My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) Reviews

• Great comeback for 2D animation

  ma-435482017-10-04

  I know I speak for a lot of people about wishing for a 2D film to return to the big screen. None of us expected it to be My Little Pony, but don't let the title fool you. The story is a bit simplistic, but the colorful cast of characters and personalities make the adventure worthwhile. The animation really brings these qualities out and is reminiscent of classic Disney movies. The songs are also great; two of them already stuck in my head. This isn't a kids movie just for the parents to groan over. This film gives everyone of all ages something to enjoy. Give it a watch and I'm sure you'll have a great time with it.

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• The movie didn't necessarily make me into a brony but... (possible spoilers)

  latinvspiscator2017-10-04

  The movie is great and is praiseworthy. The animation is engaging to the eye, and it enables to arouse interest in going along with the characters & plot. The characters are great, such that there's a diverse disposition for each array of character. This is probably an exaggeration, once you realize in the end that Fluttershy is voiced also by the same person who voiced Pinkie Pie, and Apple Jack & Rainbow Dash being voiced by one person as well. The main character is Twilight Sparkle (consistent enough with the movie poster), and we get to explore her power as a princess, which is Power of Friendship. The antagonist is a new/guest character named Tempest (Emily Blunt), a disenfranchised pony who has become calloused and driven. If you don't care about My Little Pony at all, Tempest is the powerful character you'd like to watch. The character of Tempest however will take you on a journey to an unexpected destination, because Tempest's interaction with Twilight Sparkle becomes very important. Another antagonist, Stormking is just as important as Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Candence. There is a cat character, Capper, who you'd soon realize is a smooth talking cat. Capper would fall into the male prototype character category in the midst of female characters, worthy of their fancy, disdain and then fancy again. There are various absurd situations (mostly because of Pinky Pie) the characters are put into, and as a group, you are able to assess, compare and contrast the reactions of each member of the group. Again, the animation conveys the situation well, and because of its comical effect, it engages the mind into hilarity. The movie is quite an adventurous one, and would appeal to any audience other than young girls. The plot is a rather good one, and the pacing moves along quite well. For those who have seen adventure films before, one may realize that the movie captures recognizable thrilling, and momentous stages of an adventure. Again, the coloring of each backdrop, background, is lucid & vibrant, with a great use of acute hues. The animation quality of the movie is good; it appears to be a mixture of rotoscoping, mixed with 2D hand animation (I guess by computer). The coloring is with a balanced saturation and hues. I could digress about the movie in its trivialities, but in summary, the movie is great. I enjoy it. It didn't make me into a brony though (that's probably because I don't know what brony really is or what he does).

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• Recommended for all viewers of the show

  charlottemiller-883242017-10-04

  First time reviewing a film . There are some bits that the pace does feel fast but the rest lives up to it's standards. the animation and visuals are amazing and gives the feel of like watching classic Disney films and the 2D works very well with the 3D. The songs are great as well and the voice acting fits very well. Highly recommended film for fans of the show and for family's and younger audience.

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• A worthwhile animated movie

  bakkahentai2017-10-04

  My Little Pony's current iteration has been a strange if not fascinating family friendly product, and their movie continues this trend. Make no mistake, this movie is definitely written mainly with children in mind but with enough thoughtfulness that adults should be able to adequately enjoy it to at least a modest degree. The songs are catchy and worth remembering, and the characters are distinct enough to be memorable. Although the main seven characters are not equally distributed in terms of screen time, they still get enough screen time to remember who they are for even a new watcher. The movie is mainly straight forward with very few twists, but it makes up for it with strong writing. The pacing can be a bit too fast at a couple of points, but only just so. Unlike most current Disney movies, however, the villains are quite straightforward in who they are. If you are a fan of twist villains, you'll be disappointed, but if you enjoy a good villain, you'll enjoy two out of the three villains shown. The weakest member - Grubber - at the very least only suffers from not being funny enough as the comedic sidekick to the serious Tempest. As for the comedy, the movie goes for a more hi jinks, silly comedy with a few deadpan jokes here and there. Don't expect to a lot of sarcastic remarks or much in the way of deprecation towards their series or its ideals. Finally, the soundtrack is quite good. There are six sung songs in the movie and they all keep a different beat and genre. Their distinct style keep them memorable, and not only help progress the plot but explain certain characters in an easily digestible fashion. Overall, it's more of a classical styled Disney movie, and wholly enjoyable to anyone looking for a solidly written film.

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• I believe! I believe!

  warofprogramming2017-10-06

  My Little Pony: The Movie is certainly not the Citizen Kane of animated movies, or the Citizen Kane of animated movies based on toy lines or TV shows. Yet it bears one great distinction. It's the most refreshing experience that I've had in a movie theater for the year of 2017. Simply put, they don't make animated movies like this anymore. In an era that we are experiencing a period of social unrest and chaos in this country that has not been seen since the late 1960s- early 1970s, the last thing a lot of us want to do is to go to a movie not only to feel bad, but also to be lectured on how bad the world is today. This sort of negativity has been creeping into animated films, including last year's Zootopia. I saw this movie at a Thursday night showing, before everyone starting coming in on the weekend. Let me tell you, you should ignore these negative critics, and come in with an open mind like I did. There are various reasons why they don't make animated movies like this anymore. First, what everyone notices, it's done with 2D animation, an art form that a lot of studios gave up for dead just 14 years earlier in favor of CGI. It also features 3D CGI backgrounds, which to some viewers, will contrast to the 2D animation, yet truth be told, wasn't the famous ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast like that? Yet while it looks like it could have been made with pencils and paper, it actually isn't. They upgraded from Flash, used extensively on the TV show this movie was based on, to Toon Boom, a higher end animation software developed in Canada, which was where this film was made. Given that I'm a very tech savvy person and that Adobe is killing off Flash in 2020, I'm not surprised that the production team made this move. The animation is such an improvement from the TV show, it looks more cinematic, and it made me feel like I was watching a Disney or Don Bluth film from the 1990s rather than My Little Pony. The production crew worked under the film's limited budget, which actually gives me hope because budgets get high for animated films these days. Given the fact that Blade Runner cost $150 million and that I believe My Little Pony only cost a fifth of that amount, there's not too much pressure on this film to get a huge opening weekend like Blade Runner. It appears that given merchandise, ticket sales, and social media clicks, this film will actually make money for Hasbro. Speaking of Disney, here's another reason why they don't make animated movies like this anymore. While the story has elements very evocative of Disney, including the story (kingdom sets up festival, bad guys come to take over, princess goes on a journey to save her land, songs that move the plot, meeting new allies on their journey, defeating the bad guys, celebrating, and roll credits), there are several story elements that Disney doesn't use anymore. First and foremost, a dark villain that stays throughout the entire movie. Disney used to have a lot of these in their films, now they just cop out and give us surprise villains, such as a prince or a sheep. They also used to have funny little villain sidekicks, now with these surprise villains, they are virtually nonexistent. This film has a funny little villain sidekick, and when he gets screen time, he's pretty fun to watch. Also, unlike many of the new Disney and Pixar movies, the villains, along with several bits of imagery in this film, can actually be kind of scary, which is more than what I can say for the people who make those Despicable Me movies. Third, and most importantly, the film refuses to make cheap jokes, obnoxious pop culture references, and preachy political statements. The recently released Emoji Movie, which proudly sits at the Bottom 100 on IMDb, is an example of all three, judging from what I have heard from people who saw it. My Little Pony: The Movie offers real escapism, which is something that a lot of these recent movies have lacked in the last 3 years. The first movies I ever saw in a theater were The Lion King and Toy Story, and both those movies had stunning imagery, captivated me, and made me want to go to those worlds. Watching My Little Pony: The Movie in a theater made me feel like that kid again. It's an escape. The people that made this film, Hasbro, Lionsgate, and DHX Media are very much like Peter Pan whisking us off to Neverland. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, these animated movies, but there's enough elements in here to satisfy both existing fans of the show and newcomers. My mom, who isn't even a fan of the show and is not really into animation, watched the movie with me and she found it to be delightful. Speaking of, this film is an absolute delight for anyone ages 2-110. Even if you're not into animation or My Little Pony, you'll still find something to like in this film because it is filling with innocence. I would really like that kind of innocence to be brought back to the movies. Why would you hate something that is cute? It could have been an hour and a half feature length toy commercial, but instead acts much like a fine Disney movie made during the 90s. Two words I can end this fabulous review on: I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE!

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