History YMMV / MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsMagicalMovieNight

*** Fans rejoiced about upon reading the pre-released synopsis that said Sunset would return to Equestria, as her finally coming home again and perhaps reuniting with Celestia have been hotly discussed. However, Sunset's return is only to visit Twilight's library, get a new journal from Starlight (Twilight isn't even there), and then she goes back to the human world with her. She's only in Equestria for a few minutes and has no emotional response to coming back except for her difficulty in adjusting to her pony body again.

* EvilIsSexy: Either {{Averted}}, thus BreakingOldTrends, or {{Inverted}} Sunset Shimmer dressed as the Mane-iac, Juniper Montage was more attractive before going OneWingedAngel.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: "Dance Magic" is generally liked for tying up a few dangling plot threads from ''Friendship Games''. For one, the Shadowbolts (sans an absent Indigo Zap) receive plenty more screentime, dialogue, and development than their initial appearance, and manage to solidify their HeelFaceTurn after a partial relapse. A throwaway line also reveals Principal Cinch to have finally received [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty some form of comeuppance]] by getting replaced with the much nicer Principal Cadance.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: "Dance Magic" is generally liked for tying up a few dangling plot threads from ''Friendship Games''. For one, the Shadowbolts (sans an [[AbsenteeActor absent Indigo Zap]]) receive plenty more screentime, dialogue, and development than their initial appearance, and manage to solidify their HeelFaceTurn after a partial relapse. A throwaway line also reveals Principal Cinch to have finally received [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty some form of comeuppance]] by getting replaced with the much nicer Principal Cadance.

* WhatAnIdiot: Juniper doesn't consider the fact that if she sabotaged the movie production, her uncle would either cancel the movie or hire another professional actress to play Daring Do instead of her. This isn't helped by the fact that when Canter Zoom states that she's too young to play the role and has no acting experience, Juniper acknowledges this with a meek "I know".

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: One exclusive to the novelization, the Shadowbolts get borderline AdaptedOut, only appearing '''once''', when they meet Rarity at the mall. Worse yet is that they aren't even mentioned beyond Rarity telling her friends that the Crystal Prep girls are also competing.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Starlight Glimmer, as usual. Much of the fanbase was excited for Sunset and Starlight meeting and Starlight visits the human world with her. But then Sunset and the Humane Six are [[TheWorfEffect made completely useless]] so that [[SpotlightStealingSquad Starlight could be the one to save the day once more]]. Once again, this usual aspect it criticized by her detractors. Her supporters on the other hand don't mind this since this is Starlight's only appearance in the ''Equestria Girls'' series and seeing her get a chance to show how she would shine in the human world is worth focusing on.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Starlight Glimmer, as usual. Much of the fanbase was excited for Sunset and Starlight meeting and Starlight visits the human world with her. But then Sunset and the Humane Six are [[TheWorfEffect made completely useless]] so that [[SpotlightStealingSquad Starlight could be the one to save the day once more]]. Once again, this usual aspect it criticized by her detractors. Her supporters on the other hand don't mind this since this is Starlight's only appearance in the ''Equestria Girls'' and seeing her get a chance to show how she would shine in the human world is worth focusing on.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Starlight Glimmer, as usual. Much of the fanbase was excited for Sunset and Starlight meeting and Starlight visits the human world with her. But then Sunset and the Humane Six are [[TheWorfEffect made completely useless]] so that [[SpotlightStealingSquad Starlight could be the one to save the day once more]]. During the climax, she performs a midair flip kick on Juniper to grab the mirror from her and free herself; detractors decry this as implausible or lucky, because there's no way Starlight should be so athletic in her unfamiliar human body, while others claim this is just the nitpicking of haters and it's a minor detail not worth getting upset over.

* BaseBreakingCharacter:
** Starlight Glimmer, as usual. Much of the fanbase was excited for Sunset and Starlight meeting and Starlight visits the human world with her. But then Sunset and the Humane Six are held captive by Juniper Montage, leaving Starlight to save them, and thus created divisive responses. Detractors see it as Starlight being a SpotlightStealingSquad since she is once again being the only character to save the day while the rest of the cast suffers from TheWorfEffect. Supporters see it as another contribution to Starlight's character development as she first resorts to reasoning with Juniper rather than fighting, and cite the fact the Mane/Humane Six have been captured like that before in past episodes.
*** During the climax, [[https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/5/28/1448322.gif Starlight performs a midair flip kick on Juniper to grab the mirror from her and free herself]]; detractors decry this as implausible because there's no way Starlight should be so athletic in her unfamiliar human body, while others claim this was a lucky move and see the critique of it as nitpicking of haters and it's a minor detail not worth getting upset over.

*** During the climax, [[https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/5/28/1448322.gif Starlight performs a midair flip kick on Juniper to grab the mirror from her and free herself]]; detractors decry this as implausible or lucky, because there's no way Starlight should be so athletic in her unfamiliar human body, while others claim this is just the nitpicking of haters and it's a minor detail not worth getting upset over.

*** During the climax, Starlight performs a midair flip kick on Juniper to grab the mirror from her and free herself; detractors decry this as implausible or lucky, because there's no way Starlight should be so athletic in her unfamiliar human body, while others claim this is just the nitpicking of haters and it's a minor detail not worth getting upset over.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Starlight Glimmer, as usual. Much of the fanbase was excited for Sunset and Starlight meeting and Starlight visits the human world with her. But then Sunset and the Humane Six are [[TheWorfEffect made completely useless]] so that [[SpotlightStealingSquad Starlight could be the one to save the day once more]]. During the climax, she performs a midair flip kick on Juniper to grab the mirror from her and free herself; detractors decry this as implausible or lucky, because there's no way Starlight should be so athletic in her unfamiliar human body, while others claim this is just the nitpicking of haters and it's a minor detail not worth getting upset over.

* ToughActToFollow: The special "Mirror Magic" was disappointing compared to the very well received [[AuthorsSavingThrow saving throw]] for ''Friendship Games'' that was "Dance Magic" and the [[SoOkayItsAverage average but still solid]] ''Scooby-Doo'' style special that was "Movie Magic", mainly due to the large amount of [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot wasted plot threads]] and [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter characters]] just to give the spotlight to [[BaseBreakingCharacter Starlight Glimmer]].
** "Mirror Magic" also suffers in comparison to all the ''Equestria Girls'' movies, since these have used their elements (especially [[ThePowerOfFriendship the main element of the franchise]]) in a more satisfactory way than in this special, even with any questionable element that the movies have had.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Starlight Glimmer, to hardly anyone's surprise. Much of the fanbase adored Sunset and Starlight ''finally'' getting to meet face-to-face and even see Starlight in her surprisingly cute human form. However, this came at the cost of Sunset and the other main characters [[TheWorfEffect being made completely useless]] so that [[SpotlightStealingSquad Starlight could be the one to save the day once more]], much like [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E25ToWhereAndBackAgainPart1 the Season 6 finale]].
** Another issue is her doing a midair flip kick as a human to retrieve Juniper's mirror. Some view it as a lucky accident, others view it, accident or not, [[{{Asspull}} as implausible since she has only just learned to use her human body and never displayed such athleticism even as a pony]]. Others view said complaint as a nitpick from Starlight's hatedom and that it is given way more weight than it deserves for such a brief incident, whereas still others contend that while it is a rather petty and specific complaint, the whole thing wouldn't have been an issue to begin with if Starlight wasn't the only one who wasn't hit so hard by TheWorfEffect, making her luck and/or competence contrast with the fact that the Humane Seven got the shorter end of the stick.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: One exclusive to the novelization, but the Shadowbolts -- yes, all of them -- get borderline AdaptedOut, only appearing '''once''', when they meet Rarity at the mall. Worse yet is that they aren't even mentioned beyond Rarity telling her friends that the Crystal Prep girls are also competing.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Almost literally in the case of Indigo Zap, who is the only Shadowbolt not to return for "Dance Magic" with no mention or explanation for her absence (WordOfGod is that she was on a cruise). This is particularly controversial as it meant Sunny Flare, a FlatCharacter in her original appearance, gets to appear and is given no new depth over her debut compared to Indigo, who has a more complex personality.
** Cinch leaving Crystal Prep is mentioned offhandedly by Sugarcoat and never brought up again.
** One exclusive to the novelization, but the Shadowbolts -- yes, all of them -- get borderline AdaptedOut, only appearing '''once''', when they meet Rarity at the mall. Worse yet is that they aren't even mentioned beyond Rarity telling her friends that the Crystal Prep girls are also competing.

*** The meeting between Starlight and Sunset was also highly anticipated thanks to the fandom endlessly speculating on how they would interact. In fact it turns out that Twilight has avidly talked about the two to the other off-screen, and Twilight told Starlight that Sunset would be coming to Equestria to get a new journal. The result is that when the two meet face-to-face they're [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight entirely unfazed by it]].

* {{Narm}}:
** Juniper Montage was clearly intended to be the latest BigBad of the week, but she is such a catastrophic joke in [[BadJobWorseUniform several ways]] that you actually ''[[IneffectualSympatheticVillain start feeling sorry for her]]'', and not in a [[TheWoobie woobie]] sentiment. Her OneWingedAngel form isn't intimidating or interesting, simply being a giant version of herself.
** In the second special, Juniper renders six of the seven girls helpless by... throwing a net over them. And it apparently takes them several minutes to get out of it.

** For "Dance Magic," the special centers on the Shadowbolts and the Rainbooms competing to win a music video contest, and ultimately coming together to do a joint project so they can all win. The focus of the short is on Rarity, who has the idea for the Rainbooms to enter the contest and finds her idea stolen by the Shadowbolts before she brings the two groups together. However, it could easily be argued that a much stronger story could have been made from putting Twilight in the spotlight, since she actually went to Crystal Prep and thus it's natural she would be the one to bring the two rival teams together as friends, and it would add an extra layer to the idea of the Shadowbolts stealing her idea for the Rainbooms. As-is, Twilight's participation in the special is just to take Rarity to Crystal Prep since she doesn't know how to get there.
*** The circumstances with Cinch's departure from Crystal Prep are left entirely vague.

* EarWorm: "Dance Magic" will get stuck in your head for days. Appropriate, since it was made in-universe to be as catchy as possible.

*** The meeting between Starlight and Sunset was also highly anticipated thanks to the endless comparison between the two. In fact it turns out that Twilight has avidly talked about the two to the other off-screen, and Twilight told Starlight that Sunset would be coming to Equestria to get a new journal. The result is that when the two meet face-to-face they're [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight entirely unfazed by it]].

* ToughActToFollow: The special "Mirror Magic" was disappointing compared to the very well received [[AuthorsSavingThrow saving throw]] for ''Friendship Games'' that was "Dance Magic" and the [[SoOkayItsAverage average]] ''Scooby-Doo'' style special that was "Movie Magic", mainly due to the large amount of [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot wasted plot threads]] and [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter characters]] just to give the spotlight to [[BaseBreakingCharacter Starlight Glimmer]].

* InternetBackdraft: The fact that Starlight had to save the day was going to [[BaseBreakingCharacter split the fanbase anyway]], but the fact that Starlight saved the day ''[[SpotlightStealingSquad alone]]'' garnered more than a little backlash.

* CounterpartComparison: It seems like the magic leaking from the portal is specifically going after troubled individuals and turning them into monsters. Sounds a bit like [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Hawk Moth]] or [[WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja the Sorcerer]], doesn't it?

*** The meeting between Starlight and Sunset was also highly anticipated thanks to the endless CounterpartComparison between the two. In fact it turns out that Twilight has avidly talked about the two to the other off-screen, and Twilight told Starlight that Sunset would be coming to Equestria to get a new journal. The result is that when the two meet face-to-face they're [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight entirely unfazed by it]].