Reviews WesternAnimation / My Little Pony The Movie 2017

Rushed plot spoils an otherwise enjoyable movie.

After four years of Equestria Girls films, fans wondered if "Friendship Is Magic" would ever get a real movie. That questioned was answered in 2014, when Hasbro announced they were actually making a real deal My Little Pony movie. For the first time in 31 years, the MLP franchise was headed back to the theater in a feature-length film. With the popularity of FIM, a movie was a total no-brainer.

Hasbro drummed up all kinds of interest and marketing, even bringing in celebrities to give the movie some marquee value. The MLP movie was going to be something big, new software, new effects, a bigger bolder project than anything in the show could boast.

With the hype and anticipation out of the way, the movie is finally here, so how is it? Well, Its definitely fun and enjoyable and worth a watch, but it suffers from a lack of development, making it very half-baked movie.

The movie has all of the bells and whistles that made MLP one of the bigger hits of the decade. Cute and colorful characters, silly humor, wonderful art, solid voice acting, and a great soundtrack. This is definitely a My Little Pony movie. Unfortunately, along with it's strengths, it brings along its weaknesses. Weaknesses that shouldn't really be there considering they had the resources, certainly much more than the TV show.

The biggest problem with the movie is that it just pushes through the plot and characters. We barely spend any time getting to know these characters. One of the biggest main culprits of this issue is Captain Caleano and her crew, who are quickly cast aside after their appearance. We learn the bare minimum of what they are and where they came from. They're a group of pirates, a few extra minutes with the Mane Six going on a little quest with them wouldn't have hurt. Instead, they show up, Rainbow Dash gives them a quick pep talk, they all sing a song, Tempest Shadow blows up their ship, and thats it.

However, the single biggest disappointment of the film was the Big Bad himself, the Storm King. He doesn't show up until near halfway through the film, and when he does appear, he is subsequently shoved out the door as well. This is despite giving him a massively powerful artifact, and the most we ever see him do with it is play around with the Sun and the Moon. The Storm King to me is an inferior version of Discord, another (previous) MLP villain.

Overall, I think the movie could've benefit from a little more runtime and character development instead of rushing itself out the door through musical numbers. It introduced a lot of really cool characters, but we spend very little time getting to experience and enjoy them. My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) is no animated classic. It falls short of its real potential and is hardly going to put the big boys to shame, but it is by no means bad. In fact, its actually quite good for what it is. It's worth your time.