What happens next is also no big secret, since it’s in the movie posters, the Blu-ray cover, and just about anywhere else you look for info on this movie. In this alternate world, Twilight takes a human form of herself. So poor Twilight has to get used to walking on two legs and not using her balled up hands like hooves. It’s pretty hilarious to watch her bang on a keyboard like an idiot. Spike comes along and gets turned into a dog, and hangs out with Twilight in her backpack. Alas, my poor Spike doesn’t get to do much more than talk in this movie. And, of course, Twilight meets the alternate human versions of her friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.
Oh, and about the only thing that has been guarded as a secret in this movie is the appearance of Celestia and Luna in their human forms. I am pretty disappointed, with Luna being one of my favorite characters. She just gets turned into this frumpy, sad version of herself, dressed in some unmatched pants and a top that would be at home on TLC’s What Not to Wear. Seriously, you’ve got the two most awesome ponies in the show and they just get turned into these dull, conservative old frumpy school officials. Oh, and for some reason Luna gets her skin lightened as a human. Yes, while the rest of the ponies retain their original colors of blue, white, purple and so on, Luna gets a skin lightening. Why would this happen? Is it because a darker purple didn’t test well in the consumer focus testing? It really makes no sense. Before you think it’s just appearances that I was disappointed with, Luna and Celestia also show none of their personality in this alternate world. Celestia doesn’t give any clever insight, and doesn’t seem like the regal, yet down to earth character she normally is. Luna doesn’t give any hint of her personality either, and just acts as a stuffy school official, almost indistinguishable from Celestia. They also interact with each other very little, which is surprising for any two sisters who are the Principal and Vice Principal of a school.
Overall, you get the feeling that this is not made by the original creator or creators behind My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It just doesn’t have that feeling of creativity and adventure behind it. There are some cute scenes, but the overall concept is disappointingly trite. Twilight has to become princess of the Fall Formal in order to get her crown back? Really? For a show that’s had Twilight travel through time, fight shape-shifting villains, and even stand up to fire breathing dragons, this is a bit of a letdown. And events just sort of happen in an unsurprising and uninteresting sequence. In one scene, Luna has found pictures of Twilight wrecking the gym and she’s brought Twilight in for questioning. The scene is dark, with just a bit of light peeking in through the blinds in the office. It alludes to Luna’s night loving other half for a moment. This could be going somewhere, but then, her friend immediately comes by with proof that the pictures were doctored. Luna doesn’t skip a beat and just lets Twilight go. No big reaction, no questioning about why this happened, no investigation happens. No, the scene just ends and abruptly moves on. This kind of event and immediate resolution sequence is repeated over and over throughout the movie.
Continuing the typical high school drama, Twilight also gains a crush on a boy. Name the rest of the expected scenes in a high school flick and you’ve got the movie down. The Fall Formal is off. The friends get together and clean up the gym, so the Fall Formal is back on. There are songs, fashion, makeovers, and mean girls. This is just not the My Little Pony we’ve come to expect. And wow, for a movie where you expect the stakes to be higher, and the risks to be bigger than they are in the TV show, it’s really not. If Twilight fails to get back her crown, the portal closes. But the portal will reopen during the next moon, so really, the only thing she risks is simply staying there a little longer. There isn’t a whole lot of tension there. It’s almost as if this movie was designed to be as flat and unsurprising as possible.
This Blu-ray disc also comes with a DVD and a digital copy, so you’ll be able to watch it anywhere. The Blu-ray quality is crisp and clear on both the audio and the visual side. It’s far crisper than the DVD, with no artifacting or compression issues, which is expected, of course. The bonus features are pretty good and include a making of special feature, a karaoke song set, a printable movie poster, and a Ponify Yourself feature. I was hoping the Ponify Yourself bonus was a game, perhaps where you could build a pony to look like you, but alas, it’s just a somewhat cute video of girls putting on makeup and colored hair extensions to look like their favorite ponies. I’d give another sigh for that one, but I’m all out at this point.
Is My Little Pony: Equestria Girls worth a watch? It certainly is. And for younger fans, it will probably be entertaining for a while. It’s bright, colorful, and has a few pop songs to keep things going. Perhaps I’m being hard on it, but I think this movie goes down that path that a lot of children’s productions, particularly those aimed at girls, unfortunately do. We just don’t give our kids enough credit. Somehow we think they don’t pick up on plot twists, rich characters, clever songs, and hidden messages and perhaps that’s why we excuse the lack of this in children’s shows. It’s a shame, because this movie could have gone so much further than it did, and kids would appreciate it as much as adults.
