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

[Steve Piranha 29,420]

Just now, Tacodidra said:

I didn't notice that. I had to find a screenshot, great to see that as an old Pokémon fan.

DUDE, I FEEL LIKE I'M THE ONE WHO NOTICED THAT  . Hay, I've just looked at derpibooru again, and there's still no screen cap of that scene to point out the cap  . I may have gotten bored of Pokemon since G4, but there's no way I won't recognize Ash's classic cap with him being my childhood idol  

[bwrosas 252]

It's The Fact, that Characters are bring portrayed as their Seasons 2-5 Selfs.

Here I explain More

Comments are Welcomed

PS. Thanks To The Josh Scorcher for the inspiration to do this video.

[Envy 6,156]

I finally saw the movie last night.

The best thing I have to say about is the artstyle and animation. It all felt so much more organic than the style of the TV show. Of course, that comes with a movie budget, I suppose. However, it was a nice change to give the movie a marked difference in quality.

Otherwise? I don't know. Pretty much nothing about this movie felt unpredictable at all, even though I think some of it was strange. I just feel like Twilight Sparkle was kind of forced into a plotline and when she did you-know-what, it felt very off for her. I've never taken her to be a character that would do something like that. Even that much was predictable, when Twilight Sparkle pushed Pinkie Pie and the others to 'distract' the seaponies, I knew 100% what was happening, and it was a very cringeworthy moment for Twilight Sparkle.

Also the whole plotline with the seaponies and Princess Skystar felt... off. Skystar should have felt betrayed just like Queen Novo, so her just appearing out of the middle of nowhere to support the crew rescue Twilight Sparkle felt forced. I get that she was 'lonely', but even a lonely character would still feel betrayed. Plus, there were so many seaponies in the area, how exactly was she so lonely? That was never explained. Then... For some reason Queen Novo comes to Canterlot magically right when everything has been solved... All to tell Skystar that she's grounded. ...What?

I thought after Twilight was taken, the crew would somehow have to find a way to talk to the seaponies and sort this out. Granted, that surely would have felt forced, too... But perhaps less forced than what we got?

Did Twilight ever apologize to the seaponies, or.. anyone at all?

Even though it's a full movie, it still has all of the trademark rushed, forced, unexplained developments just like in the show. That's disappointing to me. That's not to say that the movie was a waste of my time or money. I enjoyed it enough. The animation was great, and the seaponies were cute.

[ImpctR 155]

There needs to be a poll for this one haha. I am surprised to see it was not liked as much as expected. I don't know where the idea that it was going to be about the Pillars came from, it made me re-watch Season 7 finale if there was to be any connection but it was not. Overall I consider the movie really nice but still not on the level of Twilight's Kingdom, it seems this finale still for a 2 parter seems more than a whole 1 Hr 30 min Movie. However, the movie was very intense and interesting that I put it almost that close to Twi's Kingdom! Which is why I do not understand why it was not liked, maybe I will see some responses here as long as they are not huge WALL of text or graduation assignment on why the movie was great/bad.

 

To start off - the villain, the baboon - the Storm King, is like a clown and feels less smart than Discord, Tirek, Chrysalis or any of these villains. Tempest herself had more brain that that baboon. However, the methods they used to enslave ponies felt quite immersive and made you really watch with fear what was going to happen. I liked the much darker plot the movie had the seasons.

 

But I prefer the art of the ponies in the seasons than the one here. The bigger eyes with sparks felt a bit more childish (even the ponies looked like younger in the movie). In contrast, you have the end of the Storm King that surprised me for that show xD xD xD FINISH HIM! (Breaks into pieces with a rolling obsidian head - Fatality!) xD xD This show is not for the little ones and I liked it since it was a nice balance between younger audiences but I would say suitable for fantasy lovers like myself too. who are not prejudiced by the old gen ponies as I was also not fan and mocked the old gen ponies. Exactly because it is more than just ponies, I liked it, I liked seeing mythical creatures like my fave Hyppogryphs and even birds and other merchant ones that give me my own ideas and I had not seen in some story plot before.

 

To break it down into moments chronologically, let's see:

SONGS ... SONGs... SONGS... Not my thing! 2 Songs are OK because it is part of the MLP sometimes but because it is 80-90 mins you need 7-8 songs?!? Not. I thought I was watching a musical for a while. And no I prefer narration not like musicals - ask a question - response - 5 minute song.... 

That pony was Gagapony? (Serenade). The song in the end party with her voice was nice btw - I appreciate nice voice but the songs count was over the head.

The petrifying into obsidian felt so evil but so good for making this part of the movie feel tense and interesting. It did feel more sinister than perhaps other states we have seen the princesses after some villain does something on them.

Klugetown - doesnt feel like pony show anymore eh, you've got boars and fish , a world never seen before. Also did I see a gargoyle somewhere. It achieved the feeling of complete out of Equestria out of anything known, so imo this was interesting and another place that made it interesting to just watch and see what was going to happen.

Capper the cat did not impress but what was he a son of some prince or son of? There was this portrait of a family member and the word bochem was used.

I freaking like Tempest both when evil and when she turned better. So, after the narrow escape from Klugtown (It really reminds me of Prince of persia 2 escape in the beginning) they appear in the pirate zeppelin. I personally  really liked Captain Celaeno, also became quickly a fave character. Would love to see more of that brave piratess. There's a small pirates of the Caribbean reference there when the ship of Tempest also arrives but this is typical ship to ship invasion I guess.

Then once they escape the ship again they go to the abandoned city on top of Mount Aris. It was all well done imo, the ruins, entering into the pool, going underwater. Ofc I had my questions what.. hyppogryphs and mermaids are one? That's not how Hyppogr's are supposed to be. But then there was the story, totally liked the pool with the ruins inside, looked so well made, then it started feeling like DISNEY - The Little Mermaid, and when you saw Spike transformed into a hedgehog fish like Disney's Flounder? (or whatever the name was) I could only think of this as this show crossover, which I dont care about, so I wanted to see the actual Hyppogryphs perhaps helping in a battle against the Storm King.

 

Then  that kind of OOC by Twilight and Pinkie drama and the former's capture and again I like Tempest. I feel like transforming into pony to befriend her also cause I can relate to her past. Then, there's almost LotRings - union of different races then the foolish act of the Storm King satir that felt like a dumb villain than anyone who could use the high power he gained from sucking the magic of all. I wonder where Discord was at that time, he's a lot like Tirek though but much weaker dumber and much of everything else. 

Then we had the Star Wars Vader turn agains the Emperor kind of scene between Tempest and the SKing but it was nice plot there. 

Overall 9.5/10 it was nice although they could have indeed used the Pillars theme as well instead of this whole baboon dumb one too. Still, dont get the negativity it was a great movie for MLP series imo.

 

 

[cuteycindyhoney 13,306]

I watched the movie last night. I really enjoyed it. I loved the different style of animation. It had some wonderful lighting effects. The movie did show one thing I thought surprising. I'll put it in a spoiler for those that have not seen the film. Don't click unless you have seen it!

 

  

You have been warned!

The movie showed the first on screen death. The Storm King was turned to stone. We see him fall to the ground and SHATTER. We then learn that ponies turned to stone, and still intact, can be returned to life. I found this depiction of death rather jarring in the movie.

 

[NathanW200 306]

I loved this movie Sia was a great addition to this movie I enjoy the fact it was in theaters I was not expecting that at all I didn't know My Little Pony friendship is magic was that popular

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

deleted

Edited May 1, 2018 by Buttonmash1973

[Luminance 2,186]

After many months, I think the movie would been better as an episode really. In season 8, everything pertaining to the movie is now often referenced and while that is for the sake of continuity it just feels out of place within the show. The show didn't even need the movie to "help" it anyways especially when the movie itself isn't so strong in a story perspective. Maybe a two part season finale is better fit for the movie if your going to call it canon to the show. What's the point of all of this grandeur, theatrical release of what can simply been an episode. Of course, for toys. Wasted movie potential.

What happened in the movie with the incorrect characterizations of the mane characters, weak main villain the "storm king" and the predictable plot really didn't stand out at all. A weak performer in constrast to the show. 

[Kevin Tang 2,426]

Is it only me or the characters looked a bit different from the TV series?

[baba_booey 4,302]

https://expithecat.tumblr.com/post/170234115104/i-loved-my-little-pony-the-movie 

I posted this review of the movie a while back and I pretty much stand by everything I said

tl;dr cat man is best husbando 10/10 would watch again

[Kevin Tang 2,426]

Are the ponies in this movie considered as g4.5 ponies?

I found they are a bit different from the TV series

[Chronicplane 58]

Just saw the movie recently, I liked it though I personally feel Storm King was a bit too comedic for my liking which lacked any serious attention. Tempest was pretty dope I ain't gonna lie, very intimidating and way more threatening than the main Villain. 

Animation, eh I'm gonna be honest not a huge fan off personally I prefer the original art style but it's good. Felt some expressions where too over dramatic, Songs where on point my favorite being RD's (Obviously). 

Introduced some intriguing characters, hoping they will return in the series or perhaps for another movie.  

Edited June 18, 2018 by Chronicplane

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

This summer marks the one year of the full MLP Movie trailer

Edited July 5, 2018 by Buttonmash1973

[AnchorPoint 35]

As usual, I'm fashionably late to the party but I finally watched the film!

Personally, I felt like the plot was stretched a bit thin, which was something I was concerned about when the trailer came out. There were a lot of new characters (and locations) introduced, all very interesting and with a lot of potential but there just wasn't enough time to develop them properly - except Tempest. Who completely stole Storm King's thunder.

I can't praise the animation enough though, it was so beautiful. The MLP animators could give anime producers a run for their money, because those sparkly eyes were so pretty they were practically shoujo-level.

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

On 10/5/2017 at 6:48 AM, caseyastevens said:

Whats wrong?  SImple Ways was a good episode.

I also love Simple Ways a little off topic

Edited July 6, 2018 by Buttonmash1973

[Steve Piranha 29,420]

On 7/6/2018 at 4:07 PM, AnchorPoint said:

I can't praise the animation enough though, it was so beautiful. The MLP animators could give anime producers a run for their money, because those sparkly eyes were so pretty they were practically shoujo-level.

And horses at their cutest

[Akemi 24]

I finally watched the MLP Movie. 

First of all, I really liked the new art style and this new way to animate ! It was really cool to see. 

The movie itself was good but not amazing, I mean, I liked the scenario but it wasn’t as original as I espected to for a movie. It was kinda common and that’s pretty disappointing for a movie, I think this scenario could be better in the serie but not for a movie. Maybe I’m rude but that’s my point of vue !

Though, the movie doesn’t have only negative points, songs for exemple ! A lot of songs omg and they were all super great ! there are new characters I really loved, like Tempest, but as I said above it’s not really original, she’s like Starlight, their stories are very similar, they were both hurt by friendship, then the Mane6 appears and they become sweet ponies. 

So, I’d say this movie was cool, I enjoyed it, but I’m a bit disappointed by some points.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Akemi

[Maslovitz 122]

Alright, almost a year after its release, I manged to watch the movie I'm so proud of myself

First of all, it's rather hard to get used to the animation style; while I can't standa few aspects of it (which I can't name as I'm no animation expert), I find it rather pleasant for the eye, could have been worse, I guess

While we're at the animation, man, Canterlot looks weird in the movie, gotta take a closer look tomorrow
Starlight, Trixie, Derpy, Vinyl, yay!

Lots of species involved, not sure if I'm a fan of that, I bet we won't ever see them again (that cat dude was lit though, not gonna lie)

The storyline was quite cool, though the part when the Storm King tells Tempest he won't restore her horn reminds me of S4 finale a lot (Tirek and Discord situation)

Songbird Serenade was cool, and as much as I dislike most of Sia's stuff, Rainbow is kind of enjoyable to me!

Twilight saying she doesn't need a friend like Pinkie (oor whatever that was, I mean the part before she got kidnapped) is probably my least favorite part, that and the previous scenes are so unlike her

The morals of the movie are: capitalism is bad; also don't trust strangers

[bigbertha 414]

My review of the movie:

https://mlpforums.com/blogs/entry/23758-my-little-pony-the-movie-review/

 

[Steve Piranha 29,420]

First time I watch the movie in a while. I’m about to begin watching it, and I’m quite giddy for it 

Damn, quite hard to believe it’s been over a year already 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Steve Piranha

[Guest]

I've seen it a few times myself now and while I don't think it was "amazing", I felt it was a good flick, and worthy of owning in my collection. Also for the sole principle of I want to support the franchise, so I paid to see it in theaters and bought it for home. I encourage others to do the same.

[Steve Piranha 29,420]

49 minutes ago, Key Sharkz said:

I've seen it a few times myself now and while I don't think it was "amazing", I felt it was a good flick, and worthy of owning in my collection. Also for the sole principle of I want to support the franchise, so I paid to see it in theaters and bought it for home. I encourage others to do the same.

Well, I guess you don’t need to encourage me considering I’ve watched it at theaters 4 times, rented it twice, and owns a copy 

[Rushing cash 836]

To be honest, I came to the movie with low expectations after watching the trailers, and while it was better than I expected, it was still pretty disappointing to see they could not do something better. It just felt to over the top even for mlp standards and I got the feeling some characters were out of character. The new characters did not impress me, sure tempest shadow was great but the she defeated the princesses was so cringy, usually they get overpowered or ambushed but she just beat them all herself without magic... 

Storm king was not as menacing and smart as he should have been considering he conquered many lands.

The animation was pretty however I still prefer the usual animation in the show. The music was ok but nothing outstanding(my favorite song was open up your eyes). Some obvious choices were dismissed like asking the dragons for help, or the yikes or the elements.   5/10

I think some of the 2 parters would have been more interesting movies so I do believe it was a missed opportunity.

Some parts were great of course, and the darker tone was interesting.

    

[Hat988 108]

Spoilers

I finally watched it today. The visuals were a beautiful upgrade and Equestria, especially in the opening shots, looked amazing. The characters were brought down to a simpler level so that the general audience could join in without knowing them from the series, but the attention to detail for the fans was entirely there. I was not convinced Twilight would say what she did after being booted out of the seapony domain; it seemed like it would make sense to a first time viewer but not in the context of what has happened so far in the series. Other movie sacrifices were made: no Starlight and Discord. Grubber was annoying but thankfully he wasn't around much. Another question I had was towards the pirates. They had just become pirates again then they said "prepare to be boarded" and just got boarded without a fight. Didn't seem legit. Despite some of the problems I had with the movie, overall I enjoyed it a lot and it didn't let me down being the first pony (non-human) movie. That was exciting by itself!

[Spidey10 846]

Here's an in depth review I did for the movie (I like doing these kind of reviews for movies I like that others don't or movies that are poor, but not horrible).

 

I saw My Little Pony The Movie with my little sister before becoming a true fan of the series myself and thought that it was just okay and felt more like an extended episode of the series (Like the Spongebob films and The Simpsons Movie). But I kind of had a desire to rewatch it now that I am a fan of the series and because it would be a good fit for this series of reviews I'm doing. So I did and I can say that I do appreciate it a bit more despite some issues I still have with the script.

The biggest strength of the film IMHO is that it still retains the heart and energy from the Friendship Is Magic series. The lovable personalities of the Mane Six are still there along with the colorful animation (I know it's updated a bit for this film, but it still fits the tone and style of this world), music, and character designs.

Speaking of the animation, it was pretty nice to see to see a major wide release 2D animated film again. Don't get me wrong, I love good 3D animated movies from studios like Pixar and Dreamworks, but I do kind of miss seeing 2D animated films. My Little Pony The Movie is one of only 3 theatrically released 2D animated films this decade along with 2011's Winnie The Pooh and last year's Teen Titans Go To The Movies. It would be nice if we got more of those soon. The film also contains really colorful and nice looking designs for all the new places our heroes visit and helps expand the lore of this G4 incarnation of the franchise.

The movie also retains the great voice acting from the show. Tara Strong (Twilight Sparkle), Andrea Libman (Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy), Ashleigh Ball (Rainbow Dash and Applejack), and Tabitha St Germain (Rarity) have brought so much life and energy into these characters for almost a decade now and once again they bring their A game to this film. The best scene of the film IMO is that argument scene between Twilight and Pinkie where Twilight lashes out at her and the others after she tried (And failed to steal) the hippogriff's pearl. Incredible voice over work from Strong and Libman. I sometimes feel like true voice actors like them and many others get overlooked because of how many times animated films (Including this one) cast big celebrities to voice the characters. Sure that can work out really well like with Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allan as Buzz in the Toy story films, but there are also times where it probably would've been better had they cast professional voice actors.

One of the big issues I have with the film though is that certain characters are really underused. Twilight is the central character and you get to see some of the other members of the Mane Six form a bond with the new characters in the film. Pinkie forms one with Princess Skystar, Rainbow Dash forms one with Captain Celaeno, and Rarity with Capper. But for some reason, they didn't do that with Applejack or my personal favorite character in the series Fluttershy (Although she does this one great brief moment where she reforms one of the evil guards) It's one of the reasons why I feel like this film should've been a bit longer (Plus it could've given the film a bit more breathing time) Also, the main villain of the film is The Storm King and yet he's barely in it and is killed near the end.

Speaking of villains, Tempest Shadow was quite good in the film (And has a really cool character design). Yeah they give her tragic backstory like some of the other villains in the series, but it worked for me and it allowed her to have the best song in the film with Open Up Your Eyes. With her reformation at the end, I also feel like that worked. Yes I do feel like MLP FIM reforms their bad guys too much, but there have been instances where it works like with Discord, Starlight Glimmer, and IMO, Tempest.

About the musical numbers/songs, great as always (Aside from maybe the cover of We've got the beat at the very beginning). I just mentioned that I feel like Open Up Your Eyes is the best song in the film, but I close second would maybe be We've Got This Together.

So yeah, I like this film overall. Was it one of 2017's best like Logan, Shape Of Water, and War For The Planet Of The Apes? No, but it's a pretty sweet film with the same likable characters from the series, great ,music and animation, terrific voice acting, some funny jokes, etc. And at least we didn't get Sony's version of this film where the Mane Six would've come to the real world and turn into CGI characters Smurfs style. I've defended Sony sometimes and think they have put out good films recently like Jumanji, Venom, Into The Spider-Verse, Baby Driver, etc, but this sounded like a trainwreck to me.

To go along with "What Could've Been", I want to talk about some deleted scenes. There's only one deleted scene on the Blu Ray which is an alternate opening narrating by Twilight where she explains who the princesses and her friends are. I actually feel like this should've been kept in the film for newcomers. And according to an art book for the film, there were supposed to be a couple of more scenes of the Mane Six travailing to new locations. Sounded great to me.

I now give MLP The Movie a 3.5/5.

What do you think of the film? Love it? Hate it? In between? Comment and let me know and thanks for reading. :0)