spoiler Talking About Some Of The Nitpicks Fans Have About The My Little Pony : The Movie

[bwrosas 252]

With any film based on a comic book, a novel, or a live-action or animated tv show, there's going to be nitpicks from fans about certain characters not being used correctly, to the main cast being ooc, etc...

With the MLP Movie, it's no different, and here I'm going to discuss 4 of them, that I touched upon in my video version of this topic.

 

1. The Princesses (minus Twilight) being useless again.  Now let me (IMO) tell you why this happened.  As a kid of the 80s, I've seen Hasbro do this before (Transformers : The Movie, G.I. Joe : The Movie, Etc..), and the reason they do this is to put focus on The "MANE" group of characters that the film needs to be focused on.

For if they had all 4 Princesses out and about, pretty much any fan knows that if they combined their powers, this invasion wouldn't last very long. So they had to figure out a way to basically pull a "PRIME/DUKE" moment with Celestria, Luna, and Cadance, and did so, by having Tempest use that green orb thing to turn them into glass stone.

By doing this, it puts the focus on Twilight and friends having to find a way to save the day (ala, 1986 TF MOVIE and 1987 JOE MOVIE). So for anyone that was upset by this, well hopefully I gave a good reason on why this happened.

 

2. Twilight acting OOC.  This seems to be a topic from the film, that has many fans up in arms.  Well, let me explain why Twilight was like this:. You see Twilight was already putting a lot of pressure on herself by putting together this first-ever Friendship Festival, then all of sudden this hostile takeover from The Storm King happens, her Mentor's and sister-in-law get turned to stone, and the only clue she has to save their home, is "hippos".  

And if that's not enough, it seems her friends weren't taking this too seriously, from trusting someone, who originally wanted to sell them into slavery to pay off a debt, to befriending pirates, by helping them get their mojo back, and then doing a Sonic Rainboom, when they shouldn't have, to finally the last straw being, that the one character that Celestria had mentioned could help, turning them down, thus causing Twilight to attempt to steal the hippogriff's transformation orb, to her friends calling her out on it, while discovering at the same time that Twilight was just using them to make Skystar "happy" so she could try and attempt the thief.

So as for Twilight acting OOC, you really can't blame her.  I mean even in real life, if someone is going through a lot and has a lot on their mind at the same time, and it takes one little moment or comment from someone to set them off, of course their going to lash out and say things that they don't really mean.  And that's exactly what Twilight did, everything just came to a boiling point, and Pinkie calling her out for what she just did, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

But what you see afterwards (off/on screen), is both regret the blow up they had, and both sides realize that they should have worked together, not against each other.

 

3. The Storm King not being a good villan.  As I said in the video version of this, I think when fans see this character, they see this film's equvenlet of Starscream from Transformers.  Being a long-time fan of the Transformers, I saw Starscream as a usurper that wanted control of the Deceptions from Megatron, but was always foiled in the end, and the reason was because Starscream was shown as not being ready to yield such power or knowing what to do with it, once he had it.

That is somewhat how some fans viewed the Storm King, Tempest promised and gave him the power he craved, but he really wasn't ready for it and like Starscream in several Transformers incarnations, it cost him his life in the end.

 

4. Where were the other characters, like Discord, Shining Armor, etc...?,   Well since this was made around seasons 4-6, they could have been incorporated into the film.  But they (the writers) wanted the main focus to be on the MANE 6 and yes even the Newer characters.  

Besides, as I meantiond with the Princesses above, if Discord was around, we probably wouldn't have much of a takeover would we, and who's to say he didn't suffer the same fate as the 3 Princesses (but off screen), I'm just saying.  

And if you must know, this is a staple of any Hasbro and Toy-based animated features, certain characters will be involved in the film, but mostly off-screen (ex. '86 TF Film, had several Autobot deaths off-screen), so just because we don't see them doing something on-screen, doesn't mean that they aren't part of the story in someway.

 

But that's all have to say in this written version of what I said on video about Nitpicks some fans have with this film.

 

Let me know what you all think.  God Bless and Take Care.

 

 

 

 

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

Twilight wanted to steal the orb because she felt like she couldn't trust anybody. All because one cat guy tried to sell her and her friends. That's absurd. I can understand why she wouldn't trust the pirates, but the hippogriffs were the ONE group Celestia told Luna to go to for help. Just because they turned her down that one time doesn't mean she couldn't have at least tried to reason with them. Pinkie and the others were doing just that, and it was actually WORKING. Then Twilight had to go and fuck things up for everybody.

Maybe she did have a lot on her mind. Maybe she was frustrated that things weren't working out. But she's had to tough it out through situations where Equestria almost got totally obliterated. None of that drove her to petty theft before, particularly over an item that was of utmost importance to the survival of another race. What she tried to do was basically like ripping somebody's heart out to save someone else who really needed a heart transplant to live; the end doesn't justify the means. And then she has the nerve to talk down on her friends and treat them like dirt for calling her out on her bullshit? I could just be fuming at this because I'm not above holding grudges. But while reconciling is one thing, it's an argument that never should have happened in the first place. Just a poor, predictable excuse to get Twilight separated from the group and make her vulnerable to being captured. A lot of people may have hated Applejack in Honest Apple. That episode didn't come close to pissing me off as much as this.

[n1029 224]

For as much as you claim they wanted to focus the movie on the Mane 6 it's ironic how underdeveloped most of them still ended up being. All of these "nitpicks" probably would've been more forgivable if they had actually written something interesting enough to justify them.

[Jeric 46,834]

9 hours ago, bwrosas said:

With any film based on a comic book, a novel, or a live-action or animated tv show, there's going to be nitpicks from fans about certain characters not being used correctly, to the main cast being ooc, etc...

No. With any film there is bound to be an an variation on views equal in number to that of the audience that sees it. This is not exclusive to adaptations. Every has their own standard (objective and subjective) for what they want to see and what they do not want to see. 

In my opinion, Twilight did not act out of character, as the character has never been presented as a paragon of virtue absent bias and moral flaws. To me, tell scenes in Seaquestria represents a believable internal and external conflict. That said, this is how I interpreted the scene and that character, and my views are not the definitive view that all must adopt. More to that, trying to convince someone of the contrary after they have formed an opinion that Twilight is OOC is likely not going to happen due to human psychology. Attempts to suggest that are views are wrong activate the same area of the brain responsible for pain. This is partially why people double down and dig in, even in the face of incontrovertible evidence. Your brain says, "me no likey."

10 hours ago, bwrosas said:

And if you must know, this is a staple of any Hasbro and Toy-based animated features, certain characters will be involved in the film, but mostly off-screen (ex. '86 TF Film, had several Autobot deaths off-screen), so just because we don't see them doing something on-screen, doesn't mean that they aren't part of the story in someway.

Unless otherwise presented in the narrative or visuals, the assumption of off-screen activity is not part of the story at all. It's part of a person's imagined narrative that accompanies the story. Yes logic can he applied to come up with reasonable explanations, but if there is nothing implicit or explicit, it doesn't exist in the narrative. 

The reason for the absence of Discord can be explained by fans, but it's not part of the story. Honestly, with how often people bring up that complaint, I wish they would have never brought him back. They may enjoy the show more if it bothers them that much. I isn't used in story's in which he would break the plot. He also represents an inefficiency in story telling as he had to be accounted for. In general, the complaints ... no ... the whining about his exclusion in finales has actually made me dislike the character more to the point I no longer look forward to his appearance, lest I have to see said whines when he doesn't appear.  

I pity them really. Oh well, such is life. 

[Singe 2,109]

9 hours ago, KillerKingBakudan said:

Twilight wanted to steal the orb because she felt like she couldn't trust anybody. All because one cat guy tried to sell her and her friends. That's absurd. I can understand why she wouldn't trust the pirates, but the hippogriffs were the ONE group Celestia told Luna to go to for help. Just because they turned her down that one time doesn't mean she couldn't have at least tried to reason with them. Pinkie and the others were doing just that, and it was actually WORKING. Then Twilight had to go and fuck things up for everybody.

Maybe she did have a lot on her mind. Maybe she was frustrated that things weren't working out. But she's had to tough it out through situations where Equestria almost got totally obliterated. None of that drove her to petty theft before, particularly over an item that was of utmost importance to the survival of another race. What she tried to do was basically like ripping somebody's heart out to save someone else who really needed a heart transplant to live; the end doesn't justify the means. And then she has the nerve to talk down on her friends and treat them like dirt for calling her out on her bullshit? I could just be fuming at this because I'm not above holding grudges. But while reconciling is one thing, it's an argument that never should have happened in the first place. Just a poor, predictable excuse to get Twilight separated from the group and make her vulnerable to being captured. A lot of people may have hated Applejack in Honest Apple. That episode didn't come close to pissing me off as much as this.

 

I would at least nitpick a lack of context of the relationship between Equestria and Hippogriffs kingdom. If they had an alliance, Hippogriffs were attacked by the Storm King, and Equestria wasn't there to help; that could feed into the tension of the queen refusing to help and Twilight trying to steal. 

Edited October 13, 2017 by Singe

[Castle Bleck 19,166]

About #4:

 

It also didn't help that the prequel comics gave him a unique Pragmatic Villainy that sadly didn't carry over into the film.

[RulesofRarity 489]

The Princesses are always useless, you'd think fans would be use to it by now. 

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

1 hour ago, Singe said:

 

I would at least nitpick a lack of context of the relationship between Equestria and Hippogriffs kingdom. If they had an alliance, Hippogriffs were attacked by the Storm King, and Equestria wasn't there to help; that could feed into the tension of the queen refusing to help and Twilight trying to steal. 

Yeah, that's another thing that bothered me. They never give you history behind any possible connection between Celestia and Novo. They don't explain what Celestia was hoping the hippogriffs would do to help. They don't even go into detail on why Twilight thought having the orb would end the conflict back home. Novo couldn't use it stop the Storm King from trashing her kingdom, so what in the hell made Twilight think that stealing it could give Equestria a fighting chance? There was absolutely no reason for her to pull that shit.

Also, when she got into that argument with Pinkie, magic came out of her horn when she had that visceral outburst in the end. She had seriously just THREATENED one of her best friends while making them feel worthless. Really? Did some fan come on set and interject his OC in the writing to make things tense? Because if that's not OOC, I don't know what is.

[Castle Bleck 19,166]

28 minutes ago, KillerKingBakudan said:

Yeah, that's another thing that bothered me. They never give you history behind any possible connection between Celestia and Novo. They don't explain what Celestia was hoping the hippogriffs would do to help. They don't even go into detail on why Twilight thought having the orb would end the conflict back home. Novo couldn't use it stop the Storm King from trashing her kingdom, so what in the hell made Twilight think that stealing it could give Equestria a fighting chance? There was absolutely no reason for her to pull that shit.

 

In general, the Seaponies/Hippogriffs felt pointless (except for Skystar -- a.k.a. best Seapony/Hippogriff).

 

26 minutes ago, KillerKingBakudan said:

Also, when she got into that argument with Pinkie, magic came out of her horn when she had that visceral outburst in the end. She had seriously just THREATENED one of her best friends while making them feel worthless. Really? Did some fan come on set and interject his OC in the writing to make things tense? Because if that's not OOC, I don't know what is.

 

I noticed that during said outburst, she actually realized she was charging said magic and (thankfully) turned it back off before it was too late.

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,698]

I actually thought that Twilight's attempt to steal the orb made quite a bit of sense.

She is a sovereign of Equestria and her primary duty is to protect her subjects as Queen Novo's primary duty is to protect her subjects. In Twilight's perspective, Queen Novo, under no circumstances, would allow the orb to be used by another sovereign. Having an understanding of both their roles but prioritizing her own subjects, Twilight believed that her only option was to act immorally by stealing the orb and deceiving her friends in order to be ethical by protecting her subjects. Though it did turn out she did not choose the correct approach in obtaining the orb, for Twilight to refuse to steal the orb would have been a failure to fulfill the role she accepted.

[Singe 2,109]

This does lead to another nitpick I can think of, Twilight was written to steal an artifact to shape shift. In It Ain't Easy Being Breezies she knew how to cast Polymorph aka shape-shifting magic.

Still the scene lacked enough context on why Twilight thought a magic bauble she saw for the first time was a game changer.

Edited October 13, 2017 by Singe

[Castle Bleck 19,166]

23 minutes ago, Singe said:

This does lead to another nitpick I can think of, Twilight was written to steal an artifact to shape shift. In It Ain't Easy Being Breezies she knew how to cast Polymorph aka shape-shifting magic.

Still the scene lacked enough context on why Twilight thought a magic bauble she saw for the first time was a game changer.

 

My guess?

 

The version from IAEBB was experimental and limited (it was only applied onto herself and her friends), whereas the pearl's version was larger-scale (it was applied onto an entire kingdom's worth of people) and more time-tested.

[n1029 224]

I feel like it's a futile effort to try and draw any continuity with the series from it. Just feels so out of place with everything currently going on

[Sunlight Swift 29]

I think alot of these criticisms are valid.

However Twilight being OOC I take offense to.

We have never had Twilight in a situation with a stress of this magnitude, so we have no situation to compare her character to like this. In fact episodes like lesson zero show that she is capable of risking friendships in a stress that is of considerably less gravity than what happened here.

Twilight has a strong desire to succeed, and under enough pressure that has always led to her thinking in radical ways. Honestly I was waiting for her to make a radical decision somewhere because of how I felt her character is. This is extremely accurate to her character to me.

I mean I wonder if I am watching the same show. Its like almost a constant thing for Twilight to start getting crazy thoughts under pressure. I am shocked anyone could view this as OOC. The only thing that keeps her doing well is working with her friends. Anytime she relies on herself its gonna be a disaster. That is why its friendship is magic, not Twilight is magic.

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

Just now, Sunlight Swift said:

I mean I wonder if I am watching the same show. Its like almost a constant thing for Twilight to start getting crazy thoughts under pressure. I am shocked anyone could view this as OOC. The only thing that keeps her doing well is working with her friends. Anytime she relies on herself its gonna be a disaster. That is why its friendship is magic, not Twilight is magic.

Apparently, yes. For one, Twilight's struggled through much worse. The Storm King's invasion, dire as it was, doesn't compare to the damage Tirek and Starlight caused in two of the show's finales. Those were conflicts Twilight mostly had to resolve on her own. She was pressured, and she never did anything this STUPID to stop either of them. How anybody can compare her going crazy in Lesson Zero, making an honest mistake with salvageable consequences, to doing something completely immoral at her friends' expense, is beyond me. She used them, blew all the trust they'd just earned from the hippogriffs, and then spat in their faces on top of it. That is unacceptable.

Here's something else to think about. Anger is like alcohol. If people get filled with it to a point, they drop all social inhibitions, and all their true feelings are let loose. If you really care for somebody, no matter how angry you get, things like how you're better off without them should never cross your mind, let alone come out of your mouth. And you sure as hell wouldn't make violent gestures at them either. For fuck sake. If she wasn't the focus of the movie's narrative, I'd have thought she was some unreformed Changeling.

[Sunlight Swift 29]

 

2 minutes ago, KillerKingBakudan said:

Apparently, yes. For one, Twilight's struggled through much worse. The Storm King's invasion, dire as it was, doesn't compare to the damage Tirek and Starlight caused in two of the show's finales. Those were conflicts Twilight mostly had to resolve on her own. She was pressured, and she never did anything this STUPID to stop either of them. How anybody can compare her going crazy in Lesson Zero, making an honest mistake with salvageable consequences, to doing something completely immoral at her friends' expense, is beyond me. She used them, blew all the trust they'd just earned from the hippogriffs, and then spat in their faces on top of it. That is unacceptable.

Here's something else to think about. Anger is like alcohol. If people get filled with it to a point, they drop all social inhibitions, and all their true feelings are let loose. If you really care for somebody, no matter how angry you get, things like how you're better off without them should never cross your mind, let alone come out of your mouth. And you sure as hell wouldn't make violent gestures at them either. For fuck sake. If she wasn't the focus of the movie's narrative, I'd have thought she was some unreformed Changeling.

Well I can definitely see where you get that and it seems reasonable.

Here are my thoughts.

Tirek was way easier to cope with cause she already had power. Hopelessness was much less a feeling to cope with in that situation. The only real decision she had there was to trade her powers for her friends or not. She chose her friends on an epiphany. In the movie everything was hopeless and she was completely powerless, over an extended length of time too.

Starlight was also straightforward. She never felt out of options there and had little reason to. She knew she could get back because the power was much more even there.

With the storm king she had no apparent options and had no power and nearly everything she knew was lost.

The line between mistakes and immorality is subjective and becomes less clear the more desperate a situation becomes. Find people in very hard times if you don't believe me. People automatically start doing things they would otherwise have never done in many cases.

She did use her friends yes. That was her radical decision. It felt acceptable because she convinced herself it was for a better purpose.

She didn't earn enough trust from the hippogriffs to get their help so she wouldn't have felt she blew anything.

People hurt people they care about commonly. I have said I am better off without my wife years ago and we are still married. Many say things when they are angry they don't really mean. Its unfortunate but its a part of life. Whats important is how you make up for it and learn from it.

I still feel this was a very accurate representation of Twilight Sparkle.

[PoisonClaw 8,153]

I didn't like how easily the Princesses were taken out either, even if I know it was a required evil to have the story focus on Twilight and the gang. Cadance was taken out trying to protect Luna and Celestia, so she at least went out in a decent manner, but Celestia didn't even try to fight back and instead commander Luna to go get help before she was blindsided. Speaking of Luna, I would have preferred it if she had managed to escape, but had been injured and captured later.

Twilight stealing the pearl was again a required evil, but it doesn't mean I have to like how out of character it was for her. Yes, Twilight has been shown to be driven in situations like this, but this was beyond stupid.

One last nitpick is I would have liked to see more of Captain Celaeno and her merry. band of pirates. I feel like we saw the least of them honestly.   

[Castle Bleck 19,166]

2 minutes ago, PoisonClaw said:

I didn't like how easily the Princesses were taken out either, even if I know it was a required evil to have the story focus on Twilight and the gang. Cadance was taken out trying to protect Luna and Celestia, so she at least went out in a decent manner, but Celestia didn't even try to fight back and instead commander Luna to go get help before she was blindsided. Speaking of Luna, I would have preferred it if she had managed to escape, but had been injured and captured later.

 

I was primarily worried that Tempest would go the "Handicapped Unicorn is somehow stronger than 4 Alicorns combined" route (even Sombra and Starlight knew better than to be that hax-worthy).

 

Thankfully, she didn't; instead, she merely went the "Kryptonite" route via the Obsidian Orbs.

[Singe 2,109]

5 hours ago, PoisonClaw said:

I didn't like how easily the Princesses were taken out either, even if I know it was a required evil to have the story focus on Twilight and the gang. Cadance was taken out trying to protect Luna and Celestia, so she at least went out in a decent manner, but Celestia didn't even try to fight back and instead commander Luna to go get help before she was blindsided. Speaking of Luna, I would have preferred it if she had managed to escape, but had been injured and captured later.

It should be expected at this point the Princesses are useless. They still don't have anything to deter being invaded. Changlings were successful twice with their methods and Discord had his own win for a time. 

[n1029 224]

The "useless princesses" thing is a shrub in the forest of problems with the movie. It's like how people got fixated on the collateral damage in Man of Steel's climax.