Thursday 29 June 2017

Movie trailer out!


No teaser this time – this is the real deal, to mark 100 days until the film's release in the United States, you utter bastards. A little over two minutes of concentrated My Little Pony: The Movie goodness. For the benefit of those of you avoiding spoilers who don't want to know what's in this, I'll put my brief thoughts after a break. They're what I posted in the EqD comments last night, so bear in mind they're instant reactions rather than anything more considered!

The pony animation looks really, really nice in 90% of the shots. Of course it looked weird at first since we've been watching the Flash version for seven years (and for EqG too) but I got used to it surprisingly fast. The one exception is that I think they look odd from the front, eg that close-up of Pinkie. Admittedly they look odd from the front in the show too (remember Celestia in the S1 premiere) so it's not that big a deal.

The 3D CGI seems considerably less impressive – that zeppelin really didn't seem anywhere near the quality of the pony animations. I also think it jars noticeably against the 2D characters, eg in the opening scene. I see a couple of people have said that this is often the part finalised last, so hopefully that's the case here. Again, personal opinion, but to me the CGI seems far and away the weakest aspect of the entire trailer.

No real opinion on the story just yet. Could go either way, though I'm not really expecting it to be something that could have fitted in the show. I'm not going to go in with massive requirements: if I get 100 minutes or so of fun, then that will be enough. If I enjoy it as much as the first EqG film, it'll get a pass. If I enjoy it as much as Rainbow Rocks, it'll get a merit. If I enjoy it as much as a great show episode, it'll get a distinction!

It's going to be a little strange watching this, then returning to the Flash style for S8 next year! Still, I agree that there's a charm of the show animation that the movie style maybe doesn't quite match. Overall, though, I'm pretty happy with the trailer. Get the CGI refined a bit and I'll be very happy!

4 comments:

  1. Pirates and airships blowing holes in each other...

    They would have to make a concerted effort to make everything else suck to get me to NOT like this movie!

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    1. There's a (very brief) scene involving Rainbow Dash, wearing a bandana and with a sword/cutlass/whatever in her teeth, fencing with one of the parrot pirates. I really want to see more of that one!

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  2. Hmmm...

    Nothing substantial to add here. Some things look good, but overall my suspicions about its quality - and admittedly, my general apathy towards it - remain largely intact.

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    1. My hunch is that this movie is going to be like the first Equestria Girls film in that regard, ie that it probably won't convert too many people either way. I'm not quite as hyped for it as some fans are, but I'm still going to the cinema to see it. What would be ideal would be for it to do well enough for Hasbro to greenlight a sequel – the Rainbow Rocks of the franchise, if you like.

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