The Equestria Girls movie series has been an interesting one.
Originally announced back in 2013 to be a one-time spin-off movie to the popular My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic tv series, the initial announcement caused quite a bit of controversy. Most of it revolved around the fact that it was taking the characters that we had grown to know and care about out of their fantasy setting and instead put them into a high school drama setting. Controversy aside, the film ended up doing pretty well for its select theater opening and was received mostly positive by fans. And while it may not hold up as well as it did 2 years ago, it can still be seen as a guilty pleasure movie.
Its sequel, Rainbow Rocks, on the other hand, was quite a surprise, but in a good way. It managed to take most of the complaints from the 1st movie and expand/improve upon them in most aspects. Among these were an expanded story, improved pacing, better villains, and even catchier songs than the original. Funny enough, the sequel was originally just relegated to its toy line until the production team decided that they could do better with the EQG series if given another shot. They even ended the 2nd movie off on a post credits cliffhanger, foreshadowing what was to come.
This finally brings us to the 3rd entry in the Equestria Girls series, The Friendship Games. Can this latest entry come in first, or will it end up in dead last? Before I continue let me clarify that this is a spoiler free review, so I’ll be keeping the plot to a minimum as to not spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen the film yet. Now, let’s jump into the review.
Story
We open up where the previous film left off. The real human version of Twilight Sparkle (voiced by Tara Strong) is monitoring activity going on at Canterlot High School; following the events of the battle of the bands tournament against the sirens. While she’s conducting research on the school, it’s revealed that the annual Friendship Games are coming up, and no one seems excited about it. This is mostly due to the fact that they get defeated by the students at Crystal Prep High every time the competition is held – every 4 years. With this in mind, Sunset Shimmer (voiced by Rebecca Shoichet) and the rest of the mane 6 humans make it their goal to finally break this bad tradition that’s on the school.
It should be mentioned that season 4 and 5 writer, Josh Haber, wrote the script this time around as opposed to Meghan McCarthy and Rainbow Rocks co-director, Ishi Rudell, steps up to main director this time. This isn’t a problem though as Friendship Games is very well written and directed. Pacing is handled very well as it throws you right into the story and only builds up to the games from there. The jokes are also very well executed this time around and better than Rainbow Rocks. They all have clear and funny deliveries and manage not to overuse or stretch any of them out.
Animation & Music
Animation and music are also other areas where the film shines. DHX Studios does another great job bringing the human world to life. It seems that with each new film the animation on the humans become much smoother and easier to animate. Of course, it wouldn’t be an Equestria Girls movie without songs, and, luckily Daniel Ingram doesn’t disappoint. Ingram has once again gone above and beyond with his compositions as always. Most of the songs range from rock to a very catchy villain song that’s almost reminiscent of Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid.
Negatives
Now as much as I enjoyed this, there are a couple of nitpicks I have. For one, the main antagonist doesn’t do much throughout the movie and I’d have liked it if maybe she has been a bit more of a threat. Besides that, I can’t really think of anything else that I didn’t like.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, Equestria Girls: Friendship Games is a great follow-up to Rainbow Rocks. Fans of the previous films will get a lot of enjoyment out of it as it delivers plenty of solid laughs and noteworthy songs. You might even want to stay till the end for a peek at what’s to come. The DVD/Blu-ray doesn’t come out until October 13th, but if you happen to find it playing on Discovery Family, go ahead and give it a watch. You’ll enjoy your time with it.
Final Rating: 4/5 Watch it!