Equestria Girls

[Two-of-Hearts 168]

Yes I enjoyed the movie. No not stellar but definitely enjoyable; it plays like an extra long episode with a few more bells and whistles than normal, and while it doesn’t break the mold of a typical episode I’d say it fills it comfortably enough.

 

My expectations going in were low. I was firmly against the whole premise from the beginning. I hated the human character designs; to me they looked too much like Bratz Dolls, which have always evoked feelings of visceral hatred in me. Worse was the whole high school thing… I hated high school. I watched Star Wars, and played Warhammer, and other other-worldy geeky pursuits because that was my REFUGE from high school, my escape. And now they were taking these pony characters that I’ve learned to love and cherish… and interjecting them into that environment, basically turning them into stereotypes to sell toys, well it just seemed like poison from the start.

 

But I got objective, I watched it, and it was good. Key I think is that the characters never seemed to quite fall into the stereotype mold that I was afraid they were falling into. The characters were the same despite their new outward appearances; their souls were present and intact. That mostly only applies to the Mane 6 though. Criticisms about Flash and Sunset being underdeveloped I think are fair… though… there was just enough in them that I accepted them in the end.

 

For Sunset it was the part where we see pictures of her from freshmen to junior year, her freshmen year she has the crown and has this expression like, ‘oh this is cool,’ then sophomore year she has the crown again and she thinks ‘oh this suits me,’ then by junior year she’s become tyrannical about the whole prom princess thing and she’s laughing manically… it was funny and it also showed her path to the dark side in a weird way.  

 

As for Flash. The part I liked was when Twilight tells him she can’t go to the dance with him (because she has to get back to the portal). Twilight runs off and Flash, dejected, says ‘one no would have been enough.’  …Here we had the handsome prom king, he can have any girl he wants, and here he is… getting rejected by the geeky girl. It was a weirdly inverted moment. It made me feel strangely closer to Flash. It made me ask: ‘why are you even going after the geeky girl?’ which just made me think… well maybe there is more to Flash than meets the eye. And yes I am a Twilight/Flash (Flashlight?) hopeful… but we are going to have to round out that character some more young man.

 

So yeah, it felt like a good multipart episode in movie form, and it definitely provided a much needed between season fix.

 

 

Meghan McCarthy @MMeghanMcCarthy Answer to #EquestriaGirls question I have a feeling i’ll be getting a lot today: Flash Sentry is not a character in #MLPFiM season 4.

 

 

Thats too bad. Yeah he did need some serious character building but I think there was potential for him, and I was actually kind of intrigued by the FlashLight relation.

Edited July 2, 2013 by Two-of-Hearts

[Yellow Diamond 7,561]

I finally used broke down emotionally and used illicit means to watch Equestra Girls. So sue me (Hasbro: "We will!); finding a theater showing the movie is less of a problem than the irregular times it is being shown. I wanted to be privy to the story for a number of reasons, one of which is my attendance at BronyCon. I figure that I'd rather see the movie as opposed to either desperately seeking to avoid spoilers or relying mostly on hearsay. I suppose I should buy the Blu-ray/DVD as part of my act of penance.

 

The movie was fairly predictable on the whole, but no more so than most MLP episodes. Some movies are meant to be complicated; others are not. I always preach execution over and above how much you can twist the plot around to keep viewers on their toes. (Case in point: Reindeer Games, a movie that tried too hard at being clever). Writing a story to fool the audience in and of itself is as bad as appealing to the lowest common denominator. I can enjoy The Avengers and Inception for very different reasons, but execution ultimately determines why those films were so successful.

 

Bearing this facet in mind, Equestria Girls is a solid 1 hour MLP episode. I still hold "A Canterlot Wedding" to be the gold standard of MLP storytelling; nevertheless Equestria Girls establishes its premise and generally executes well. The dialogue and interactions are very strong; in spite of the fact that Spike spends most of the movie as a dog, he excels in his role as Twilight's assistant, confidant, and the audience surrogate. The bad taste left in my mouth from Season 3 Spike (more specifically, "Spike at Your Service") was nonexistent during the course of the movie. His often candid remarks were among the best of the spoken dialogue.

 

The rest of the human!Mane Six fit their roles nicely. The movie is really intended to focus on Twilight, and Meghan McCarthy utilized the presence of Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack to accentuate the storyline. I don't recall thinking of their behavior as out of character, a pitfall the writing team could have fallen into thanks to the fact they were humanized and living in a different world. At the same time, the differences between the worlds were respected. It wasn't terribly nuanced, but we aren't watching the movie for heavy character development beyond what is already known about them.

 

One gripe I do have is that Rainbow felt especially lost in the shuffle. Each of the other members of the human!Mane Six more or less had natural roles in assisting Twilight: Fluttershy elaborates on the central conflict; Pinkie Pie allows Twilight to take part in the central conflict; and Rarity and Applejack accentuate the underlying tension between the girls. Rainbow is mostly absent during this process. She and AJ make up in a matter of seconds. The transition to Rainbow did not feel especially smooth. Aside from the Elements of Magic requiring all six of them to work together, is there really any purpose RD serves? She really is written like the odd pony person out in the story.

 

In the end, however, Flash Sentry takes home the prize for least developed yet most critically important figure in the story. I'm fine with the school heartthrob helping the less than popular mane main heroine, but much of what he does (e.g., exonerating Twilight by exposing the doctored pictures) could have been performed by most any other character. It was as though Hasbro wanted Twilight to have a crush on some high school dreamboat, yet Meghan McCarthy and the crew decided there would only be ship tease. For all the hoopla surrounding Flash Sentry, his involvement wasn't much of anything. I suppose that is mostly a good thing, all things considered.

 

One character who did not feel out of place was Sunset Shimmer. She was played up nicely as the alpha bitch who ran Canterlot High. Upon reflection, I sort of wish she had gotten a villain song a la Faux Cadance (Chrysalis). A musical number would have worked nicely as an avenue by which to explain why exactly she wanted to march on Equestria with her army of teenage students. Granted, Sunset Shimmer's motives did not require a ton of exposition; but when you turn into a nasty demon creature using Twilight's crown thingy, that raises a lot of questions. Perhaps Spike should have made like Alfred in The Dark Knight Rises and drudged up information off-screen about how Sunset Shimmer was excommunicated by Ra's al Ghul Princess Celestia. More seriously speaking, however, the lack of background for Sunset Shimmer is not so awful. She had a part and played it well. We're just left with a lot of speculation, though.

 

Moving away from characters, I appreciate the fact that the high school setting was not magnified. Said differently, the central conflicts were not necessarily constrained to high school problems. Popularity contests, perceptions of status, and interpersonal strife are problems you can encounter anywhere in life. Equestria Girls retained those elements without devolving into a complete high school drama. The human!Mane Six in high school did not detract from the story for me.

 

The ending proved to be one of the weaker aspects of the story. Similar to "A Canterlot Wedding", the climax had to be resolved fairly quickly. This meant the ultimate clash between Sunset Shimmer and Twilight was extremely brief. Such seems to be the case when the narrative is left with a few loose ends -- not that I thought the high school dance was necessarily a point which required much attention. ("One of the students temporarily transformed into a demon and jacked up the school. Let's party!") MLP seems to suffer most from rushed resolutions. Perhaps that will change in Season 4?

 

All in all, Equestria Girls was a fun, campy movie in the endearing MLP. It certainly was not as awful as many Bronies wanted to believe.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Really awesome movie!

 

I even caught some references along the way. There was a "Show Stoppers" reference and an Applebuck Season reference. Oh, and did anypony hear a Wilhelm scream?

 

Twilight's wingboners were really cute. 

 

Overall, it was a really great movie. I was looking forward to it all along. 

[Mr. Forest 135]

I really enjoyed. Granted, it's not as good as the best FiM episodes, but overall I would say EG is just as good as the whole series. I do having my problems with it, but the good far out weighs the bad. I give it a 8/10.

Edited July 3, 2013 by Thoix Heoro

[Horses and Horses 91]

I thought the movie was great. Like many have said, the ending was pretty cheesy. If they had just altered a few lines in the beginning and had celestia mention that the elements of harmony only work in equestria, then at the end they should have had Twilight come to a realization that they exist everwhere. Instead of making it cheesy by saying that the power came from the magic of friendship, she could have been more specific and said that the elements of harmony, and their power, exist here too and stuff. meh I dont know.

Still an awesome movie though

[Untitled Goose Q 5,136]

I was a little sceptical to start with. But I enjoyed it in the end.

 

And to those complaining the plot was obvious... Of course it was. All stories follow the same basic pattern. Plus, it is aimed at kids.

[Twi Rubix 726]

I was skeptical for a very long time about EG. Ever since I saw the first trailer, I think it was a huge, missed opportunity for a theatrical movie. Mainly because I originally thought it was gonna be a typical high school film with a unoriginal and boring plot, AND they were all humans. The connection did not work for me.

 

But despite all that, I decided to watch it just today on YouTube. (Because there were absolutely no theaters I could find where EG was showing.) And you know what? I really liked it.

 

I'm not gonna go deep into it because I don't think I need to, but the movie was good with humorous jokes and such. The plot, while not entirely original, was not as bad as I thought it would be. I like how Twilight had to learn to act like a human by using her hands, and walking on two feet. I cannot say I was surprised Snips and Snails were slaves to Sunset Shimmer like they were with Trixie. The jokes had that same style we see in the show, and it did have me laughing alot.  The ending, yeah it was cheesy, but it was satisfying enough. I liked how there were some moments where I was actually caught off guard, but I'll go into detail about that in a sec. The songs were great too. I probably gained a favorite during the movie. The movie as a whole was pretty good for me, and I enjoyed it.

 

Now I'd like to talk about the parts I did not expect...

 

Twilight telling the girls she's from another world.

 

I thought of this in the back of my head, but I know they wouldn't actually do that, but... They did. I was curious on why she would actually think of that, and how they would believe her. But I suppose Pinkie's "hunch" and Spike talking convinced them enough. I found it a little weird that was their primary source of motivation from helping Twi from there on out, but... I don't know. Something just rubs me the wrong way about that. By the end of the movie, the whole school now knows about the portal to Equestria, and none of them will actually try to get in the next time it opens? (However long 30 moons is. That's like, 30 days, right?)

 

The climax.

 

Seriously, I was honestly shocked. Sunset puts on the crown, and she... Turns into a demon... Or something. I don't really see why she turned into one, or why the crown had some kind of dark power inside of it. Someday, I'd like a bit more explanation on that one.

 

Flash Sentry and Twilight.

 

Didn't really expect for Twi to have a love interest in the movie. I think it was cute how she always blushed and was shy towards him, but when she returns to Equestria, we see that there is a pony exactly like Sentry. Megan confirmed that Sentry will not be a character in S4, so what does this mean? Twilight obviously likes Sentry, but he will not be in the upcoming season. Will she just forget him? And no, I don't really enjoy Twilight having a love interest because I think it'll have something negative on the show. It's about Twilight making friends, and the "magic" of friendship, but when someone likes someone else, it gets more personal, and I just don't like the idea of Twilight liking someone, but that's just me.

 

So those were all my thoughts on Equestria Girls. Good movie, I liked it.

[shocker1991 32]

Like most people here, I was a little bit sceptical after seeing the trailer but it was actually much better than I thought it would be.

 

I liked the references to the earlier seasons such as "I'm Fluttershy..." and the show stoppers. I also think Spike was at his best in this movie as I felt he had the funniest moments along with human Pinkie.

 

One thing I didn't like was near the end with demon Sunset. Don't get me wrong, I liked the idea of Sunset turning into a demon but it was resolved way too quickly and it felt like it was added into the movie at the last minute.

 

I am a little bit disappointed that Meghan confirmed that Flash Sentry won't be in season four as I felt they had an opportunity to go further into his character.

 

Overall, I think Equestria girls was a good movie with plenty of funny moments, references and some catchy songs even though the battle with Sunset was too short.

[Radiance64 7,051]

Sigh...

Alright, so my impatience led to me watching this movie in a way that I'm not proud of, but I guess that's my problem, the point is that I saw it.

Now, I had high hopes for this movie, I didn't think it would be amazing but since the team we all know and love was working on it I knew it had to at least be moderately entertaining... turns out my estimate was correct, for the most part. Spoilers ahead.

First off, the set-up for the plot seemed kind of rushed. Okay, so suddenly Celestia has a disgruntled former student who went to live in another dimension inside a mirror who just happened to come out of it at the right time when Twilight was there to steal her crown? Yeah, it sounds far-fetched because it is, but whatever.

I think the good parts of the movie really started when Twilight actually entered the mirror though, her trying to adjust to her new human body was surprisingly very hilarious. I really liked the character designs in motion as well, sure the skin colors are weird save for a few characters but they were fun to watch. I also really liked one of the songs, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Now, even though I did enjoy the general flow of the movie, looking back there was a lot amiss and left to be desired- for one, if the characters are in a school, why no classes? If they wanted Twilight to learn more about that world that probably would have been a better way to montage it rather than just putting her in a library like they did, either a missed opportunity or laziness. I don't think the characters should have had their pony names as humans either, in practice here it just seemed too coincidental and out of place. The fact that they all just became friends with Twilight, accepted her when she(or Pinkie, rather) told them the truth, and outright just blasted Sunset Shimmer with friendship power was just too convenient, I mean I know it's supposedly a parallel world but it all shouldn't have been that easy for her imo. Also, while I did enjoy the cameos, seeing characters like the CMC in high school and Photo Finish still in school was a little messed up imo. Lastly, while the song 'Helping Twilight Win the Crown' was pretty damn great, the rest of the music was kind of generic, and I found it extremely weird that most of it was not sang by the characters but rather just played over montages and whatnot, it wasn't right for MLP.

Despite those negatives though, I did enjoy the movie. The general flow and pacing was good and the animation was as top notch as ever, plus it had some great and funny moments and at least one amazing song. It could have been way, way better and has issues and missed opportunities(putting the actual Equestria Girls song with its own animation somewhere would have been cool, for instance), it's still worth seeing for bronies I believe. If I had to give it a score, it'd be 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Edited July 4, 2013 by SBB64

[Crystallize 279]

I really didn't want to like it. I was one of the people who absolutely opposed this and I thought the idea was kind of silly and seeing the trailer only made me dislike it even more. Then I watched it and I can say it was MUCH better than I thought. In fact, it was actually really enjoyable. I'll admit I was wrong to judge it so early and though I don't want to say it, I actually really did like it.

[flare blitz 0]

I loved it it was wonderful it was funny when pinkie knew what everything was when it was happening. and twilight when she first tried walking in the human world.

[DJBrony 0]

it was ok i mean not much ppl liked it but i really enjoyed is and the script is good but i dont really like the high school setting other than that i think you should watch it if you have not! :mlp-dawhyeah:

[Dzastur 1,719]

And what the hell is up with Spike and rarity (Bestiality going on?)

 

Nah - just a lil puppy love.

 

But I think it's safe to say Spike will file instances like these under "best moments ever" in his life journal...

 

Edited July 8, 2013 by John Mellenclop

[Coffey 5]

Well, despite my various friends' reactions to the movie all falling along the lines of "give me that wasted time back"

 

I found that movie to be very good. In fact, I think it's fair to say it sparked my love for the show again.

 

That said, this was a one time thing- I don't want to ever see anything that has to do with this again. No more affiliation with the show, nothing. Not even a mention from the staff. :III

[TunesScratch 11]

I think that the fandom overreacted a little,The movie had a good base and storyline.It was new funny in most parts and was very entertaining.I am a person who cannot stand people acting like morons in scenes and this was full of them!That isn't going to change my view about the movie though.I thought It was well made and it deserves more good attention to it rather then throwing it out because it isn't exactly "100% pony".I would give it a 7.5/10 but because of Derpy being in it I will boost it up to 8.2/10,This was an enjoyable show and I really liked it,I hope you do too!

[Bucky McGillyCuddy 956]

I finally got around to watching it last night and man did I enjoy it (just like I thought I would). I would watch an Equestria Girls TV series into the ground if it ever happened. 

 

It was strange though, about 3 quarters into the movie when Twilight was in the change-room looking into the mirror and seeing her pony self reflecting back I got so used to seeing her in Human form that when I saw her pony reflection I thought it looked strange. I guess relating to a human character develops a lot faster than it does for non-human characters (obviously).

[Child Of Darkness 285]

As a review maker, I have watch the movie a few times over to get a more in depth study of it. Every time I watch it I focus on one character, and here is my review for: My little pony Equesrtia Girls. The plot of the movie is simple and easy to understand because of its targeted viewers, but this is good because you can fully understand what is going on with little speculations of the story, but it also makes the story line a bit predictable, so all in all a good plot. Characters here have changed in the way they look and nothing else, the mane 6 are still them selves, just as humans. Sunset shimmer, well all that can be said for her is that she is self obsesed and spoiled, her motives are shallow with nothing to drive her than to get what she wants, by any means. So she is not the most Original Antagonist, and she is not the best. Setting, high school, nothing more can be said, Humor, is their and it does get a good laugh out of you, their are moments that are boring but they all tie into the story. Songs, their there but non are as noticable or good as, Helping twilight win the crown, (which also features derpy if you look carfuly), so not the best music and songs compared to the animated show. All in all the movie gets 7/10, good to watch,a good laugh, boring parts and a bad antagonist. If I have missed of anything you think is worth mentioning, let me know os I can improve my reviews.

[PonyBoy15 428]

Like many other fans, I was very skeptical about this film, especially being so used to watching the series. I thought it was an unnecessary risk on Hasbro's part. I watched every episode to date and didn't want to stop there, so I ended up watching it. My fear was not liking the plot, them being humans, and just a whole different aspect from the main series. But guess what, I ended up liking it.

Mainly because the characters interacted with each other the same ways as they do in the main storyline. It was also fun looking in the background and trying to recognize the doppelgangers of the pony universe.

 

Most importantly, the film reminded me of my high school days. I graduated high school almost 3 years ago and just watching the girls interact in high school brought back memories. It made me want to re-live my high school days hahah and made me wish I had participated more in after school activities. For those of you still in high school, live it up! Cause you can't go back lol. 

 

I give the movie a 8.5/10 and recommend mlp fans to give it a shot.

Edited July 11, 2013 by PonyBoy15

[Envy 5,998]

So I watched it around a week ago, but I haven't posted about it for some reason... I didn't dislike it. When I first heard of it I could not believe that they were actually doing it, but when I watched it I was happy that it was made to not be just a random human MLP spin-off, they added it into the story and made it actually MLP instead of a spin-off. That helps me rest at night. I was also glad that they didn't go with the anthropomorphic designs (welll... You know what I mean!), even though they kept the colors, the mane 6's alternate versions actually didn't look out of place in that form.

 

But the Twilight having a crush thing... That... MLP:FiM is supposed to be about friendship, not romance!

Edited July 12, 2013 by Envy

[RockinRarity 1,605]

MLP:FiM is supposed to be about friendship, not romance!

 

I don't think that having a teeny tiny romantic subplot is equal to being "about romance."

 

The movie was still about friendship, but it had a dash of romance. The friendship was the cake, the fanservice was the icing, and the romance was the sprinkles.

 

And besides, Flash and Twilight were still friends. Not super close friends - they barely knew each other. But they knew enough and they could trust each other if they needed help with something. You can be friends with your crush.

Edited July 12, 2013 by RockinRarity

[Guest]

I really didn't feel good about this after watching the trailer, but I still wanted to watch it (curiosity...).

 

So, the first few minutes were like any MLP episode, nothing special about them.

The intro song... I was surprised at first but I still liked it.

 

Then, onto the movie itself.

I didn't like the way the humans looked, but I guess I got used to it. I feared how they had humanized some characters, and I was right about at least one (Poor Big Mac...).

 

The storyline was predictable, but there was not much to expect since it's still directed at a younger audience.

 

I really loved the songs, as usual in the rest of the series. Also those subtle references, like Scootaloo doing the chicken dance

 

The ending was a *bit* weird though, I mean Sunset becoming a weird monster/demon/thingy and the Mane6 into pony hybrids...

 

But still, overall, I really loved that movie. In fact, if they did a spin-off series about Canterlot High, I would totally watch it.

 

*sudden thought :

Wait... I just watched the entire series and Equestria Girls... I'll have to wait until season 4 like everypony else I hoped it would last longer...

[NavelColt 22,876]

I got around to watching it again via Youtube's remaining leaks of it from theaters with my friend @@Flutterdasher, who lives right down the hall from me. She had seen all of S4, but still hadn't seen Equestria Girls. Happy to say she loved it, utterly and completely; planning to buy the DVD when it comes out, which I'll most likely be doing as well. But, I'm sure she'd be happy to give more details on her thoughts, herself As for me, I'm happy to say I enjoyed it even more than I did the first time.

 

I particularly loved Human Dashie even more than I had before. I suppose it's due to the 'watch first to see what happens, watch it again to enjoy the details, humor and atmosphere of the situations' principle, which, though not universal, is true for a lot of people.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WUskZqMuf8

[GrooveBroove 680]

Saw it in theaters a week ago.

Funny enough I was the only person in there aside from a family of 4 that came in 10 minutes after it started.

 

Anyway I liked it. Definitely was not the end of the fandom like other said it would be. If I had any complaints it would all be directed at the final showdown. Mainly because it was a bit odd, especially sunset shimmers "evil" design. Regardless of that its still worth a watch for any fan. Hopefully well see another MLP movie hit theaters.

[Kawaii Besu 28,009]

Just watched it, was pretty good! Though, I think the songs in FIM are a little bit more underrated than Equestria Girls, though.

[NightOwl 911]

I saw Equestria Girls online a few days ago and I really liked it! I loved the music, animations and it was pretty interesting to see the characters as humans overall I give it a solid 7/10 very good .