Review of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (2013) by Craig M — 22 Jun 2013

Oh boy, Equestria Girls. The bane of My Little Pony's existence. The death of the show as we know it! THE END OF PONYKIND, EQUESTRIA, AND THE FABRIC OF EVERYTHING THAT CURRENTLY OR WILL SOON EXIST!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

OOOOOooooookay. I was not fond of the idea of EqG at first, never hated it, just did not see the point. Over time I really grew fond of it. It started as slight interest, then it became a 'I MUST SEE THIS!!'' film for me. I was still worried about it being bad though. The setting was a bit....meh, that being a typical High School setting, the plot was very basic, and just the idea of our favorite ponies being human did bring a bad taste to my mouth. Well, I finally seen it. I had my tissues ready for when I would eventually cry at the bastardization that the EVIL Hasbro has done to our beloved show. The result....."Spoiler alert", it was fantastic.

Speaking of spoilers, there may be spoilers in this review, but I will try my best to limit them. ;).

I mentioned the plot earlier...well, what is the plot?! I will tell you the plot. In the case that you do not know, Twilight is now a princess. She and her friends stay at the Crystal Empire (for an event that thanks to my bad memory, I don't remember). Sunset Shimmer, a former student of Princess Celestia, steals Twilight's crown/Element of Harmony. She goes into this mysterious portal that leads into another world, populated by humans. She then has to go into the portal to retrieve her lost crown and save these two worlds from an unknown threat.

Now let me start off with the first thing I loved about the movie. It stayed true to the original show, for the most part. The animation is spot on, the characters are spot on, the expressions, the colors, it is all great. Given that it is done by the same talent who makes Friendship is Magic, that should be no surprise, but I was actually very surprised that they pulled it off this well. The other thing, was the amount of characters within the pony world that they showed. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Big Mac, Snips and Snails, just to name a few. There were plenty of shoutouts to the original show and it shows that the writers are keeping the fandom in mind, which is fantastic. The next thing, were the songs. There were a decent amount and in some ways they might seem cliche, but I found them to be very enjoyable. It helps move the plot along at a good pace and helps establish scenes that would have otherwise been a bit boring, potentially.

The characters, even their human counterparts, were very well done. The way that the characters were shown with all of the stuff that WE know, such as the Internet, cell phones, computers, lead to some very funny moments with Twilight and even the other mane 5, who in this world know how to use these devices. The personalities of most of the characters are spot on, even some that appear for a small amount of time. They will all make you laugh just as they made us laugh in FiM. Pinkie is still random, Fluttershy is still, um, shy, and Rarity is still overly dramatic. The conversion of the characters is great and they did not miss a beat, for most of them. The names are not changed as well.

The setting itself is rather plain, but it works. It really does. It is a high school setting, but really, Equestria has school as well, so this is not a completely alien concept. In some ways, it is cliche, but what can you expect? With what it was, it was done much better than I originally anticipated.

The animation, as I said, fantastic, as expected. Studio B was still able to keep those great, vibrant colors and expressions in the other humanly world.

Now, were there flaws with the film? Yes, there were flaws, as with most films, but I was able to look past them. What were they? One, the pace. It wasn't perfect. Some parts went by a bit too fast. One part in particular seemed a bit forced, just to advance the plot. Luckily it was still funny. Two, a few of the characters were not represented all too well. Snips and Snails were the biggest here, they just seemed a bit too evil. They are gullible, but in the original show, they never went to the point of harming others. The others, were Celestia and Luna. Luna does not get much screen time and Celestia does not get much more, but they seemed a bit.....plain, more than they are in the show itself. Celestia just seemed to have an expression of being unimpressed throughout most of the movie. The only other flaw, in my opinion, was the near the end, but this is a smaller flaw. It went by really fast and it was very simple. I still liked the ending, but it could have a been a bit better.

I can safely say though, I can ignore these flaws. This movie is not perfect, in some ways cliche, and may not have been fully realized in some areas, but it was incredibly enjoyable. I enjoyed it from start to finish. Also, the way Alicorn Twilight was portrayed was fantastic as well. I am a huge fan of the Princess Twilight thing and this film made me love it even more, if that is even possible.

Let me be clear, if you do not like FiM, you will probably not like this movie. Beyond that, I think most will enjoy it. The original outcry from other bronies was incredibly pathetic and now that I have seen the film, it was very unwarranted. Many people do not like change. People do not want their beloved show that they have grown accustomed to changed, probably for many reasons. Change can be a great thing though. It can open up new possibilities, adventures, and plot ideas. This, is an example of an adventure. It is a fun little ride that will not disappoint you, at least, I hope not. It begins on a good note, ends on a good note, has many nice little tributes to the original show and to the original plot of the show, and it was just fun. On top of all of what I have said, the movie shows that the writers are able to handle the Princess Twilight subject very well, which is another bright spot for the show's future. If you can, I highly suggest seeing it. Many have accused Hasbro of starting to wrap their hooves around the show and take control over it to sell more toys. This movie has been a prime subject among some bronies for this theory. Well, the original show was more than likely made for the selling of toys as well and we kinda know how that went. This movie is really no different. It is not AS good as the original show, but it is damn close. If you are skeptical, as many might be, give it a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised. :).