This film has several major problems, perhaps the most glaring of which is that Flash Sentry is an entirely superfluous character. His sole contribution to the plot could have been done by anyone, and the conflict it resolved was only there to give him something to do. He exists only for the sake of the shoehorned Token Romance, and his screen time would have been much better spent developing the villain or the alt!Six's past. Clearly establishing that Rarity was the last girl to run against Sunset, which was why the latter went to the trouble of sabotaging the alt!Six's friendships, for example, and preferably doing so in a manner not so easily undone.
Quick conflict resolutions are another of the film's main weaknesses. It's hard to become invested in any of Twilight's problems when they're each resolved almost as soon as they come up with very little effort. In fact, it's shocking that some of these conflicts had to be resolved at all. Sunset's master plan to break up the alt!Six should have been resolved before Twilight ever arrived by the girls bothering to ask each other obvious questions like, "why did you do that?" Sunset ends up looking incompetent, which begs the question of why everyone is so afraid of her. Her single competent scheme prior to the climax is posting an embarrassing video of Twilight online, and that's overcome with an impromptu pep rally. This world's humans may be based on ponies, but they have the instincts of sheep.
Lastly, some of the character designs are distractingly bad. Principles Celestia and Luna are just plain lazy, and who thought putting alt!Applejack in a miniskirt was character appropriate? Twilight herself would have benefited from a different color shirt and some slight alterations to her hair, but now we're descending into nitpicks. On the whole, the humanizations are well done, and trying to identify those in the background is one of the funner aspects of the film. The animation and voice acting are as good as expected of the main series, and the humor, while not gut-busting, works more often than it doesn't. Twilight trying to interact with the human world and Pinkie's fourth wall painting are especially good.
Beyond that, the main reason to watch this movie are the plentiful fandom nods. If you're a fan of the main series, this film is worth a rental. Otherwise, give it a pass.
Walk, Don't Run
This film has several major problems, perhaps the most glaring of which is that Flash Sentry is an entirely superfluous character. His sole contribution to the plot could have been done by anyone, and the conflict it resolved was only there to give him something to do. He exists only for the sake of the shoehorned Token Romance, and his screen time would have been much better spent developing the villain or the alt!Six's past. Clearly establishing that Rarity was the last girl to run against Sunset, which was why the latter went to the trouble of sabotaging the alt!Six's friendships, for example, and preferably doing so in a manner not so easily undone.
Quick conflict resolutions are another of the film's main weaknesses. It's hard to become invested in any of Twilight's problems when they're each resolved almost as soon as they come up with very little effort. In fact, it's shocking that some of these conflicts had to be resolved at all. Sunset's master plan to break up the alt!Six should have been resolved before Twilight ever arrived by the girls bothering to ask each other obvious questions like, "why did you do that?" Sunset ends up looking incompetent, which begs the question of why everyone is so afraid of her. Her single competent scheme prior to the climax is posting an embarrassing video of Twilight online, and that's overcome with an impromptu pep rally. This world's humans may be based on ponies, but they have the instincts of sheep.
Lastly, some of the character designs are distractingly bad. Principles Celestia and Luna are just plain lazy, and who thought putting alt!Applejack in a miniskirt was character appropriate? Twilight herself would have benefited from a different color shirt and some slight alterations to her hair, but now we're descending into nitpicks. On the whole, the humanizations are well done, and trying to identify those in the background is one of the funner aspects of the film. The animation and voice acting are as good as expected of the main series, and the humor, while not gut-busting, works more often than it doesn't. Twilight trying to interact with the human world and Pinkie's fourth wall painting are especially good.
Beyond that, the main reason to watch this movie are the plentiful fandom nods. If you're a fan of the main series, this film is worth a rental. Otherwise, give it a pass.