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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic season 5 |OT| 100+ episodes and better than ever!
- Thread starter SigmasonicX
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wookieofdoom
Member
Lol.
Friendship Games was pretty good. Felt weird having Twilight go all evil at the end, but meh. It was a pretty enjoyable finale. Sunset was freaking badass. She totally tore Twilight a new one. Also, poor Flash this movie. Gets cock blocked twice and you never see him again..ha.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
That's the one big flaw of the movie for me. She was not set up to go full villain at the end. Someone with power she could not control? Sure. But demon like Sunset? Nope. I think they should have made her more arrogant and competitive like the rest of her school (and even like her Brother). Have her slowly learn to open up to these strangers she meets, but still want to win and learn what's going on.
Strider_Blaze
Member
Yeah I gotta say while I enjoyed Friendship Games, it sadly had a tough act to follow in Rainbow Rocks. And as a person who enjoyed the climax out of the 3 EqG films, Twilight going all evil was pretty sudden.
And Canada apparently aired the whole film including the credits; as a person who watched the U.S. airing, damn infomercials! Those credits image are funny as hell. All I can do now is wait for it to be added on Netflix.
And Canada apparently aired the whole film including the credits; as a person who watched the U.S. airing, damn infomercials! Those credits image are funny as hell. All I can do now is wait for it to be added on Netflix.
UberTag
Member
There are some basic criticisms to be found for the Friendship Games. The musical numbers were largely flat and uninspired. Especially during the opening and ending credits (which have been stalwarts in previous EQ installments). Principal Cinch wasn't that compelling of an antagonist... simply obsessing over winning a silly competition and blackmailing Dougworld Twilight to do it. The stakes of the conflict were barely explained. Twilight's amulet was simply sucking up magic powers like a vacuum cleaner / Ghostbuster proton pack for no explicable reason and ripping tears into Equestria (no stakes on that side, either). Most of the Crystal Prep characters were undeveloped apart from Sour Sweet's overdone gimmick.
So yeah... definitely a significant step back from Rainbow Rocks. Didn't help that they largely rehashed the central theme of that film of putting one person in charge of solving a specific problem and them exasperating at not being able to solve it until the end. (I'm not buying that the teaser at the ending had anything to do with S5's finale, either... I could be wrong about that, though.)
So yeah... definitely a significant step back from Rainbow Rocks. Didn't help that they largely rehashed the central theme of that film of putting one person in charge of solving a specific problem and them exasperating at not being able to solve it until the end. (I'm not buying that the teaser at the ending had anything to do with S5's finale, either... I could be wrong about that, though.)
I wonder if maybe one of the issues with the film was that there isn't really much of a villain. Twilight becomes one at the last minute, and Cinch tends to act villainous, but she hardly gets enough screen time to make it stick.
How about this for a scenario: Cinch takes a much bigger part in the story, threatening and bullying Twilight at every turn. Pump up the idea of Twilight being coerced into stealing magic for Crystal Prep to use in the games, and have Cinch tormenting her throughout the movie. Then at the end, rework the finale so that instead of just going power mad, she snaps and turns her powers on Cinch. Cue Sunset powering up to confront her, calm her down and talk her out of what she's doing. Cinch is given the boot, and Twilight has a legit reason for transferring away from Crystal Prep.
It'd be a pretty non-destructive change, but I think it'd help solve a lot of little issues. Twilight won't just be wandering around sucking up magic for no good reason like a doofus anymore, Cinch will become a more active, central villain, and the emotional pay-off at the end will be more personal and satisfying.
Maybe.
SigmasonicX
Member
I decided to watch Friendship Games first, and I'll watch "Made in Manehattan" later today.
My first time watching an Equestria Girls movie spoil-free, and it was pretty meh. The movie was a clear downgrade from Rainbow Rocks, and may even be worse than the first movie, which at least had the "Twilight figuring out how to act human" scenes. This movie didn't even have many scenes of side character shenanigans.
It was weird how the movie kept on spinning its wheels. We didn't even get the preliminaries of the Games until about halfway through. Twilight kept on running into the heroes and absorbing their magic, not noticing that she's doing so until meeting Fluttershy (despite Pinkie having been right in front of her), and her reaction to portals opening up isn't to panic or demand an explanation from the heroes, but to just continue on her merry way. Fluttershy noticed the portals opening up, but didn't think it was worth telling Sunset and the others for some reason. Twilight and Sunset just never got around to talking until it was too late for no reason.
In general, the magic situation was so weird. First of all, the concern was about magic making it seem like they're cheating, not the fact that it exists at all. Twilight built a device to analyze the magic but it just somehow also absorbs it, without Twilight even knowing how it works?! The reaction to the portals opening up and plant monsters attacking during motocross was amazingly subdued, with no panicking at all, everyone continuing to participate in the event, everyone just cheering at the end of the event, and everyone just happily moving on to the next event. The ponies in Equestria would have had a stronger reaction, and they're used to random magic events!
Speaking of the Games, what the hell was with those events?! I can kind of get not saying what the events are beforehand, but then all of the preliminary events were non-athletic, yet that was used to select participants for the solely athletic main events. It was intentionally set up so that the athletic competition would be underwhelming! Both teams had to have someone bad at archery on the archery team as a result, and Canterlot didn't put either of their good runners on the track team! The actual main event was pretty lame. What little we saw of the Equestria Games was more interesting. And why were there so few people in the stands? I'm pretty sure the first movie had more people in crowd shots and at the dance, so there must be more students than that.
Despite the emphasis on the rivalries in the marketing and opening credits, it was almost completely absent from this movie. There was only one part that even hinted that the Crystal Prep students were supposed to be counterparts to the heroes, when they were lining up after Sunset tried to talk to Twilight, but nothing came out of it. Even during the archery scene, it didn't seem like the girl with Twilight was meant to be a counterpart to anyone, but rather was just a generic mean character. There were neat looking shots of Sunset and Twilight facing off in the songs, with their hair moving in the wind, but that wasn't their relationship in the rest of the film at all.
Sunset's conflict in the film wasn't as interesting or as developed as Twilight's similar one in the previous film, or of course, her own conflict in the previous film.
And we've officially gone Digimon Frontier (season 4) with everyone channeling all their power into just one member of the team (well, two in Digimon) and that member taking on the villain alone. It was amusing how anime it was, but the final battle was definitely a huge downgrade from the one in Rainbow Rocks. And no one was turning into a pony as they fell through the dimensional cracks? What a wasted opportunity for visual gags!
The last scene was cute, though jeez Twilight, way to spoil the season finale.
The songs were OK. The band song was decent and I liked the design of the band leader girl. I wasn't really feeling "Unleash the Magic" until Twilight started singing, where it got pretty good. I can't really remember the other songs, other than the fact that Twilight's "I want" song broke the pattern of every previous Equestria Girls song either being a voice-over played over a montage or a song actually sung in-universe that everyone semi-realistically reacts to. Unless Twilight sings at Crystal Prep so often that no one even reacts anymore.
Despite my complaints, it was still OK, with a fair amount of funny and cute moments. And very little Brad, with no actual romance, so that's good. But again, it's the worst of the three movies.
My first time watching an Equestria Girls movie spoil-free, and it was pretty meh. The movie was a clear downgrade from Rainbow Rocks, and may even be worse than the first movie, which at least had the "Twilight figuring out how to act human" scenes. This movie didn't even have many scenes of side character shenanigans.
It was weird how the movie kept on spinning its wheels. We didn't even get the preliminaries of the Games until about halfway through. Twilight kept on running into the heroes and absorbing their magic, not noticing that she's doing so until meeting Fluttershy (despite Pinkie having been right in front of her), and her reaction to portals opening up isn't to panic or demand an explanation from the heroes, but to just continue on her merry way. Fluttershy noticed the portals opening up, but didn't think it was worth telling Sunset and the others for some reason. Twilight and Sunset just never got around to talking until it was too late for no reason.
In general, the magic situation was so weird. First of all, the concern was about magic making it seem like they're cheating, not the fact that it exists at all. Twilight built a device to analyze the magic but it just somehow also absorbs it, without Twilight even knowing how it works?! The reaction to the portals opening up and plant monsters attacking during motocross was amazingly subdued, with no panicking at all, everyone continuing to participate in the event, everyone just cheering at the end of the event, and everyone just happily moving on to the next event. The ponies in Equestria would have had a stronger reaction, and they're used to random magic events!
Speaking of the Games, what the hell was with those events?! I can kind of get not saying what the events are beforehand, but then all of the preliminary events were non-athletic, yet that was used to select participants for the solely athletic main events. It was intentionally set up so that the athletic competition would be underwhelming! Both teams had to have someone bad at archery on the archery team as a result, and Canterlot didn't put either of their good runners on the track team! The actual main event was pretty lame. What little we saw of the Equestria Games was more interesting. And why were there so few people in the stands? I'm pretty sure the first movie had more people in crowd shots and at the dance, so there must be more students than that.
Despite the emphasis on the rivalries in the marketing and opening credits, it was almost completely absent from this movie. There was only one part that even hinted that the Crystal Prep students were supposed to be counterparts to the heroes, when they were lining up after Sunset tried to talk to Twilight, but nothing came out of it. Even during the archery scene, it didn't seem like the girl with Twilight was meant to be a counterpart to anyone, but rather was just a generic mean character. There were neat looking shots of Sunset and Twilight facing off in the songs, with their hair moving in the wind, but that wasn't their relationship in the rest of the film at all.
Sunset's conflict in the film wasn't as interesting or as developed as Twilight's similar one in the previous film, or of course, her own conflict in the previous film.
And we've officially gone Digimon Frontier (season 4) with everyone channeling all their power into just one member of the team (well, two in Digimon) and that member taking on the villain alone. It was amusing how anime it was, but the final battle was definitely a huge downgrade from the one in Rainbow Rocks. And no one was turning into a pony as they fell through the dimensional cracks? What a wasted opportunity for visual gags!
The last scene was cute, though jeez Twilight, way to spoil the season finale.
The songs were OK. The band song was decent and I liked the design of the band leader girl. I wasn't really feeling "Unleash the Magic" until Twilight started singing, where it got pretty good. I can't really remember the other songs, other than the fact that Twilight's "I want" song broke the pattern of every previous Equestria Girls song either being a voice-over played over a montage or a song actually sung in-universe that everyone semi-realistically reacts to. Unless Twilight sings at Crystal Prep so often that no one even reacts anymore.
Despite my complaints, it was still OK, with a fair amount of funny and cute moments. And very little Brad, with no actual romance, so that's good. But again, it's the worst of the three movies.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
I must be alone in linking the songs in this better than RR. Other than the end credits song, I don't remember any of the songs in RR. First movie had a few memorable ones. This movie had a lot of fun songs.
Apparently that really fat pony was in the last upside. Seems to be the new Derpy. I guess she's some kind of inside joke if she has been used for like 3 times now).
I actually thought Friendship Games was the best one yet. Though that probably isn't saying much as I found the other two pretty bad (I enjoyed watching Princess Promenade more than I did the first two Equestria Girls movies >.>).
I think Sunset Shimmer was well done, but the songs remain terrible and forgettable (then again I'm not really a song person so the songs have to be pretty good and catchy to get me to like them). I end up fast forwarding through all of the songs.
It seemed lame to have the ending work almost exactly the same as the first one (except for the role reversal which I suppose helps show how Sunset Shimmer has grown - but is she supposed to be an Alicorn now?).
I think Sunset Shimmer called it in a way - the games were a bit pointless. They never really developed the Shadow Bolts or that principal.
I could see it coming, but I still thought the whole thing with Twilight happened way too quickly. She just turns instantly in the last 10 minutes. At least, we knew Sunset was evil for the whole first movie before her transformation... Twilight was good, yet awkward and then boom evil monster thing.
I actually thought Friendship Games was the best one yet. Though that probably isn't saying much as I found the other two pretty bad (I enjoyed watching Princess Promenade more than I did the first two Equestria Girls movies >.>).
I think Sunset Shimmer was well done, but the songs remain terrible and forgettable (then again I'm not really a song person so the songs have to be pretty good and catchy to get me to like them). I end up fast forwarding through all of the songs.
It seemed lame to have the ending work almost exactly the same as the first one (except for the role reversal which I suppose helps show how Sunset Shimmer has grown - but is she supposed to be an Alicorn now?).
I think Sunset Shimmer called it in a way - the games were a bit pointless. They never really developed the Shadow Bolts or that principal.
I could see it coming, but I still thought the whole thing with Twilight happened way too quickly. She just turns instantly in the last 10 minutes. At least, we knew Sunset was evil for the whole first movie before her transformation... Twilight was good, yet awkward and then boom evil monster thing.
SigmasonicX
Member
"Made in Manehattan" was OK. It took a while to get going and we saw too much of the rather dull play, but I liked the lesson in the end. I was expecting for Applejack and Rarity to be able to convince others to help clean up the park, but I much preferred Applejack creating a simple stage and thus showing that a lot can be done with a small bit of community service. I liked how they justified Twilight not coming along, since that would just show the townspeople that you need one of the most powerful beings in the world to help fix up a park for a play.
Speaking of which, I loved Twilight's part at the beginning. I hope one of the later episodes involves Twilight going along with another group to visit a town and desperately trying to stay out of helping the with friendship problem.
Coco wasn't too interesting, but the photos of her as a filly were quite adorable. At least she wasn't just a Fluttershy clone like some expected, and I do like her interest in helping her community
I was surprised that this episode tied into "Brotherhooves Social". I guess this means Sweetie Belle needs a replacement sister too; could this be a way to bring Shining Armor into the story?
Speaking of which, I loved Twilight's part at the beginning. I hope one of the later episodes involves Twilight going along with another group to visit a town and desperately trying to stay out of helping the with friendship problem.
Coco wasn't too interesting, but the photos of her as a filly were quite adorable. At least she wasn't just a Fluttershy clone like some expected, and I do like her interest in helping her community
I was surprised that this episode tied into "Brotherhooves Social". I guess this means Sweetie Belle needs a replacement sister too; could this be a way to bring Shining Armor into the story?
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
I wonder if they're building to another Twilight-Centric finale, or if there's going to be a Fluttershy and Twilight map episode down the road.
Triple Da G.O.D!
Member
Friendship Games was pretty good.
Same old stuff but it finally set the status quo in place and maybe they can really do something unique with EG in the future.
Same old stuff but it finally set the status quo in place and maybe they can really do something unique with EG in the future.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
SigmasonicX
Member
LOL
More episode stuff later this week (higher priorities than checking other threads right now), but I liked this comic on the perils of being an earth pony in fashion.
EDIT: Actually, have some more art now.
Ponified Midnight Sparkle
And humanization of Detective Rarity that I like.
Lol, certainly funnier than the majority of things people have been posting in the pics that make you laugh thread.
Infinite Justice
Member
Was able to see a re-airing and thought it was good
Also i didn't mind the Twilight getting crazy thing since its been shown again in these movies that Equestrian magic doesn't fuck around especially if it detects any sort of negative emotion like Sunsets desire for power and resentment of Celestia/Twilight in the first movie, the argument from the Rainbooms' empowering the Sirens in the second movie and now Twilight's desire to learn about magic and mild apathy for mostly everyone else (i assume her being labelled an outcast from her school mates doesn't help).
but that's just my interpretation *shrug*
Also Sunset Shimmer getting more development and redemption is fine by me lol
Dat Ending though, should be very interesting
Also i didn't mind the Twilight getting crazy thing since its been shown again in these movies that Equestrian magic doesn't fuck around especially if it detects any sort of negative emotion like Sunsets desire for power and resentment of Celestia/Twilight in the first movie, the argument from the Rainbooms' empowering the Sirens in the second movie and now Twilight's desire to learn about magic and mild apathy for mostly everyone else (i assume her being labelled an outcast from her school mates doesn't help).
but that's just my interpretation *shrug*
Also Sunset Shimmer getting more development and redemption is fine by me lol
Dat Ending though, should be very interesting
Twilight invented a Time Leap machine. She just spent the last couple of weeks attempting to reach Steins;Gate.
Infinite Justice
Member
lol
Now i wonder if they will deal with
the Sunset Shimmer of that world stuff finally
SigmasonicX
Member
I figured that "Hoofields and McColts" toward the end of the season would be an Applejack episode, but it could be really interesting if it was about Twilight and Fluttershy having to get these two families to stop fighting.
Could you explain this more? I don't feel that the movie has the qualities you described, nor does it resemble a season 1 episode all that much to me.
We know that there is something called Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree coming, which is probably the next movie. From that title, it seems unlikely that Dougworld Sunset would be involved, but at least it probably won't be another school competition. The only word we've gotten is a joke from the crew that pony Sunset killed her and hid the body, so for now, that's what we have to go with.
That reminds me, I was kind of surprised that Friendship Games didn't feature any of the characters from "Amending Fences".
This is spectacular.
Ooh, I like this one.
Man, a Twilight/Fluttershy episode would be really cool. Have we had one of those before?
UberTag
Member
Does A Bird in the Hoof count as one?
Oh, good pick, I reckon that qualifies. Season one seems like a really long time ago.
Alright.
FiM is fundamentally about social dynamics - how disparate characters get along, how they conflict, why they conflict. The best episodes pull this off with the established characters alone, either by playing them against each other directly, having them come into conflict as a result of some external force that isn't the real focus, or by exploring some inner conflict that leaves one of them as a fish out of water. The show falls flat when it loses focus and puts too much emphasis on the external force itself (e.g. A Canterlot Wedding Part 2, The Crystal Empire), or when the social dynamics aren't convincing (e.g. The Mysterious Mare Do Well, A Canterlot Wedding Part 1).
Good scripts can bend the rules somewhat (Castle Mane-ia comes to mind), but in general this is the foundation of the show.
So, keeping that in mind, let's talk movies.
EG's plot is "Does Twilight know enough about friendship to bring a bunch of disparate people together set against one another by a villain in time to win a popularity contest, despite being well out of her element?", which is a decent enough idea that the film uses its precious time on poorly. Twilight befriending Fluttershy is a good start that sets up a parallel with the first episode to highlight how Twilight's changed, and contrasts her with Sunset. Then we learn that the people the audience expects to be friends, aren't, and the different social cliques definitely don't get along, which is all good establishing material and sets up the status quo nicely.
Then the script makes its first big mistake and burns time on having Sunset discredit Twilight in front of the whole student body. This is irrelevant. While Twilight's "how do I human" antics are cute, she's already a complete unknown. Making her a public laughingstock raises her profile and doesn't move the more important relationships forward any. What the movie needed to focus on at this point is having Twilight get to know the other main characters independently and emphasize the fact that despite being a fish out of water, Twilight can still connect with people. Then have Sunset try and split those relationships up, bring the old conflicts she set up to light, and have Twilight note the similarities, expose the charade, and bring everyone back together.
Instead Twilight doesn't do anything and gravity pulls everyone in around her and they work their issues out on their own, and then they put on a song and dance number to work out the student body issue real quick and the movie is effectively over at that point. Sunset's attempt to frame Twilight could've gone somewhere if Flash ex Machina (who Twilight has also not connected with at all) didn't immediately quash that plot thread. The finale is a big out of place hostage situation and physical conflict that renders the rest of the film completely pointless and Sunset gets friendship lasered and comes to an epiphany that the movie didn't bother setting her up for in the slightest.
It's potentially a good movie. Sunset's M.O. being to drive people apart through social engineering is spot on for the series. Sunset being a fallen student of Celestia is a great idea that could've been used to have her find some slight common ground with Twilight and set up her turn in the end. Twilight using her existing knowledge to befriend all her friends again in strange circumstances would've been fun. It's supposed to be about Twilight coming to terms with being a good leader, which would've dovetailed nicely with the idea of making a bunch of people realize they're not so different where it counts, but which is instead only reinforced in that one moment where she's willing to get stuck on the wrong side if it saves Equestria.
Instead, this isn't a movie about anything.
(only one of the musical interludes is any good and advances plot or characterization any and the art is stiff)
More later. RR is much improved but I've got a completely different set of grievances with it.
SigmasonicX
Member
I'll respond to the above post in a few hours, but first, huge news.
Netflix leaked the descriptions of the remaining season 5 episodes!
I'll use spoiler bars just in case.
Also, important gif:
Netflix leaked the descriptions of the remaining season 5 episodes!
I'll use spoiler bars just in case.
"Hoofields and McColts" is indeed a Twilight/Fluttershy team up episode, which sounds like it could make the tired episode concept fun. I'm also looking forward to "What About Discord?" more now. On other boards, some were suggesting that pony Twilight's line in Friendship Games could just be a "noodle incident", but the synopsis for the finale seems to reflect what she said happened.
Also, important gif:
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
That Discord episode sounds like Twilight getting hit with the stupid-stick.
SigmasonicX
Member
Now to respond to Sciz. You've only talked about what you dislike about the first Equestria Girls, but from that, I can guess why you think Friendship Games is the best of the three. What you find appealing is the scenes of characters learning to become friends and characters developing in a way that makes sense. In the first movie, the way Twilight became popular didn't make sense or actually involve any learning. I'm guessing your complaint about Rainbow Rocks involves the way Sunset is treated. Given that, I'm guessing what you like about Friendship Games is that Dougworld Twilight goes through the process of learning about friendship from each girl, no one acts out of character, and there aren't many scenes unrelated to the story of Dougworld Twilight or the Friendship Games.
My view, however, is that Friendship Games was duller than the other two movies and I thought that for the plot to develop the way it did, characters had to act in odd ways. Though my opinion of the other two movies wasn't super high in the first place.
Eh, I think a return of paranoid Twilight could be fun.
EDIT: Ponified Shadowbolts plushies already! (OK, not too amazing when we've known their designs for months)
EDIT: Didn't notice this until reading ED's episode followup, but
My view, however, is that Friendship Games was duller than the other two movies and I thought that for the plot to develop the way it did, characters had to act in odd ways. Though my opinion of the other two movies wasn't super high in the first place.
Eh, I think a return of paranoid Twilight could be fun.
EDIT: Ponified Shadowbolts plushies already! (OK, not too amazing when we've known their designs for months)
EDIT: Didn't notice this until reading ED's episode followup, but
That's quite a choice for a sign, Rarity...
I'm getting to the other two still, but that's the gist of it.
I'll say in advance that the really weird thing about FG is the way the reveal of magic to Crystal Prep is handled. It's played up as a worst case scenario, but they treat it like some far more mundane form of cheating, and the whole "who's going to believe you" gambit at the end renders the concern largely moot anyway. Baffling. Don't think the scene needs to be completely rewritten, but some more shock on everyone's part would've gone a long way.
SigmasonicX
Member
Yeah, the way people reacted to magic and even the plant monsters during the motocross event really felt odd and was part of what took me out of the movie.
There was a similar problem in Rainbow Rocks of them having to hide magic from the Sirens... even though the Sirens already knew there was something up with them not reacting to their songs and they even confronted Sunset about her actions in the first movie, meaning they must have known about all the magic stuff in the first movie's climax.
The biggest problem with the EqG movies is that they seemingly take place in our world, yet do not follow the same rules our world does, resulting in the need to overlook some really glaring inconsistencies for the sake of maintaining suspension of disbelief. The way in which everyone reacts to the magic stuff in Friendship Games is just another example of this.
Cont.:
Much improved was a little strong, on a repeat viewing. Rainbow Rocks is arguably better, but I wouldn't call it good. It's not a mess like EG is, but instead it winds up being bland and unfocused.
Blandness first: In short, the script tries really hard to be funny, and... it isn't. At all. The only two jokes that hit are Pinkie sticking her head through the portal at the very end, and Snips and Snails' rap number, which is wholly thanks to an inspired bit of ad libbing on the part of the voice actors. The rest of the gags just hurt, in part because they're bad, and in part because there's so many of them that they rough up the pacing of most scenes. And the movie's kind of a downer in general since everyone hates everyone else, so a little levity would've done a lot to balance it out, but there's no wit to be found.
Bad sense of humor aside, where EG had its main plot and only one subplot (Flash <3 Twilight), RR has its main plot and four discrete subplots. In order of importance:
- Stop the sirens: Let me talk about Discord for a moment. Discord exists as an exception to the "don't focus on external forces too much" rule above because he played to the series' strengths. Nigh infinite reality warping powers, and his preferred method of attack was to mess with the heroes' heads. A few carefully chosen words to point their core character traits in the wrong direction and just enough magic to make it stick, and he was set. Tirek worked for very similar reasons; his magic wasn't as dangerous as his ability to prey on Discord's insecurities, his reign of terror wasn't as shocking as him stabbing Discord in the back, and he was beaten by his inability to comprehend anything but treachery. It helps that they both have excellent screen presence, but they're good villains who got away with getting a bunch of screen time because they played the social game first and foremost.
The sirens have decent screen presence going for them and not much else. Their characterization is one dimensional and unimportant to the point that they could've been compacted into a single character without changing the story any. They're positioned as social manipulators, which is good in theory, but what they accomplish doesn't actually matter beyond getting the battle of the bands going in the first place. The student body was already hostile towards Sunset, Sunset already had deep-rooted insecurities about her friends, and the Rainbooms were going to blow up whether Trixie did anything to them or not. The heroes are their own worst enemies in this film, so all that's left for the sirens is to start the plot and provide the light show at the end. So good job there girls, you're as important as Sombra.
At the very least, have them be the reason for the Rainbooms' schism by fluffing up Dash's ego. Something. Anything.
- "Can Sunset fit in?": Subplots are go. This is the most important one, and it starts out alright with the general student body shunning her while the other five are friendly, if still a bit reserved. But then things just get worse as she gets more and more "No offense" comments and feels more and more outcast. And... well, eventually the movie runs out of time and has to tie up all the subplots at once, which is handled by Sunset finally finding her spine and all the answers. Her reasoning actually makes sense in the grand scheme of things, since her entire M.O. as a villain was driving people apart by planting little seeds of conflict and letting them grow, but that's not brought up at all in this movie, and the sudden bit of wisdom feels like it comes out of nowhere.
She wins back the trust of the student body by helping save the day in the end (because the magic isn't strong enough without her for... reasons), but I'm not at all sure why she's friends with the Rainbooms beyond that being the compulsory status quo. They're pretty awful, and Twilight's the only person she has a genuine moment with the whole time.
- "Can the Rainbooms get it together?": Haha, no. They're a disaster. I get the impression that without someone periodically telling them that they're best friends, they'd be worst enemies. No wonder Sunset broke them up so easily. At least Discord had to use a little magical influence. These guys just do it to themselves. It's a terrible showing for the characters who are supposed to represent friendship and harmony, and nothing in the series is more jarring than watching them go from being at each others' throats one moment to being BFFs again under a minute later after spending the entire movie getting under each others' skin. The sirens got robbed.
- "Can Twilight come to terms with not having all the answers?": Twilight's kind of screwed from the word go, since the entire reason she's here is
- Flash still <3 Twilight: I don't know why these scenes are here outside of inertia from the first film. They add even less to the film than all the short little bits of fanbase pandering. It's not going to happen, McCarthy. Spend the time elsewhere.
The structure isn't incoherent this time around, but it's overstuffed and doesn't develop any of its ideas, all of which exist in parallel and don't particularly affect one another. Nothing comes to a satisfying conclusion.
SigmasonicX
Member
Playlist of Friendship Games songs in Brazilian Portuguese. It's odd to have to get non-English songs already. Also, relistening to it, my opinion on Twilight's "I want" song has improved.
Huh, that was more negative about Rainbow Rocks than I expected. I agree with much of what you said, but I consider what you're complaining about to be less important than you.
Huh, that was more negative about Rainbow Rocks than I expected. I agree with much of what you said, but I consider what you're complaining about to be less important than you.
I remembered liking it better than I actually did, which I'm going to chalk up to the favorable majority opinion retroactively coloring my view. Certainly not the first time I've been diametrically opposed to an episode everyone else seems to love. All the fic writers whose work I otherwise enjoy who've been using it as the benchmark to measure FG against get my goat, though.
Infinite Justice
Member
Checked out the pic and man that shit looks weird.
Is it a movie? a series?, who is that (though her hair kinda looks like Twilight tbh but with some weirder colors)?
Also no My Little Pony monikor either (though to be fair i'm not sure if Friendship games was treated similarly before its reveal)
same though i agree with the situation of other 5 girls still not having much but i'll chalk it up to them still not not having multiple seasons of development to work with. Also Twilight did join that whole unintentional ribbing thing but it was already played out at that point
.Azure Dream
Member
I haven't rewatched it yet, but in Friendship Games, (end spoiler)
the pony looking through one of the rifts, was that Lyra, or just some random?
It seemed odd how none of the ponies from Equestria seemed to be checking it out. I guess Hasbro wants them to mix as little as possible, despite the name-dropping?
It seemed odd how none of the ponies from Equestria seemed to be checking it out. I guess Hasbro wants them to mix as little as possible, despite the name-dropping?
SigmasonicX
Member
Based solely on the fact that the title is "Legend of Everfree" and not "Legends of Everfree", I'm assuming it's a single story (thus a movie) and not a series. My assumption is that the movie will be about a camping trip, since that's the only major high school movie plot other than a vacation to another country. As for that girl, she's likely an original character.
I did find it weird how the climax involved opening portals to Equestria, yet little was done with it. No one was actually crossing over, no humans were turning into ponies and vice versa.
Anyway, somewhat amusing article about Friendship Games. It's pretty harsh on the film, though, as a heads up.
YouTube captions! The ones for the past few episodes haven't really appealed to me, but I liked these:
The last one is great because that could totally happen in an episode and no one would bat an eye.
Random thought about future episodes. We know that Fluttershy's brother is supposed to show up at some point. The common assumption has been "Brotherhooves Social", and other possibilities include short appearances in "Hearthbreakers" and/or the finale, but what if he's actually in "Hooffields and McColts"? And it turns out that Fluttershy is actually from a hillbilly family that's at war with another family? ... OK, it's pretty unlikely, but the thought suddenly struck me.
And lastly, Flash Sentry X Derpy is called Flerpy. That is important news.
A lot of the things they pick on are pretty unsurprising, but it did make me laugh a few times.
It'd be pretty amusing if Fluttershy turned out to be a member of one of the warring family factions. Maybe not very likely, but hell, I'd watch it.
Is Flerpy a popular ship? I thought everyone hated Flash, anyway.
UberTag
Member
Everyone hates Flash and Twilight.
Hence shipping Flash with someone else makes this problem go away.
This is explained.
This is not the conflict. The Games aren't the conflict either.
seriously have you been paying any attention to this movie or the series in general
Every single critique of this movie goes out of its way to ask questions that the movie itself already answered. Bleeeeeeeh
SigmasonicX
Member
Popular? No clue. Just saw the ship name and was amused. The basis was the part of Friendship Games where Derpy puts her hand on Flash's shoulder after Twilight ignores him.
Uh, I don't actually remember this. Is it just that the principal wanted Twilight for the academic part and just assumed she'd be fine in the athletic part without even considering her strengths and weaknesses?
Twilight gets assigned to archery because it's a mandatory class. Twilight's grades are excellent, so she must be good at it. Probably not the best, but Cinch isn't throwing her at a challenge she's expected to fail at.
That she winds up blowing it anyway highlights how she's cracking under the pressure of constant negative reinforcement when a single calming voice is all she needed to focus. Plot development. Social dynamics. Friendship is magic.
Infinite Justice
Member
Isn't Everfree also the name of that living forest that the series (which also caused some shit in this movie)?
Could be them venturing into their version for some trip as you said and some shenanigans happen. Whatever it turns out to be i'll check it out
Aww.
i thought it was ok though very disturbing.
Also if that's really the case then some might just like this movie because he got stonewalled pretty fucking hard LOL
It's been awhile, but I think I remember a tweet or something to the effect that FIM exists in Equestria Girls canon, but Equestria Girls doesn't exist in FIM. It's been awhile though and I can't seem to find the tweet so I could be wrong.
SigmasonicX
Member
Yeah, the forest in the show is the Everfree Forest, and the plant monster was likely from there.
Aww.
i thought it was ok though very disturbing.
Also if that's really the case then some might just like this movie because he got stonewalled pretty fucking hard LOL
Flash gets a lot of hate for existing solely to be a forced high school love interest and Twilight falling in love with him for no reason at all--especially since he's a species that she'd have no reason to find attractive. His diminishing screen time in the movies actually is a response to the negative fan reaction to him.
I did appreciate Dougworld Twilight having no interest in him, but it didn't solve the problem of pony Twilight having a crush on him for no reason.
EDIT:
It's not so much that EG is not canon to FiM, but rather that they don't intend to make any references to EG. However, Flash Sentry (pony) was originally going to appear in "Slice of Life", complaining about how no one likes him.
Infinite Justice
Member
Those human teenage hormones i guess. *shrug*
Enough to change the most chaste of heroes.
SigmasonicX
Member
^ That actually is a fairly common fan justification for Twilight not really being interested in Flash: she just got overwhelmed by human teen hormones.
Two Discord episodes coming in Season 6?
We only know about one more Discord episode coming this season, so he's probably not talking about this season.
Speaking of which, official reveal of that episode.
What About Discord
Air Date: November 7, 2015
Synopsis:
Twilight returns from Canterlot to find her friends have developed a deep bond with Discord.
Two Discord episodes coming in Season 6?
We only know about one more Discord episode coming this season, so he's probably not talking about this season.
Speaking of which, official reveal of that episode.
What About Discord
Air Date: November 7, 2015
Synopsis:
Twilight returns from Canterlot to find her friends have developed a deep bond with Discord.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
I feel like they're overusing Discord....
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