WesternAnimation Good movie, but there were more plots than there was time for
This was, all in all, a good movie. The premise was interesting and there were some very good songs. We got to meet Alternate Universe Twilight, who was a member of the Opposing Sports Team from the other high school in town. Friendship Games was entertaining, and pulled the heartstrings quite a bit.
The one problem is that there was A LOT going on in this movie. There was a lot of focus on AU!Twilight. There was also the plot of the Humane Six learning to control their new magical powers. There were of course the Games themselves. And then there were also the set of students from Crystal Prep, who were set up as foils to our main characters.
AU!Twilight was very endearing. With her Part of your World-esque song, extreme curiosity, and general adorkable-ness, she was very likable. It was also very interesting to see Twilight's character as an anti-villain.
The Humane Six learning to unlock their powers was a bit of a dull spot. The answer was obvious from the beginning. One can only guess how it took them so long to figure it out.
The Games themselves weren't focused on too much. That's to be expected with MLP, though. The show is focused around character plots with other things (The plight of the Crystal Empire, the Equestria Games, Rainbow Dash actually flying with the Wonderbolts, etc) consistently shoved into the background. Sometimes is doesn't work, but this time I think it does. At least the Games get an amazing montage song.
Since there were so many co-occurring plots, there wasn't time for everything. One thing that was underdeveloped was the set of girls from Crystal Prep, who were set up to be the Psycho Rangers of the Mane 6. They were very interesting characters. Two in particular, Sugarcaot and Lemon Zest, who through their huge popularity became the Ensemble Darkhorses of this movie. And what did they get? A few throwaway lines. For characters that were featured next to the main characters in the theme song, one would expect them to be utilized more
WesternAnimation Easily my favorite EG movie so far...
... the implications of which I'll leave for you to decide.
Now, when I say favorite, I make no claims to this being objectively the best-paced or best-written of the EG films, but it is the only one I'd ever voluntarily rewatch. The overall product is still hamstrung by many of its predecessors' problems and limitations, but the individual elements are much more memorable this time.
For one thing - the Shadowbolts. The lower stakes lets them handily dodge Generic Doomsday Villain territory, and if all that does is push them into Opposing Sports Team cliches instead... well, at least an all-female one of those is relatively fresh, and the designs aren't half-bad either. Meanwhile, Principal Cinch isn't exactly a groundbreaking Big Bad, but her icy dignity definitely sets her apart from the competition, and her philosophy - that reputation matters more than reality - is a surprisingly mature and realistic theme for this series. And ye gods, can she sing.
Which leads me to this movie's second big strength: the songs. By which I pretty much just mean "ACADECA" and "Unleash the Magic" (hey, it's still two more songs than Rainbow Rocks ever managed to worm into my ears). The latter especially is something I can see myself listening to for days on end - the melody is that catchy, the theme of Twilight's corruption is like catnip to me, and Cinch's singing voice makes even the weakest lyrics fly. The former, admittedly, I like largely for the visuals.
(Speaking of, the visual gags in this movie have definitely been stepped up. The entire Home Ec bit in "ACADECA", especially, is pure gold.)
So, what are big letdowns? The plot, when all's said and done, isn't really much different from the previous two movies'. The Humane Five are still too bland for my tastes, and while Sunset Shimmer partly escapes this (even reformed, it's clear she's more aggressive and short-fused than Twilight), her motivations felt muddled and weak at best, leaving her big blowup with Sci-Twi feeling artificial. As for Sci-Twi herself... a mixed bag, arguably more hits than misses, but the "Midnight Sparkle" design was pure Narm.
Buuut to end on one last positive... at least I didn't want to strangle human!Celestia and human!Luna this time.
WesternAnimation An Emotional Way to Cap Off the Trilogy
It's no secret that the wide acclaim for Rainbow Rocks left Friendship games a Tough Act to Follow as sequel. Comparing Rainbow Rocks to Friendship Games is like apples and oranges. RR was a plot-driven musical spectacle with a measured pace, leading to an intense climax. With Sunset Shimmer's character arc as the emotional focus. FG is a character-driven narrative with two arcs, Sunset's continued growing confidence, and human Twilight's efforts understanding magic, as foreshadowed in The Stinger. First, the songs. Are they as standalone, poppy and infectious as last time? Perhaps not. but in terms of tying with the movie's plot, it has a subtle but effective atmosphere that remains memorable. From the uplifting rally number, the great use of chanting and drums in its opening, the smackdown of Acadca, the marvelous villain song Unleash the Magic which could comfortably be in a Disney movie, and my favorite What More is Out There, which feels like a princess's "I Want" Song with jaw-dropping high notes and violin. The bgm also deserves praise, Twilight and Sunset share memorable swirling string motifs, lowering and darkening in dramatic moments, fast and high in the climax, an electronic tint in her investigating scenes, and full and harmonious during the climax. As for the conflict itself, the Friendship Games allow more consistent action than the previous two, and has some utterly fantastic lines of comedic snark and interplay by the Mane Five and Shadowbolts. With growing tension as Twilight's device creates portals/absorbing magic, the movie does a good job keeping viewer interest before and during the games. Now for the villains, which makes or breaks the film for most. Principle Cinch is hammy to a hilarious degree, with many cartoonishly vile traits that makes the audience despise her, Twilight's own insecurities made worse by her actions made me Love to Hate her. Unsubtle to be sure, but villains don't always need to be, and personally entertained. The Shadowbolts are serviceable. They have enough glimpses of personality that we can grasp their roles. Admittedly I'd like to see more of them, they themselves, Principle Cinch even, weren't the real antagonists. Twilight's lonely state, leaving only her curiosity as motivation, becomes the cruel Midnight Sparkle. But with Sunset's empathy,she finds a helping hand in a sweet, joyful finale.
WesternAnimation Threes a Charm. Now we're getting somewhere.
Equestria Girls has had two movies now. The first movie was a clumsy, but decent attempt at a whole new universe, the second movie, Rainbow Rocks didn't really do anything special and was just a generic, mediocre sequel. The biggest problem with Rainbow Rocks is that as a sequel, it did little to develop the Equestria Girls universe beyond the initial novelty and concept of "My Little Pony except humans". The movie came off as very lacking and repetitive as a result. The first movie was a check swing, Rainbow Rocks was a swing and a miss. Two strikes down.
So here we are with the third movie, Friendship Games. Does it finally deliver what Equestria Girls'' desperately needs? Is the spinoff ready to get off the training wheels? Well, Friendship Games delivers that and more. Not only did this movie not strike out, it belted a single. I consider it the best film of the series.
That's enough with the baseball analogies, on to why I like this film.
What I like most about this movie is how it deconstructs the concept of magic and the consequences of Sunset Shimmer bringing Princess Twilight's crown into the human world. The prior films did little to nothing to address this. The human characters seemingly not notice or are unaffected by the weird magical pony transformations and the destruction magic has caused.
For once, friendship is magic is not the end all answer to the characters' problems. In fact, magic consistently makes the situation worse throughout the movie, and it's up to Sunset Shimmer to figure out what is going on, and curb this. The human universe's Twilight however, is curious about the magical goings-on, perhaps dangerously so.
What was a bit of a let down in this movie are the "antagonists". Canterlot High's rivals, the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts. We're only introduced to them once, and we don't see much of them again. They only exist as shadow archetypes to the Humane Six. There is only one true antagonist in the film, the very manipulative and cold Principal Cinch. She's very boring, but that's only because she has no special magic powers, but she plays an instrumental role in the creation of the real danger of the film's climax, but I won't spoil it for you.
Overall, Friendship Games is a marked improvement over the first two movies. Is it a great movie? No. But it's a good one the only one of the series I will ever go out of my way to watch again. It builds upon the world of Equestria Girls, and plays things a little differently and creatively instead of riding the coattails of its parent series and it's novelty. The spinoff is building a whole different identity for itself and is a very welcome development.