big deal about it like some others do. I thought it was okay, i mean twilight was powerless , nothing else can be done. So the Storm King still have my respect. And go over what happen to capper and the pirate after Tempest destroy the ship. Other than that, it was good not perfect but good. Its seem longer than i expected too for some reason..

And last but not least...Thank the lord for no friendship magic blast to defend the storm king!

Edited October 22, 2017 by TBD

[Vocal Analyst 665]

I won't get the chance to properly review this for some time (as I still have to wait for good quality footage for my YouTube review, so probably a year given time), but here are my initial post-film thoughts after seeing it earlier on today:

GOOD

• The film used the the original logo in the opening title screen, not the glittery monstrosity they used for the promotional material, which made me have a massive smile on my face.
   
• The animation... my god it was stunning. My jaw was quite literally on the floor at certain points. It flowed smoothly and was extremely vibrant as you would expect. DHX went to town on this one, even in the creativity of its character designs for the new ones.
   
• The soundtrack was great, the songs were the typical bouncy, catchy and fun MLP songs we can expect from Dan Ingram's hand (minus Open Your Eyes obviously, because that's dark and brooding). However, the non-character songs stole the show from the in-character counterparts as Sia's Rainbow is stunning, and Off To See The World is still from the initial trailer my personal favourite of the lot for some reason. Oh, and a ponified version of The Go-Go's We Got The Beat in the opening establishing shots was a lovely surprise too.
   
• Tempest was an extremely good villain, one that was quite relatable too when all about her was put to the forefront. Honestly, one of the best villains this franchise has, and I'm happy she exceeded my expectations, especially given they were quite low. Storm King was also great... in particular because I wasn't expecting a Hank Scorpio-esque personality to come from him. Psychopathically evil in his quest for power, but when it comes down to the business of promoting himself to others, he's coy and quite charismatic while a little off his rock a bit. Cappa, Princess Skystar and Captain Cealano were likeable but not much more to say about them.
   
• The voice acting was on usual par, with the guests doing a stellar job, in particular Emily Blunt and Liev Schreiber, where in the latter case I wasn't expecting such a performance to come from the character we got... showing that he indeed has range as an actor.
   
• The story, was good, with a consistent pace and solid balance between dramatic and comedic... so finely done that it wasn't a problem when one genre encroached on the other. The darkness of the its more emotional moments was quite profound for me, because I wasn't expected to feel so much here. Hell, at some points the U rating with 'mild threat' proved effective for the target audience, as some moments frightened the children around my group of friends in the cinema.
   
• Discounting King Sombra's death as it got ret-conned in the comics, The Storm King is the first villain died on screen. Good to see that death exists in this world now, following on from that, I WANT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO PEAR BUTTER AND BRIGHT MAC PLEASE! The writers have no excuse now.
   
• Fluttershy defeating one of the Storm King's guards by counselling them into a crying mess was the funniest part of the film... utterly brilliant.

BAD

• Grubber... I have a special place reserved in hell for you. I thought you'd be the MLP equivalent of the Experiment 625 from the Lilo And Stitch series, but what we got instead was quite an obnoxious and distasteful character who often ruined scenes he was in. Who makes his entrance into this film by saying 'AND NOW TO ANNOUNCE THE EVIL PLAN' or something along those lines showcases how poorly written his lines were, followed up by the 'THIS IS SO INTENSE' line, which was so obvious I punched through my head with a face palm of nuclear proportions
   
• Some of the writing was painful... especially that Hungry... Hungry Hippos line, meaning I got taken out of the groove somewhat. Hell, the opening scene with Twilight talking to the princesses was cringeworthy... TWILIGHT, CALL THEM BY THEIR NAMES DAMMIT! Also, the delivery was quite stilted too in that same scene. Thankfully the film got better, but that wasn't the best of starts.
   
• While I praise the pace being consistent, parts of the film felt pressured into rushing themselves to fit the run time, I would've liked another 10-15 minutes to ensure everything got room to breathe, despite most of it doing well given context.
   
• I was fully expecting a PROPER showdown with The Storm King to end this film on a climactic note, we didn't get that... and I was left quite disappointed
   
• It's never made clear how The Mane Six survived plummeting down that waterfall... because I had to question it constantly afterwards.
   
• I understand where the critics (in particular Mark Kermode of The Observer and BBC Radio) were coming from when they said that it was difficult to follow what was going on. I was initially angry when I saw this, but only realised once I saw it that they were kind of right. The opening portion of the film makes no effort to establish the world, its characters and lore... WHICH IS WHAT A FILM SHOULD DO! Then again, this is a only an issue if you've NOT watched Friendship Is Magic for context. Most TV programmes that are turned into feature films usually run into this problem, as it means people who have watched the show know EVERYTHING while non-fans out in the cold as nothing does in turn make sense to them if they have nothing to note. If you watched The Simpsons Movie and had never watched the show, you'd experience the same thing. As a result the Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus about fans of the show loving this film, while non-fans won't get into it was validated as it rang true in damming fashion.

Overall, as you can see... I enjoyed this film. In fact, I loved it even though it had a few noticeable problems. It delivered what I expected of it and a little more. While it did feel like an extended version of normal episode, they ensured it felt like it was worthy of being a feature film as its expanded scope on the norm for FIM was definitely there in almost every avenue possible. I'd give it a solid 9 - 9.5/10 for now, but I have to see how it holds up on repeated watchings before I take this film to town in my PROPER review, coming in 2018.

[Puppet Guy Puppets 0]

These are my thoughts on the movie note they're minor spoilers kinda

 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

@Puppet Guy Puppets

Merged your review thread with the main one in the Movie subforum.

[StrawCherry 1,673]

I actually want to mention something small that is bothering me nevertheless. Although Pinkie is my all time favorite, she was annoyingly happy in the movie. In particular the scene where they were all falling. If it were to go wrong, they would die. Of course, it’s not going to go wrong and they wouldn’t die because screw logic. But nobody would be smiling like that in such a situation. It feels like Pinkie was breaking the fourth wall throughout the movie by making it seem like she knew it was fake, if I make sense? Just me?

[ShiningPastry 36]

GUyyyysss  I have just finished watching the official movie!!   IT WAS AWESOMELY AMAZING 

I Loved it!!! Everything happened really fast but it was still a really really fun movie! There was a bit of mlp cliche when Tempest became good but I like that, I think its an mlp classic and it's great the way it is! Well, at least the storm king was defeated and wasn't part of the cliche. Many people talk about how the bad transforming into a good person is getting boring but idk, its always a good feeling when the evil learns their lesson!