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

[Ganondox 899]

Surprisingly, my favorite part was the animation. I’m usually not a huge fan of CGI, but they did a really good job at making appealing looking characters that felt alive. The plot was weak, my main issues being that there was no real stakes, and the transitions between plot points were poor.
 

I’m not feeling for the characters like I did for G4, but they are growing on me, especially Izzy. I didn’t like her at first because she initially just seemed to be stupid, but she soon revealed that she has much more depth than it appears. Like everyone else said she’s like Pinkie Pie, but a bit different as well - while Pinkie Pie is a more of cartoon gag, Izzy feels more like a real person who just sees the world and processes it a bit differently from those around her. I actually think she might be the most intelligent of the group, it’s just that she’s better at expressing herself by working with objects than by by speaking.

Pipp though was a disappointment - does anyone actually like this archetype? It presents itself slightly different with each generation, but in any incarnation I’ve always found it to be grating. I know part of it is just that creators are always out of touch with the youth, but it makes you wonder how these fictional characters are popular in their own world. 

Lastly, I was not a fan of the music, it leaned too much into contemporary pop. In particular Pipp sounded horrible - is that actually what people think talented singers sound like these days? It’s pretty ironic, as all the ponies who weren’t singers had nice singing voices, stylistic complaints aside. The only other I actually disliked was the villain song, part of it was too derivative and Smells like Teen Spirit and didn’t fit the mood at all (was the idea supposed to be that because it’s got a relatively heavier riff it’s supposed to be evil sounding or something?), and the other sections just didn’t fit with each other. The only I really liked though was the one with the butts, I guess mainly because it was Izzy’s big song. 

Overall I enjoyed watching it, but if it wasn’t for the fact it’s the G5 movie I’d find it to be pretty forgettable. I’m pretty unconcerned with the lore though - unlike most people I really don’t care whether she’s an alicorn or not, and I figure it might as well not be a sequel to G4 since functionally it seems more to be a fairytale in this universe than any sort of history we can connect to what is going on. I’m going to wait and see what they’re going to do with the actual series before I commit myself to watching it. 
 

 

[Tom Gallagher 33,581]

Yeah, I feel the same way. People complain to me about not giving the new characters a chance and while I do, the Mane Six are too close to my heart to see them be replaced, hence why the first scene made me cry. I really hope we see them reprise their roles again and come back.

[JMTV99 1,352]

3 hours ago, n1029 said:

I will say I think it'll be to this G's advantage that it will be on Netflix. They won't be hampered by network time slots and commercial breaks and can make episodes as long as necessary to execute plots/morals. That was an issue that often held G4 back.

That and the E.I mandate and it's TV-Y rating really did hold G4  back for a long time.

I really hope the upcoming G5 special and the series will be at least TV-G or TV-PG, so that way it will give that edge that FiM  couldn't even pull off.

[Equus 91]

Let's remember... becoming an alicorn or whatever was a huge deal in the canon and lore of G4. Which this is not. I'd wager suddenly being able to fly/perform magic after never having experienced it in one's life would at least for the moment override the intrigue of whatever happened to Sunny. I still think it's something to do with Luminescence instead of a truly physical change, seeing as Luminescence was set up way earlier pretty clearly for bringing back up later. It's a bit jarring, but I imagine the massive amount of magic that centered itself on Sunny would do some weird things.

My biggest concern with people's perceptions of the film/gen is leaning too heavily on the belief that the G5 story has to explicitly wrap back into the convoluted canon of G4 somehow. Even as a diehard avid watcher of G4 since 2011, in my opinion the less that the new gen references, explains, ties back into, or brings up G4 in any way the better, as it will make some refuse to let it stand on its own merit and get it mired deeply in arguments over whether it stays true to the 'spirit'. As far as I'm concerned, G4 permanently and forever wrapped up on October 12 2019 (and brilliantly imo, I actually rather liked the way S9 closed the book on things) and I can't find myself concerned at all if any of the species, locations, lore, and canon of the previous gen are ever brought up; I know it's technically a continuation but I see it as a reset and pretty much only the things introduced within G5 matter within its world. I know a lot of people miss G4 and its characters, but I see new beginnings as a good thing. Let the characters from G4 remain in G4 which is always there for us to rewatch, and enjoy the characters of G5 in their own world as they're introduced and explored.

But hey maybe that's just me lol

[FrankisDrunk 2]

Alright so my somewhat more detailed thoughts of G5 mlp movie
The good
-Visuals, The CGI of the characters and the backgrounds are all up there with Disneys works
-Comedy, rarely do I laugh with movies but the jokes all land well and are timed well and the comedy just works so well
-The characters, while they are nowhere near my beloved mane 6 yet, I think this is a strong start for the new mane 5, Izzy and Sunny steal the show and are just such a treat, and I ship them
- The G4 connections, while not filled with references and callbacks the movie is based on g4 and doesn't hide that. It is the foundation of this story
-The music, the songs were at worst fun and at best really good, Fit right in is a new top tier hit
-The overall first half of the movie from Maretime Bay to the end of Zephyr Heights is so well done, the pacing, writing, and plot setup is all spectacular
-The potential, the movie leaves you wanting more, both from these characters and world but also from the mystery of what caused the world to come to the state it is in.
-It took g4 like 5 seasons to give a direct reference to AJs dead parents, g5 starts out with it, progress!
-Ponies

The not as good
-The second half of the movie, while still good, isnt as good, the stakes almost feel lower, going from a castle heist to a dancing game, and then stopping someone and their...truck. It works within the context of the movie but I feel its a step down from the first half, again, enjoyable, just not as top tier as the first half
-Pipp feels sidelined, she is a main character but feels the least like one. She doesn't get the same development as the others and doesn't move forward, hope the show gives her way more room to breathe
-While I like there being open questions and mysteries, the movie doesn't explain much of anything in regards to how the world became so different to g4, no reference to dragons, griffons, etc. 
-The world feels...smaller, Equestria was full of cities and different ponies and the population could have been millions, but now it seems that the populations of each race are mostly relegated to 3 hubs. again, the show will need to explain more here.
-Sprout has a good setup with his angry angry song and his clear motivations but by the end he just has no impact, he feels inconsequential and not threatening
-Sprout is neither forgiven nor punished, who knows how the characters feel about him

I had to really reach for the not as good stuff

as its own thing the movie is awesome, It's paced well, the characters are great, the music and visuals are great, the story is well told and it sets up an awesome future
as a fan of G4 the movie is amazing and frustrating, you want so many answers and worry if and when they will come, but also so intrigued to learn more
If I weren't an mlp fan I think an 8/10 would be fair.
as an mlp fan: 10/10

[Varrack 1,080]

Alright, so:

• Jokes good
• Songs great
• Pacing fast 
• Characters work well together
• Setting is cool (tho it seems like the places from the g4 world just completely disappeared)
• Animation top notch
• Moral okay
• Jokes terrific, the 2017 movie's jokes were awkward in comparison
• Voice acting dope
• Ending kind of weird (she's an alicorn? what?)

I think it was a great start to the new gen, but I do want more questions answered. It's cool how they had the intro with the g4 characters, but...what happened to them and their families I guess? Do they have any living descendants? And how did it go from Twilight being ruler to queen Haven?

I also liked that there wasn't much of a villain. It seemed like Sprout was it at the end, but clearly he wasn't the main source of conflict in the movie. I found his incredibly big ego funny though 

[Oleks 1,993]

I had very low expectations, and the trailer didn’t help. But I actually liked the movie way more than I thought I would.

The story was simple, but not simplistic, even the glitter part that made me cringe when I was watching the trailer made sense in context. The characters and VAs performances were pretty good. The attention to detail, both visually and story-wise, was surprisingly great.

I’ve never watched MLP for the jokes, but this movie had a couple that made me chuckle. The double nod and bop bits were brilliant, some of the running gags worked pretty well. The songs were decent too. But is it bad that Sprout’s song was my favorite one? I usually like the references that MLP makes, and this movie really provided. Sometimes it event felt excessive, to be honest. Also, it’s a bit weird that ponies know what bologna is.

Some things that bothered me: cutie marks were only on one flank and often barely visible (did ponies evolve over the time period that passed since G4?); magic is now somehow connected to some random crystals; no non-pony sentient species were present, and the number of ponies seemed kind of low. Many people are also bothered with the whole “ponies are separated” premise, but to me it seems like a relatively recent development, judging by the posters in the pegasi city. What didn’t bother me was the final transformation, because it was to be expected.

Now I need to rewatch it to see more little details and pay closer attention to background ponies.

[KirbyFluttershy 2,523]

I think my favorite funny part of the movie is that when izzy told the others what they're not suppose to say and then it jinxes the unicorns, making them say "bing bong".

Background ponies on the other hand, well there's some work-in-progress with the names so i can't just judge which background ponies i like.

[Nas 2,873]

Well, 11 years later, here we are, finally with the first batch of next era of horse content to enjoy and comment on. And so begins a new several years of countless art, music, cons, memories, and most of all, adorable colorful horses. And I did say for months that I was remotely interested in the new generation of pone, since G4 had been such a big part of my life and done and led to so many wonderful things for me, and watching the old episodes I started off with will always bring back warm fuzzy memories, and despite not following the show much between season 4-8 I still and will always love the show and the general stuff that comes from it, like the fanart and cons, the latter I'll still go to one day, and just knowing it'll be touching countless amounts of people and inspiring tons of more new minds for years to come as it did me, and all the friends I had on here. (Also, it was neat seeing some friends and horsefamous peeps move on to bigger or other things, but I do wonder how many of them will come back for this!)

In short, I think what turned me off from being interested if anything was the 3D characters...I couldn't get into the idea of the whole era of horse being defined by 3D stuff, it just didn't sit well with me and reminded me of, idunno, generic CG cartoon horse stuff I've seen. But silly me, here I am, 2 years after G4 ended, once more writing up on a Saturday morning how I feel about the latest horse stuff like I used to. And that's cause, well, the charm that won me over back then, was very prevalent here, enough for me to forget about how odd I thought the 3D stuff looked...mostly! Enough for me to say, yep, I'm definitely on board once again. These new pastel equines are filling my idle thoughts much like the previous ones did when I started watching. I don't intend to be AS active as I once did, probably. But definitely tuning into whatever the next ep/movie/whatever will be for the time being. Especially if the show or whatever the main stuff'll be will be in 2D.

Anywho, the movie itself... Wow, the budget is obvious, this gen got off to a great start in terms of visuals. One of the things that made the 3D characters more tolerable for me is how well they were animated. Everything was so smooth, I was blown away by how well everything was animated like the show of yesteryear. Like I said, I still hope the show is 2D, but it was still all beautiful here. The pacing felt a bit odd in places, though I doubt that was a result of it introducing the characters and having one big adventure with them in one movie. Like everything else that I didn't find amazing in it, it wasn't bad enough to ruin my enjoyment though.

Some of the lines and line deliveries and even some song lyrics kinda missed that punch that was in most of gen 4. I don't know, there were a bit more deliveries and lines that felt awkward and not really funny than I can count on my fingers, but it was mostly alright. The music and lyrics that we good were VERY good though. The best songs far and away were Izzy's song and the first half of Scout's song, they're both super catchy. And some of the lines and gags were legit hilarious.

The plot? For the most part it was a nice fun way to start the new gen, and honestly if you don't take it as seriously as FiM, it's great, and I think I was able to quickly adjust, especially-

Spoiler

with Sprout himself who's a pretty cool villain but gets absolutely no punishment for literally tearing down Sunny's house, or how Sunny is suddenly an alicorn, in which I'm perfectly fine with as it's an entirely new generation so they probably wanna tell the story in a different way, like the end goals are a lot different, yknow?

And yeah, I felt it had a lot of high points and was a pretty satisfying ending. I do look forward to how all the stuff at the end will translate or hint at what's to come, whenever we even hear about the show.

And finally, of course, the ponies were cute. Sans the 3D template they all had which definitely still looks weird at some angles, are still adorable and charming as heck most of the time thanks to their designs and voices. Izzy won me over even when I wasn't planning to see this movie before, her silliness and sometimes obliviousness are adorable and remind me of my inner self a bit. Sunny and Pipp are a definite second. It'll be interesting having a boy as part of the main cast from now on, I'm totally for that. I don't doubt these characters willl win over tons and tons of people for years to come, I'm already looking forward to all the art, especially at cons. And like I've said, this whole package despite some flaws, has lots of funny stuff, emotional moments, great music, just a well balanced horse movie that's packed with the charm of G4. Here's to another some years of heartwarming life morals that even we can learn from again sometimes. (And hopefully we get an announcement for the show soon!!)

My final word, I think the amount of G4 was comforting, and a great way to bookend the old and start the new. How fitting, most of all, that G5 is beginning just a week short of this forums' 10th birthday, too.

Spoiler

I was so HAPPY to see all of them at the start with their original voices, having their last(maybe?) appearance be kicking off the new gen is perfect!! And I'm betting the voice cast absolutely loved doing it.

Oh, and Izzy is best pony. 

[Princess Fluttershy 1]

Well, you know, I'm not very long in the Fandom and had join the Community somewhere after the Show ended , but I'm still a big Fan of it.
Actual I watch the Show an secont Time with 2 Episodes every Saturday.

I have see the Movie yesterday on Netflix and it was great.
Great Humor, good Songs, and emotional Moments.

Was it worth the Wait?
Absolutly

Is it a good Story?
Yes.

Has it fulfill the Expectations of the Fans?
Well, not realy...

The Movie is great and the Ponys, created by the wonderfull ImalouArt are beautyfull.
The Movie is perfect for new MLP Fans and I love the Character of Izzy, who are so much like Pinkie Pie.
But there are still many things the movie not made good.

It is nearly the same lenght as the G4 Movie (91 & 100 Min.), but it feel like it could need some more Time to tell us more, give us Anwers.
The Question was, will the Mane 6 apear in the Movie?
Well it is not a Spoiler if I say, yes they have, but not as actual 3D Ponys,
just as Toon Fantasy of Sunny directly at the Begin of the Movie and as hand made Wood Figures in her Room.
We as older Bronys have live the World of Equestria in Generation 4, who was the first realy successfull Generation of the Franchise.

So we had certail Expectations for the Movie and hoped to get Infos about the Time between the Generations:
How much Time has pass between G4 and G5?
Are there Alicorns in the World?
Why is the World back in the Mistrust like in the Time of Equestrias Founding?
Are the Main 5 Decendants of the Mane 6?
And more.

I hoped to see any of the G4 Ponys in the Movie, in Flashbacks or as actual Ponys in the Movie, maybe Time Travel like Twilight has done it.
We think Alicorns are immortal, so where are they?
Wheres Discord?
Why there are just Ponys and no Dragons, Yak or Gryphons?

After all, the Movie tell us nothing about the Past.
So what made the Movie not perfect for Hardcore Fans?
It has nothing left of the Ideals of G4, who has teach us many important Things.
Everything Celestia and Twilight have teach the World is gone.
The World is modern, like our own World and look more like Zootopia as the Fantasy World of Equestria.

I'm sure you all have your own Idea, how the new Generation could look like.
My idea was a World like in the Anime Boruto.
The next Generation of Naruto play around 15 Years after Naruto Shippuden and the new main Cast are the Children of the old Cast.
The World is a bit more progressive as in the old Show, with electronic Devices and a bigger Village.
I wish G5 would be similar.
With a new Cast of Ponys in Equestria, but like in Boruto the old Cast is still there, but only as Side Figures and not longer in the main Focus of the Story.
I think Hasbro has made this, without the Mane 6, to push their Sales in the new G5 Toys.
If there are G4 Char like Twilight in it, the Main 5 would always be in her Shaddow.
Many Fans already see G5 as a alternate Universe or Timeline.
Maybe the Movie would be better with Lauren Faust in the Story Team.

I think the Movie is mostly a Intro into the new Show, like the first Eppisodes of FiM Season 1 and the real Content will maybe in the Show later.
We will see how the story will go and if it will be successful.

I stay in my beloved FiM Time and watch S2E15 and 16 today.

 

[Sparklefan1234 169,802]

9 hours ago, The Wife of Rengoku said:

Spoilers are not necessary here.

You can use them if you'd like but know that they aren't a must.

 

Playing it safe/force of habit. 

Also, I have Fit Right In and Sprouts mob song stuck in my head. 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Sparklefan1234

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

next gen has big potential! better not mess this one up hasbro and Netflix.

[Ganondox 899]

10 hours ago, JMTV99 said:

That and the E.I mandate and it's TV-Y rating really did hold G4  back for a long time.

I really hope the upcoming G5 special and the series will be at least TV-G or TV-PG, so that way it will give that edge that FiM  couldn't even pull off.

I find it odd though that despite this movie being rated PG it had not real threats, with the villain being reduced to splashing ponies with goo, while the show has plenty of real threats.  

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

has no one noticed the corrupted heart?

Edited September 25, 2021 by Kujamih

[DELETED 22]

It was a good movie. Yes, it had some flaws but it was still good, it wasen’t cringy (in my opinion) and had cute moments.

Zipp stayed my favourite and Izzy grew on me more! 

[Ganondox 899]

8 hours ago, FrankisDrunk said:

 
-While I like there being open questions and mysteries, the movie doesn't explain much of anything in regards to how the world became so different to g4, no reference to dragons, griffons, etc. 
-The world feels...smaller, Equestria was full of cities and different ponies and the population could have been millions, but now it seems that the populations of each race are mostly relegated to 3 hubs. again, the show will need to explain more here.
 

There actually was a reference to griffons or dragons, in one of the establishing shots of Marinetime Bay they show ponies hitting piñatas depicting one of those creatures, emphasizing their xenophobia. I do agree with the small world impression though, which is the opposite I got from G4. 

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

So I rewatched a few clips and realized Zipp's full name is Zipperina which is so cute! As for the Alicorn scene it looks the same as Rainbow Rocks when Sunset Shimmer grows pony ears, and how Human Fluttershy, Twilight and Rainbow Dash grow wings. Perhaps having magical wings appear is part of how Equestrian magic operates on someone not born with wings or a horn, Sunny would be closer physically to the Humane 6 being an earth pony, and if that's the case Sunny was just showing the truest part of herself, not becoming a permanent Alicorn at all. Perhaps the writers noticed how fans complained about how in Equestria Girls Twilight and Rarity don't grow magical horns and corrected it because I swear Sunny's transformation is the same type of thing as Equestria Girls. I like Sunny being Alicorn like because it is refreshing to see an earth pony in the spotlight of magical potential. 

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

3 minutes ago, StitchandMLPlover said:

So I rewatched a few clips and realized Zipp's full name is Zipperina which is so cute! As for the Alicorn scene it looks the same as Rainbow Rocks when Sunset Shimmer grows pony ears, and how Human Fluttershy, Twilight and Rainbow Dash grow wings. Perhaps having magical wings appear is part of how Equestrian magic operates on someone not born with wings or a horn, Sunny would be closer physically to the Humane 6 being an earth pony, and if that's the case Sunny was just showing the truest part of herself, not becoming a permanent Alicorn at all. Perhaps the writers noticed how fans complained about how in Equestria Girls Twilight and Rarity don't grow magical horns and corrected it because I swear Sunny's transformation is the same type of thing as Equestria Girls. I like Sunny being Alicorn like because it is refreshing to see an earth pony in the spotlight of magical potential. 

how bout this?

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

Moments ago, Kujamih said:

how bout this?

I could barely make that out in the movie so I didn't know what to make of it. 

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

Equestria Girls and Sunny transformation https://stitchthebest36.tumblr.com/post/663328278540582912/anybody-else-see-the-similarity-between-sunnys 

[JMTV99 1,352]

1 hour ago, Ganondox said:

I find it odd though that despite this movie being rated PG it had not real threats, with the villain being reduced to splashing ponies with goo, while the show has plenty of real threats.  

Yeah, that's true.

[Landi 600]

It was an interesting watch, and overall, I'd say it was alright.

I have some issues regarding certain aspects, but first I'll mention the positives. The movie was definitely fun watch with funny character interactions and well written humor. It's hard to really describe, but the whole movie had a fun feel to it, and it helped me enjoy the movie despite the negative aspects. Another great aspect were the great looking, elaborate backgrounds. I still prefer 2D overall, and I hope that the show will be 2D, but the backgrounds in this movie still managed to look great with lots of care and detail. Some other things that were done pretty well was the voicing and the actual character movements. 

Now onto some of the issues I had, one that definitely effected the movie was the duration and pacing. Due to this movie's short length, the pacing feels very rushed throughout, especially towards the end. The movie quickly jumps from thing to thing with little time for the world and the characters to really be developed. I feel like if the movie was ten to fifteen minutes longer, this wouldn't have been as much of an issue.

Another major issue, and one that relates back to the last one, is the limited character development. Some of the characters felt a bit underdeveloped, especially Pipp. Her character comes off as one dimensional, and there is hardly any time given to develop her. One moment she is upset and sulking, and the next she is happy and friendly, when all Sunny did was tell her she would get all of her "fans" back after bringing back magic. It would've been more interesting if her friendship and happiness built up over time throughout the movie. Unfortunately Pipp just didn't do much in this movie, even during the climax, and she kind of proved my worries regarding her being basic and bland. Also, the group's overall friendship dynamic didn't feel as genuine and interesting as it could've been. Again, part of this could definitely be due to the short length, but the G4 Pilot did a better job at introducing the main characters in half the time.

The third major issue I have is the ending as a whole. It was very quick, confusing, and it raised a lot of questions. Sunny coming to the conclusion that friendship is what will bring back magic could've been written better, and as I alluded to earlier, Pipp didn't really have anything to contribute. Then Sunny somehow becomes an alicorn, magic is restored, and everypony celebrates in Maretime Bay, and that's it. It wasn't made very clear whether Sunny was a permanent or a temporary alicorn (I hope it's just the latter) and it didn't show what happened to the mane five after the celebration. Are they going to stick together, or are they returning to their respective cities? Now, this can be graced a little bit since there is going to be a special and a series to follow this movie up, but I do still wish that we had gotten a more complete conclusion.

This all sounds very negative, but I did still enjoy the movie to an extent despite it, and it was worth the watch. The way I see it, this is just the appetizer, and the series itself will be the main course. Hopefully then the plethora of questions this movie raises regarding the characters and the world as a whole will be answered along with the much-needed  character development. So again, my overall opinion on the movie is that it is fun, but it definitely has some issues.

[Mallow Gloom 25]

It was a fun movie, it wasn't top notch but better than I was expecting. I'm happy with the outcome- it was quite good!

The visuals were awesome, especially the environmental design for Bridlewood in my opinion, I would want to live there!

Also the flying rat that popped up in the alley made me very happy, I guess that's all it takes LOL

Edited September 25, 2021 by Mallow Gloom

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

I was a little concerned about this one after the last trailer showed off a lot of Pipp's online presence which I thought would be overly focused on and cringy.

I was very pleasantly surprised when I actually watched this.

First, a spoiler regarding the opening scene:

Spoiler

Opening with the original cast as if they were handing it over made this great straight out of the gate.

Spoilers aside however, the film looked gorgeous, this is a really nice style and I'm glad it didn't end up looking cheap or corporate, the world is incredible, I would happily live in any one of the locations shown because they all look amazing. The characters were amazing, all of them, even Pipp and Zipp who I had some issues with from trailers were great characters that I fell in love with. And I grew to love Sunny more than everyone else, despite not being that invested in her from the marketing. Their personalities, connections, emotions and journeys were original and fun and heartwarming. 

The film also made me tear up a little, which automatically makes it a great film.

I also really liked the protagonist, and their song, in fact all the songs were pretty great and two of them are now constantly stuck in my head (the villain song and Pipp's song), and quickly went on my playlist.

Overall a great start for a new generation and I'm excited to see what's next!

[Ganondorf8 11,286]

After watching the movie for myself, I have to say that it wasn't bad, but there were a number of problems that I took issue with. But first, the positives and there are quite a few of these. I loved the animation given how I enjoy CGI and Boulder Media went above and beyond at making everything stand out so well. The designs of the ponies will take some time to get used to but they went with unique designs for most characters as opposed to simply switching heads and bodies around to make new ones as a means of making background characters. We got some pretty cool locations with accompanying landmarks and intricate details so I'm happy about that. It shows how far technology has come if we got to see such a stunning display of animation. The friendships between the characters was genuine and they grew up so much together that I feel confident that they will remain friends for a long time to come. Sunny Starscout's relationship with her father was especially strong and it had me thinking about my own relationship with my father. The characters were strong and even had some callbacks to G4 what with the personalities. Sure they're not the same and can never be, but I feel it was meant to be seen as a homage whilst going in its own direction.

The negatives? This is where things go south. Certain scenes and dialogue were very cringy and made it a chore to watch and I wished these had either been toned down or removed. If I were to watch this movie again, I'm going to skip such moments as I'd rather not experience them a second or even a third time. The voice acting was pretty good though I wish they had used more recognizable voice talent as opposed to going with celebrities. I only recognized two, maybe three of the voice cast which to me unfurls a red flag though I can understand why they did this. Without that star power, not many people were going to want to watch it which is unfortunate that animated movies have to go this way. The songs on a side note were pretty forgetful with some making me question why they were greenlit to be included in the first place.

And the story... This is perhaps the biggest misstep. I know they've got the upcoming series to flesh some of this out, but they should've explained how Equestria became the way it was. We were just thrust into this new iteration without any explanation and it felt so jarring. It's like the plot was missing a massive piece that would bring everything together rather than leave us with questions that currently have no answers to them. Oh, and it was pretty obvious that there was a third crystal if I must bring up one point. When it comes to surprise, this movie didn't really have much of it. It was pretty much by-the-book in terms of how things were going to turn out. You could see it coming a mile away without even trying. Not explaining things is going to come back and bite this new generation in the rear unless they go all out with it later on. Also, Sunny becoming an alicorn was known ahead of time due to a toy revealing this but at least how it happened wasn't spoiled so I can give it a pass.

Another positive was the inclusion of the Mane Six in what I would describe as their final appearance. It was very beautiful despite it being brought to an awkward end by Sprout (On a side note, I will attempt to remember all of the names of the characters though some I've ingrained to memory) and having the main G4 cast reprise their roles was both professional and respectful though in the credits, Twilight was spelt as Twighlight (I'm not going to let this one go for a while), a slight error right there.

Is there potential in G5? Yes despite the problems I noticed. I'm willing to give it a chance as the foundation is a strong one. I know I'm being critical of this movie but then this is what I felt when watching it but then I didn't hate this. Overall, it was okay though it could've been better in some places. Again, they've got a strong foundation in place and now must need to reinforce it and make it stronger so that it can last for as long as Hasbro wishes.

Score: 70%