Review of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks (2014) by Duncan P — 28 Sep 2014

Where the first one could only really be justified as a flawed, cheesy guilty pleasure that I probably enjoyed way, way too much (I will stand by the 5 star rating I gave it, much as others may disagree - the payoff of Rainbow Rocks from that initial build-up more than justifies it), the second Equestria Girls is up there with some of the best parts of the show, even if it's just part of what could be called a derivative sub-series. From extremely catchy, actually rocking music, to yet more villains inspired by Greek mythology, to rapid-fire gags and sequences that will bring a smile to any hardcore fan with the overload of in-references and in-jokes, it shows that the staff really can make anything work fantastically. And those Dazzlings song sequences? Brilliantly choreographed.

Interestingly, speaking of nudges to the fans, there are some very subtle nods towards sexuality - two characters oft-paired by fans are implied very subtly at one point to be a lesbian couple (only hardcore fans would catch this one though), and Adagio has a certain bisexual sexual tension around her, specifically seen in her interactions with other characters during the song "Let's Have a Battle" - light, seductive touches are given to characters of both genders. This could be reading too much into it, and I'd agree in the case of the former, but I'm not totally convinced that it is in the case of the latter.

It's ultimately not going to make a stick of sense to anyone who isn't at least passingly familiar with the mythos, but for the hardcore fan, it's a brilliant inter-season interlude that improves on the first film, adding more depth to thing there. I still wish we'd a movie with the actual ponies, but no matter.