MLP: A New Generation: Brony (MLP Forums) Reviews/Reactions/Discussion

[Dark Qiviut 22,491]

NOTE: Be wary of spoilers upon clicking on this thread, as Generation 5 begins with this movie!

———

Title: MLP: A New Generation
Release Date: September 24, 2021, 12am Pacific.
Written By:

Spoiler

Tim Sullivan & Gillian Berrow

Story By:

Spoiler

Robert Cullen, José L. Ucha, Tim Sullivan

Synopsis:  Equestria's divided. But a bright-eyed hero believes Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns should be pals — and, hoof to heart, she’s determined to prove it.

———

Well, here it is. Almost two years since FIM ended on a high, tear-jerking note, MLP is back with a brand-new generation. Originally a movie for theaters, it got moved to Netflix.

Hope y'all enjoy watching the movie!

[silvie05 7]

i'm well aware the movie's only been out for, uh... two hours? so most people haven't seen it yet, but i thought i'd type up a post on my thoughts.

overall: it was really cute! i think all the ponies were really good friends together, they all had cute designs, thought maaaaybe a little same-y on the models themselves... but all their hair and colors & the like were so different they were VERY easy to tell apart, even if i did forget their names a few times, lol.

and the plot was nice enough! very simple, with the "we have to reunite the earth ponies pegasi and unicorns and we have to collect the crystals" being most of the plot, i guess, but the plot itself felt maaaybe a little short? i feel like a LOT of the movie was dedicated to meeting sunny and her friends, which isn't a bad thing! i think they're all super cute! but i think a plot like this worked similarly but a little better in the mlp g4 movie, the 2017 one. the whole "traveling to different places and meeting new characters on a fetch-quest"-type plot worked a little better there, mostly because i think we already KNEW the main cast? the opening of the movie is all characters we know- the mane six, the princesses, spike, ect. until tempest and co. show up, so less of the movie is, well, introducing the main characters. sorry if that's worded poorly </3

but overall, the movie was super cute! while i didn't like the animation at first- like, when the trailers were coming out, but i'm a stubborn old mule and i knew it'd grow on me- i did get used to it and it was very cute. the landscapes especially i thought were very pretty! and the opening segment, in a different art style, with the mane 6- that was really cute! the songs were nice, though not really my kind of style- and, like i said earlier, i liked the new main cast quite a lot!

they all have very individual personalities and designs, even if i wasn't the best at keeping their names straight, which was super great! and i'm very pleased they don't just feel like "this one's the new pinkie pie! *this* one's the new twilight!" at ALL, they feel distinct from their predecessors in my opinion! (they were maybe a liiiitle same-y... but even if izzy was "the funny, bubbly one", she didn't just feel like a rehash of pinkie pie to me, nor did izzy with her "leader and finds the power of friendship" character, if that makes sense!

all in all, i think i'm still gonna have to get used to g5, after being so attached to g4 for god knows how many years, but i liked the first movie quite a lot! what did you guys think of it?

[Dark Qiviut 22,491]

Finished watching this movie an hour ago. It may be early, but I think it's better than the two-part pilot and the 2017 film.

1. In the 2017 film, both AJ and Fluttershy were long-time established characters, yet were given nothing to do. Here, the Mane Five feels much more balanced, it doesn't try to cram in way too much content, and the pacing feels tighter.
2. In addition, the pilot's first part was solid, but rushed pacing brought it down to the middle of the pack. While you can argue that they can expand some scenes more (ala, exploring a little more of Izzy's home), the film fleshes out each character and establishes arcs with clear beginnings and endings. The audience knows where they began and watched them grow into becoming better individuals by being together. The pilot also used simple tasks that demonstrated each bearer's Element, but with the Elements missing, they needed something else. Their vessels? Not having everyone meet on the right hoof and learning to trust one another. For one character in particular:
   Spoiler

   Princess Pipp's biggest vices were vanity and self-importance. By having her status exposed and forcing herself to work with the others, she learned how to grow more humble and walking in other ponies' shoes.

    

[Tom Gallagher 33,600]

Here we go. Just finished it.

It was good, not great. It was good though and better than I thought it would be. The writing is brilliant, really funny. (MAYONNAISE!) And the characters are brilliant. I went in expecting them to be flat and uninteresting, especially because I never wanted the Mane Six to be replaced but they really surprised me! I think Izzy is my favourite. The things that I have vocally criticised before weren't too bad. The songs actually are really good and the social media thing wasn't too distracting. It was there but it wasn't annoying. I guess I kind of wanted a few more locations to be used and aside from Zephyr Heights being a revamped Canterlot with classic G4 murals, we didn't get anything recognisable and we were mainly kind of restricted to the locations we've seen in the trailers. 

The ending was something I knew was coming and it is a bit strange the way that Twilight took three years to become an alicorn and Sunny took what? A week?! The 'villain' who looks like Big Macintosh (I've forgotten his name already) was weak. He wasn't at all as memorable as Sombra, Chrysalis or even the Storm King and seeing the lighthouse get destroyed was quite heartbreaking.

How about the actors? They're all brilliant, Vanessa as Sunny is fantastic, James as Hitch has very funny timing, Sofia as Izzy is a hilarious Pinkie Pie successor, Sofia as Pipp is adorable and Liza as Zipp is brilliant too. 

The animation has grown on me and I think it's way more appealing than EqG or PL. Nowhere near as gorgeous as FiM. Its beautiful colours and perfect designs were one of the reasons why I gravitate to it so much. It's still very good though and much more eye-pleasing than I thought. 

I guess I kind of wanted more about what happened to all the other creatures! Did they disappear? Hopefully, the series will answer that because we know now what happened to the ponies. I also wanted to see what happened to the Mane Six themselves. I love the fact that they returned at the very beginning! I just wish that moment didn't end how it did. I was hoping to see them pop up in that form again but they didn't. I want the series to acknowledge it so badly!!! 

Overall, very good movie and one that I'm sure will go down well. It's not as memorable as I hoped but it has a very good message, likable characters and maintains the G4 spirit while also being its own thing.

7.5/10

[Dark Qiviut 22,491]

For a ninety-minute film, it flew by really quickly with the plentiful action. But I think my favorite scene of them all was the campfire conversation between the Mane Five. Not only was it an excellent avenue for Hitch to let his guard down and agree to help Sunny find the other crystals. It also allowed the characters to become more personal to the others as well as the audience. Even though Izzy is silly and frantic, she's also very aware of her surroundings and not afraid to be emotional (a lot like Pinkie in a way); she always dreamt of exploring Maretime Bay to meet with folks who may not look like her but are open to accepting their hooves to her.

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,597]

Personally, I quite liked it. It will take some getting used to, but I think I'll grow as attached to Sunny Starscout and the others just like I came to be invested in Twilight Sparkle and Co. 

[n1029 229]

I thought it was awesome. Hoped for the best, but it was far more entertaining than I ever could've expected. Movie gave me a high at the beginning that never let up, everything worked on a technical and storytelling level.

[Evil Pink One 13,517]

aaahhhhh it was almost perfect!!!! the ending took a miss there..... I was like..... WAIT!!! ..... THATS IT!?.........

and sunny looks incomplete in her form....

[Bright Honor 2,718]

Pretty good movie overall. Sunny and izzy killed it. Sprout was pretty interesting. Animation was top tier and the songs were pretty nice and catchy. I bet sunny will make her dad proud. 

 

It's great to have the ponies back.

[Reality Check 632]

I actually see plenty of potential in it. I can imagine some people being like "fanfic writers, to your keyboards!" after seeing the movie, especially with the implications left in the plot

Not a bad movie, I must say

Edited September 24, 2021 by Reality Check

[Evil Pink One 13,517]

ahhmmm RARITY IS BESS PONY NOW!!!

IZZY LOVE IS REAL!!!

ENDING WAS..... wtf just happened moment..... the ending was like an mlp gen 4.... a bit rushed and needed a more perfect execution....

 

[Evil Pink One 13,517]

where is gen 5 merch hasbro!? I need a kotobukiya of Izzy!!!!

[Reality Check 632]

Aight, just watched the movie. Time to do some reviewing (even though it's pretty early and some people in the world have likely not seen it yet)

Overall, the movie was great. There's a lot I wanna say, but what I like the most were the characters, the mane 5 included. I can somehow imagine people comparing them to the mane 6 in G4. (wouldn't exactly be surprising but what can I say) When I first saw the movie, I kinda compared Sprout and Phyllis' relationship as being somewhat similar to Spoiled Rich and Diamond Tiara, especially when Sprout's pursuit of power came from his mom. There's also Sunny Starscout and Hitch Trailblazer, you can tell they're close by how they work of each other at the first half of the movie, like how Hitch knew Sunny was gonna crash the presentation and him having to bail her out. In fact, the most memorable scene in my opinion was when he states how he was his only real friend, making me think how big of a change happen when Argyle 'disappeared' in her life. (I'm not saying he's dead... yet at least)

But a good movie isn't without its cons, and there isn't really a lot I can think of. I think one of the problems I have with the movie has to be Sunny Starscout turning into an alicorn. First there was Twilicorn, now this. Now just so we're clear, I having nothing against Sunny becoming an alicorn, what I'm actually worried about is where they take it. There isn't a lot of info about what happened to the alicorns in the movie, let alone where they were when the distrust between races happened. Maybe an episode in a series of the mane 5 will rectify it, but for now, I can't help but feel anxious about it. There's also a few plot points are thrown out in order to continue the story, like how Pipp got down and retrieved the pegasus crystal, or how unicorns treated words like 'magic' or 'mayonnaise' like they're even worse than curse words, only to be used a plot device later on by Hitch.

This movie is great and there's not a lot to hate about it, kinda impressive for a movie that last about an hour and a half. There's still a ton I want to say about the movie, but can't cause of how much I'd have to type in that case. Still though, great movie and a rather solid start into G5

[Star Flame 33]

Warning: Spoilers ahead! This is a review of the entire movie! Don't remove the spoiler tag if you haven't seen the movie yet!

Spoiler

It was.. good for me! I quite liked it. The only problems i have with it are:

1) Pacing. Everything happened wayyy too fast. Should have been a 2 hours long movie minimum. 1 hour and 30 minutes is not enough. Everything happened so quickly i barely got time to adjust the scenes.

2) Time gaps between the songs are too short. Again, it's a musical, i know, but.. You can't just put a song, and literally 2 minutes later another one. There should have been a larger time gap between each song.

 

But.. This movie was still awesome, i loved it! It's cute, simple, nothing too emotionally heavy. To me, this was a great introduction. It's definitely a nice way to tease the audience, preparing it for the G5 series. The characters have a lot of potential, and if it's true that a series for G5 is coming after the movie, i'm sure they will expand their personalities and they will also have their own character arcs.

The villain tho.. I don't know why, but sprout reminds me so much of balthazar bratt, the villain from despicable me 3. In my opinion they have such a similar personality, they would be very great friends if they were in the same universe. They both are delusional, insecure characters that need constant validation, and feel the need to create big machineries in order to boost their massive ego and tone down their insecurities. Only thing missing from sprout is him dancing at some 80's song hahaha. Wouldn't be surprised if he liked them.

Now, about sunny's alicorn form. I like it. Although i do feel the whole thing happened a bit too fast. Like- I couldn't even get adjusted to her earth pony form. I already miss it. Plus, nopony seemed to be surprised about the fact that an alicorn was in front of them. Literally nopony. Weird, since they've never seen an alicorn in their lives, and alicorns were considered legends, since they probably had been extint for a very long time. But i'm glad that we finally got to see an earth pony turn into an alicorn. After all, they have magic inside themselves too. But.. Why are her wings and horn transparent? This seems to be permanent.. Is she some special type of alicorn? Is she part of a secret prophecy we don't know of? I don't know. It's gonna be difficult to adjust to seeing an alicorn with transparent wings and horn.

Oh, and argyle literally died after 6 minutes and 30 seconds of screen time (literally went to check for how long he lasted on netflix). I literally cried a bit when i discovered he was dead. Like.. How- Why? Why did such a good character have to die so early on in the story? I wish he could have been there when sunny brought back magic and became an alicorn. Damn if i cried. It's been a long while (7 years to be precise) since i've cried to a character's death. And here i am again, crying. He's the first character i got attached too. Wish i had a father like that.

My favourite characters are officially hitch, argyle, sunny and izzy. Damn if they're good! Of course, zipp and pipp are too, but i feel like their personalities need to be expanded a bit more..

Surprisingly, i even liked the pop songs, and didn't cringe when i heard them. My favourite songs are "fit right in" and "it's allright". 

 

Overall, i loved it. I can't wait for the show to arrive (if there's gonna be one). At first i was skeptical.. But boy i was wrong. I loved it. I love the characters. The animation is top notch and the scenarios are simply gorgeous. That's one thing missing from G4. The scenarios. But in this movie, thanks to 3D animation, we got them. And wow.. I wasn't left disappointed. I can't wait for more, i already got attached to the characters, and can't wait to see them on screen again!

(I may have more things to say about this, so i might edit this post again in thr future)

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Star Flame

[Star Flame 33]

I already wrote a review on another comment, won't copypaste it here because that would count as spam, so i'll just give you a quick summary of what i wrote earlier:

Again, spoilers ahead, don't remove the spoiler tag if you haven't seen the movie.

Spoiler

I have 2 major problems with it:

1) Pacing. Everything happened too quickly. Couldn't even get adjusted to each and every gorgeous scenario.

2) Time gaps between songs were too way too short. Again, an issue with the pacing.

 

Sprout reminds me of balthazar, the villain in despicable me 3, in my opinion they have very similar personalities. Both are insecure and often need validation and something to tone down their insecurities. Both are delusional among their kind. Sprout was a nice villain, not too threatening tho. Wish he had been scarier.

Sunny's alicorn form is.. Rather unique. Nopony seemed to be surprised to see a living alicorn though. Why so? We don't know. The fact that the wings and horn are golden and transparent is.. Interesting. Wonder why they're like this. I liked it, although i felt it happened a *bit* too quickly. I couldn't even get adjusted to see her on screen as an earth pony. And the trasnformation seems permanent.

Argyle's death broke me. He was on screen for literally 6 minutes and 30 seconds (checked how long he was on screen on netflix). I literally cried because he's probably one of my favourite characters, if not my ultimate favourite character. I'm rather sad he passed away so soon, he couldn't even be there when sunny brought magic back and became an alicorn. It had been 7 years since i last cried to a character's death. Well, i finally got the chance to feel sad for a character once again, after such a long time, too.

I didn't cringe at the pop songs. I quite liked them actually. Surprising to say the least.

My favourite songs are: "fit right in" and "it's allright"

My favourite characters are: argyle, hitch, sunny, and izzy. I like zipp and pipp too, but i feel like their personalities need to be expanded a bit more.

 

Overall.. I loved it! It's rather short, but i think it's a perfect way to tease the audience for the upcoming TV show. Definitely looking forward to it. I already got attached to characters, and can't wait to see them again the series.

(As i have said before, i might have something else to add that i forgot about, so i might edit this post again)

 

[Shadowking58 1,137]

I thought it was great and I really enjoyed it. I had fun, and there were some emotional moments in there that got me, way more than I expected to enjoy it! I'm really glad I gave it a chance and despite it's simplicity I was really happy with it. Guess I'm easily pleased. But yeah, a good recommendation from me. It was funny too.

[doomie-22 19]

I'm expecting this to be a short-lived flop. Leaks have revealed they're doubling down on everything that went wrong with G4, and official announcements have made it clear they're all in on the woke stupidity. Combine that with the fact that the discontinuity will help break some rabid fanboys out of their cognitive dissonance and see it for the mess it is, and you have a recipe for a solid crash and burn. Of course, I can't see them admitting that since Netflix makes it easy to hide the real performance numbers and they may be able to get them to manipulate the official ratings as well, but they'll know it's a flop and presumably abandon G5 in short order. Mark my words, it won't do nearly as well, and people will be begging to have G4 back. Why? Because there is no way in hell G5 will be given 9 seasons. It’ll get the usual 3 and call it a day. Replicating the runaway early success and influence of G4 is nigh impossible. But while that's obviously impossible with the current staff, it is possible to build a future MLP franchise that recaptures G4's success. The key is artistic integrity, passion, and a dedicated team just like it was for G4 under Faust.

[bigbertha 415]

First impressions:

- First scene is amazing. Honestly my favorite scene in the movie. I'm glad they didn't put the mane six in this new art style

-Izzy is great. She's adorable and I think her voice acting is easily the best since I actually hear a character and a not a celebrity voice coming out of a pony

-That being said, Sprout is also great because he's voiced by Ken Jeong

-Sprout's song and Fit Right In are bangers. The rest are alright

-I still don't really like the art style. The designs don't match the expressiveness of the voice acting for the most part. It's the same problem that the 2017 movie had

Generally this was definitely better than the 2017 movie. I think the beach scene of the 2017 movie on its own is better than any individual scene in this movie, but taken as a whole this is better. 

[Sparklefan1234 174,084]

 

6 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

But I think my favorite scene of them all was the campfire conversation between the Mane Five. Not only was it an excellent avenue for Hitch to let his guard down and agree to help Sunny find the other crystals.

 

 

Spoiler

 

1. Main protagonist lives in a lighthouse/tower.
2. Lanterns are used to send messages.
3. A quest with new friends to "see the light".
4. A sheriff horse on the hunt for our protagonists.
5. A campfire conversation where a character lets their guard down.
6. A tavern that resembles The Snuggly Duckling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This movie was Tangled with ponies! /

 

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Sparklefan1234

[Evil Pink One 13,517]

who is the villain.... that is the question....

[Virgile 16]

For months I was skeptical but actually now I'm of the opinion that this a good MLP movie because it's going on a new basis. For that I appreciated it, even if I don't adhere to the "3D Disney style"...

Edited September 24, 2021 by Virgile

[Evil Pink One 13,517]

gen 4.5 where twilight soloed and the 3 ponies offered the 3 jewel.

the drawing of a pink purple heart that looked corrupted....

this is deep.... my madoka conspiracy is tingling..... I can sense a magika madoka twist on this show .....

[Will Guide 21,364]

I'm barely 5 minutes in and already I'm having fun. Especially love the conversation between Sunny and her father. Although during the unicorn attack scene I noticed there was a gray Earth pony with blonde hair appearing several times in different is that supposed to be the same Pony or are there like twins? Also I wish I had that Hitch calendar of him in different outfits

Unicorns sees mayonnaise as a bad word? I'm getting flashbacks Twilight being scared of quesadillas.

[PoisonClaw 8,166]

Just finished watching the movie, and I gotta say I really enjoyed it. It's clear that plenty of heart and soul went into capturing what we all loved about Friendship is Magic, and I'd say they succeeded. I do have a few gripes and questions though...

One, I don't like that they went the Disney route and had Sunny's dad die during the time skip. I feel like that was an unnecessary bit of drama, and I would have loved to see more interactions between the two.

Two, did Sunny actually become an Alicorn in the end, or was that just a one-time symbolic power-up granted to her by the three crystals? I mean, the wings and horns themselves look more like magical projections than actual solid limbs to me. While I wouldn't be entirely opposed to her becoming an alicorn, I'm personally hoping she stays an Earth Pony after this.

Three, why did early promotional material give so much attention to Pipp alongside Sunny and Izzy, when Zipp was much more the third member of their little trio? 

Other than that, this was certainly a great way to kick off G5, and I'm looking forward to hopefully more in the future!

Edited September 24, 2021 by PoisonClaw

[Werewolveswithagenda 15]

I loved it! While the pacing was a little messy I still loved the movie.