Text Review Roundup: My Little Pony: The Movie (part 2: Britain and Ireland edition)

I hope to get the S7 finale review up very soon (sneak peek: I loved it) and then my film review a little after that. Speaking of the movie, though...

Here we go with the second part of the My Little Pony: The Movie megaTRR, or whatever you'd like to call it. As with the much longer first instalment, I'll put the actual review extracts under a cut in case anyone finds them a little too spoilery – one review blatantly gives away something we only discover close to the end of the movie. I've included The Times review even though it's paywalled, since what you can see free is actually everything but the BBFC rating and the running time!

The Bellissimo Files – positive ("I spent most of the film watching the smile on my six (and a half) year old’s face.")

Daily Mail – rather negative (2/5; "I can easily imagine small children being unsettled [which] seems little short of scandalous [though] the animation is colourful and vibrant")

Den of Geek – rather negative (2/5; "incessant upbeat bravado ... The key problem with the film is its sheer forgetability ... enchanted though utterly generic adventure quest")

Geeks Under Grace – mixed ("Rarity is Best Pony ... toxic fanbase ... [the plot is] rather disappointingly slapdash ... remarkable improvement in visual finesse")

The Guardian – mixed (2/5; "not unpretty to look at, with dabs of daffy humour ... songs that prove broadly less annoying than Let It Go. Still, there will have been cumulonimbi possessed of greater substance.")

HeyUGuys – rather negative (2/5; "The mermaids [sic] are actually an excellent metaphor for this entire film. They make no sense (in the context of the story) and deliver a massive merchandising opportunity.")

The Independent – slightly negative (2/5; "In its own terms, it is perfectly serviceable half-term entertainment for undemanding kids but a little less sugarcoating would surely have helped.")

Irish Times – mildly positive (3/5; "Mostly ... this is an entirely innocent confection that could have easily appeared in 1981.")

The List – mildly positive (3/5; "Agreeable, brand-showcasing animation featuring a wildly overqualified voice-cast")

Movies4Kids – generally positive (3/5; "a glossy animated adventure that stays true to the original series and features some cool life lessons and messages about being kind, and celebrating friendship, loyalty and responsibility")

The Observer – mixed (2/5; "This big-screen plastic toy spinoff may be a shrill assault on the senses but at its heart is a thoroughly positive message")

Set the Tape – generally positive ("this is not going to make any new converts ...
never rises above the level of pretty good, but I really enjoyed watching")

The Student – generally positive (3/5; "I’ll begin by saying something I never thought possible – there is some merit to My Little Pony: The Movie ... the biggest problem with MLP is a lack of originality")

The Times – mildly positive (3/5; "The message ... is predictably trite ... but the voice talent is rather engaging ... and there's just about enough darkness and irreverence")