Text Review Roundup: A New Generation (part 2)

Off we go with part 2 of TRR! This time I'm looking at text-based reviews from within the fandom. It's worth noting that reviewers can change their minds – an example is Mike Cartoon Pony, who I know has warmed to the film somewhat since he first saw it – but for the most part I'm going on their main review, not separate posts they may have added afterwards. If the main review itself has been updated, as for example Mike's has, that will be taken somewhat into account.

Apologies to several reviewers for my savage cutting of their reviews. ANG prompted a fair number of long reviews – for example, Jarvy Jared's, Mike Cartoon Pony's and TheDragonWarlock's each weigh in at around 7,000 words when all's said and done – and it's just not possible to do more than give the tiniest flavour in a TRR-sized bite. Please bear that in mind as you read.

Interestingly, the fandom reviewers seem less strongly agreed on ANG's high quality than the general reviewers did. There are a couple of outright negative reviews in this bunch, whereas you'd have to search quite hard to find more than moderate criticism in the non-fandom assessments. Since this post goes on a bit, I'll shove it behind a page break.

Text Review Roundup: A New Generation (part 1)

Finally, I'm getting back to A New Generation, and today it's the first part of Text Review Roundup. The second part on (I hope but daren't actually promise) Monday will cover some of the fandom reviews – not all, as I'm bound to miss some – but today it's the turn of reviews from outside the MLP fandom itself.

There aren't a huge number of these, partly because the interest was somewhat limited (maybe because ANG didn't get a cinema release*) and partly because several of those that were published are paywalled. This is a bigger issue now than it was in 2017 for the G4 movie, and frankly if people want to hide their content unless I pay to read it, I don't see why I should give their reviewers free publicity. I'm looking at you, New York Times.
* Okay, technically it did. But not in the UK or US

Right, that's that little whinge out of the way, and in fact there are still a reasonable number of reviews once you count non-fandom blogs. Remember, I'm not just covering general, professional media today. Anyway, here we go. Click on the publication name to go directly to the review page.

BeautifulBallad – very positive (graded A; "a winning addition to the My Little Pony Family [...] “Gonna Be My Day”, sung by Hudgens’ Sunny, was the clear standout song [...] Whether you are someone with kids, someone without kids, or a kid yourself, this movie is an overall good time.")

CGMagazine – mostly positive ("My Little Pony: A New Generation works well as both a continuation of the nine-season series and as the launching point for the next. [...] While the computer-generated graphics lack some character of the previous generation’s animation, it still looks great and has its own charm [but] the ultimate conclusion felt a little quick")

FSM Media – very positive ("The movie is adorable and really funny and not in that cheesy kind of funny that a lot of kids’ movies peddle. [...] The animation is on another level [...] a great movie with a great message")

KPCC – kind-of positive ("I don't know if I respect what this movie is doing, but I appreciate the absurdity with which they do it.")

Mama's Geeky – very positive ("incredible cast [and the] animation [is] gorgeous [though] the plot is predictable [...] some moments are going to hit you right in your heart until you cry. This movie has something for everypony, and is the standout family film of the year!")

Movie Mom – mostly positive (graded B; "candy colors, poppy music, gentle humor, warm-hearted lessons about friendship, and basically a way to sell merchandise [...] I prefer [G4's] flat, 2D-style animation to this movie’s 3D CGI modeling [and] the characters and messages of the film are likely to raise some parental eyebrows and perhaps some hackles as well [but] the only message here is the real magic of trust, understanding, cooperation, and generosity.")

Plugged In – positive ("Unity and friendship is definitely the clarion call here [...] a sweet little film filled with bouncy musical tunes, delightfully cute characters and truly funny moments")

Pretty in Baby Food – positive (rated B+; "My Little Pony: A New Generation surprised me, and I was not prepared to like it as much as I did. [...] it is Kimiko Glenn as Izzy and Ken Jeong as Sprout who are the standouts [and the animation is] spectacular")

Skwigly – mixed ("the plot tries to pack in too many characters [...] The animation though is really well made [...] Young fans of the previous shows might enjoy what this new generation of characters has to offer, but it didn't quite cross the finishing line as someone who is not the biggest fan of My Little Pony.")

South China Morning Post – fairly positive (rated 3/5; "While the film is not Pixar-level brilliant, A New Generation doesn’t fall flat either [...] never gets too preachy [...] lively pop tunes that don’t really stick but are fun while they last [...] comfortably in the middle")

Variety – fairly positive ("retains its predecessors' lively, spirited drive centered on friendship, empowerment and magic [...] layered, smart subtext to the narrative, despite it following a predictable path [though notably disappointing are] no consequences for those in power positions who’ve defrauded the public [and] the third act climax gets unnecessarily tied up in itself [but nevertheless] with its resonant sentiments on conquering fear, obliterating bigotry and bravely facing adversity, the toon finds its strength and emotional draw.")

With Ashley And Company – very positive ("a colorful, fun adventure [...] vivid colors, big musical numbers, and plenty of adventure [...] Friendship is still working magic in Equestria and it is as strong as ever.")

Film review: My Little Pony: A New Generation

If you can look at this without smiling, you're made of stronger stuff than me

A little bit later than I'd hoped this would be up, but at last here's what I thought of My Little Pony: A New Generation aka "the G5 film". I shan't keep you in suspense any longer about the main point: I liked it. No, I liked it. Actually, it was considerably more enjoyable than I'd feared, and even a little more so than I'd hoped. It's a bit more surface-level entertainment than G4 was even at the beginning, but I was expecting that. Flawless it isn't, and though I don't dwell on them here there are plot holes without doubt. But do I recommend it to My Little Pony fans? Yes, I do. I really, really do.

Past the break you'll find lots of spoilers but also a more detailed review of the movie.

Right, here's the plan for G5 reviewy stuff

As mentioned on Friday, I've seen A New Generation and didn't hate it. Okay, let me be a bit more open: I liked it. Once I've seen it again and let my thoughts settle a bit, I'll be posting up a review here – and by that I mean a long-form review, just like in the old days. Yays, neighs, multiple screenshots, the lot. Since I haven't done that since the end of FiM two years ago, it's going to be an interesting experience!

A couple of people have asked whether I'll be doing a Text Review Roundup for the movie. The answer to that is yes, I will. I'm actually thinking about splitting the TRR post in two: the first part for professional reviews (Variety and so on) and the second for fandom reviews. Whether I actually do that or not will depend on how many of each type I can dig up over the next week or so.

I am, of course, hoping that the fandom will also show some of its old level of explosive creativity when it comes to song remixes, fanfics, art and the like. The early signs on that seem to be promising. We may not have got to see ANG on the big screen (a very few countries excepted) but we do seem to have followed Pony into the G5 era about as smoothly as I could have expected.

I'm looking forward to writing that review! :)

Start of an era

Well, here it is: G5 Day! Yes, I have seen it. At least, I did once I'd wrestled Netflix into actually showing me the darn thing in 1080p and not 540p... but yep, all done now. I will not be reviewing it just yet: my plan is now, having seen it once through "as cinema" (ie without any pauses, rewinds etc) to watch it through again and try to catch some of the little details other people have mentioned in places like EqD. Only then will I start thinking about a review.

No spoilers here for now. All I will say is that I didn't hate it. How much I didn't hate it, well, that will have to wait a bit. ;)

Please keep anything plot-spoilery out of the comments for now, too. Of course that won't apply when review time comes around! :)

End of an era

Yes, I know that A New Generation has already come out in a few countries, but as far as I'm concerned here in the UK today is the final day of the G4 era. The film appears on Netflix at eight o'clock tomorrow morning UK time, and I hope that by the end of the day I will have had time to watch it. The G5 era is almost upon us. Nervouscited? You bet!

Text Review Roundup: the G5 trailer

 *blows the dust off this tag* It's been a while, hasn't it? The last Text Review Roundup I posted was for the FiM finale back in October 2019. I wasn't sure at that point whether I'd ever compile another one, but the trailer for A New Generation has provoked a number of text-based reactions. Not a huge number, but at least enough for a Roundup. I do have to chop them for TRR, and Mike's in particular (being by far the longest and most detailed piece) suffers more than most in that regard, but I'll do my best to summarise them here.

DrakeyC – positive ("A lot of the jokes landed, the characters were engaging and likeable, and the animation is fun. It was a little off in places [...] but then so was G4 at first [...] doing its own separate thing [to G4]")

Jade Dawn – positive ("I'm actually really warming up to the animation, the characters seem pretty charming and the jokes land pretty well...yeah, I'm cautiously optimistic about this. And Izzy is adorable.")

Louder Yay – broadly positive ("The animation looks absolutely fine [...] characters seem okay [...] I'm still on the fence [about the G4 link. The film looks like being] an entertaining diversion with moderately cute characters and a lot of colour.")

Mike Cartoon Pony – mixed ("Izzy seems to be a character that works; everything in the [first part of the film] looks passably entertaining; having a prologue with Sunny as a child is obvious but brilliant [...] aspects of the visuals do work, and are impressive, especially for what I'm sure is not a budget above $20 million [but t]he stench of being hip and relatable to little kids is hard to waft off [and] were it not for the brand name, this film wouldn't hold anyone's attention for long")

My Little Scribbler – mildly positive ("Right away, the characters and animation looks really good [...] movie looks fun [but] I do have some concerns about how this show will fit into MLP:FiM [...] I assume all [my] questions will be answered in the movie, but if it doesn't, I might be disappointed.")

Pop Goes the Darke Raven – mixed ("To be fair this has the potential to be a rather good series. It has potential to be the start of a great thing. As long as we stick an asterisk to it [...] this is simply Modern Human World with ponies [...] The hyper real animation style of the movie is… A bit concerning. Apparently Equestria wasn't the only one that lost its magic.") 

Present Perfect – broadly positive ("there's definitely going to be a lot of the standard Hollywood sass and smarm in place of character traits [but] The trailer made me laugh a number of times, and, well, mostly it just comes down to Izzy. She's clearly best pony. [...] I'm still a little bit put off by the Filly Funtasia character designs, but [I'm now] used to them.")

Rescue Sunstreak – positive ("I had the worst gut feeling it was going to be unwatchable, and I went from that, to excited to see what G5 brings us.")

The G5 A New Generation trailer, with a few thoughts

A New Generation trailer
(Note: the trailer should be slightly over two minutes long.
If you get the wrong video, try one of these alternative links: 1, 2, 3)

Well, here it is, folks. The full trailer for the G5 film. I've decided to stick the video above the break, since frankly there's nothing exactly spoilery in the thumbnail. However, after the break there will be spoilers as I give some (fairly brief) comments as to my thoughts on the trailer and what I now expect from the film itself when it appears on 24th September.

G5 trailer coming this week!

The big news yesterday was that a trailer for A New Generation (as the G5 movie will apparently be known) is on the way this week! It looks as though the trailer will appear on Thursday, so around a month and a half before the film itself appears on 24th September. Excitement!

Now, this is going to take priority on here, of course. That means a little bit of shuffling around of my plans for this week, but then that won't be anything new to regular readers! So, my schedule now reads:

Wednesday: S4E25 rewatch review
Thursday: Ponyfic Roundup
Friday: G5 trailer post
Saturday: S4E26 rewatch review

Four posts in four days – five in five if you include this one! It's been a while since I've done that on here. :)

G5 film logo, release date... and cast!

The P loses its heart for some reason

Well, here it is! I won't be reproducing the cast poster here in consideration of those who are avoiding spoilers – but I think it's probably unreasonable to avoid even mentioning the name now. I'll have to use it in post tags, after all. A New Generation it is. Not the most thrilling or original of titles, but it will serve. I'm not going to consider the new logo a spoiler either, especially as it's pretty close to the old one. (No rainbow, though!)

Lots of details on EqD if you want the nitty-gritty, including that cast poster. But what I will say here is that those (not many) I do know of the cast seem reasonable choices, and I'm interested to see some characters revealed beyond the five we already knew about. There are a total of ten of them shown on the cast poster (which is on EqD). There's also one very familiar name involved with the screenplay.

Oh, and we have a release date! A New Generation will be making its debut on Netflix on 24th September. That's a Friday, by the way, so if you want to see it on release day don't accidentally go into FiM mode and leave it until the Saturday! I suspect I'll always be a bit sad that I can't watch this in the cinema with my friends as I did in 2017. But hey ho, that's the world we live in right now.

I'm going to have to think a bit now about how to organise Louder Yay when writing about the G5 film between now and September, and what level of spoiler-care to use. For example, if we get a trailer then that will be on here. It would be absurd not to post it. However, if I can find a version with a thumbnail that isn't spoilery (as I could for the 2017 film and EqG movies) then I will use that.

For now, though, I'm just excited that we've finally got some more information that isn't just "new toy set appears on website"!