With me being so darn busy in the real world, I did not realize there is something going on in the world of My Little Pony. A report came on October 18th that Hasbro announced a 7th Season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and some TV specials from the Equestria Girls spin-off, following the success of the fourth Equestria Girls movie that came out recently.
I was not aware that a fourth Equestria Girls movie, Legend of Everfree, was out and it was already available on Netflix. So, basically making up the time, I gave it a watch.
For those who don't know, Equestria Girls is a spin-off of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic TV series, or MLP for short, and is set in an alternate universe where the characters of the MLP series are portrayed as humans.
In Legend of Everfree, the students of Canterlot High take a field trip to Camp Everfree, in part to take a break from the series of magical occurrences happening at the school from the previous three films. According to Pinkie Pie, the events of the first three films happened within the course of one year. Unfortunately, taking a magical break didn't last very long as magic stuff begins to happen around the camp for mysterious reasons. In the movie's subplot, Twilight Sparkle struggles to adjust to living in Canterlot High, while being haunted by her alter-ego, Midnight Sparkle.
Legend of Everfree is part of a continuous story that began with the first Equestria Girls movie. As such, references to the previous films can be seen throughout Legend of Everfree, as these references also play a part in the evolution of the main characters. Personally, I like that they continue doing this as part of a continuous story and being an hour or so long per movie, so I don't feel being dragged out of the overall narrative. Up until now, I haven't watched the My Little Pony TV series because I simply lost interest in it after three seasons. Reasons range from being around for far too long, to the show struggling to direct the series while maintaining its premise on lessons of Friendship.
The general plot of Legend of Everfree presents itself as something taking out of a Scooby-Doo episode, in a sense, meaning what you think is causing the problems at Camp Everfree may not be actually correct. If you happen to be quite the observer, you can easily predict what's going on accurately before the big reveal. It may be a turn-off for some, but considering this is for kids, anyway, I'm not too surprised. At the very least, the writing is done very well.
What interests me on this film is the portrayal of the "Mane 7", as their characters are fleshed out in spite of the short timeframe. For MLP fans, or 'Bronies', this may not be new. As a former Brony, I am familiar with the personas of the "Mane 6" and it mirrors their human counterparts. But the way I see it in Legend of Everfree, the Mane 7's personas are much more defined, so you get to connect with them a little more. This is also intentional as the movie shows the Mane 7 undergoing an evolution of sorts, as they discover new magical powers unique to each one, placing them closer to their pony counterparts.
In my last review of The Friendship Games, the third Equestria Girls movie, I give my concerns that Sunset Shimmer, the leader of the Mane 7, would give up her role to Twilight to maintain the status quo of the TV series. I'm relieved that it didn't happen in this movie, at least for the time being. This is in part because Equestria Girls' version of Twilight has a more timid and insecure persona than her pony counterpart. Fans gave the human Twilight the nickname "Sci Twi", because of her keen interest in science.
Sci Twi still has a long way to go before she can match her pony counterpart in taking the leadership role. So the possibility of that happening is still there, especially given one part of the film's narrative that suggests a crossover between the ponies and their human counterparts in the next story. I would think that this would be the basis of the TV specials coming in 2017, if not the upcoming theatrical film.
So I am curious if at any point in the MLP TV series after Season 3 that they ever referenced the world of Equestria Girls, or is this just like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which the films have an effect on the TV shows, but not vice versa. So I'm asking any Brony out there to help me out. If the TV show did reference Equestria Girls at one point, then it might drive me back to watch the series.
Going back to Equestria Girls, I dunno if it's just me, or they made some changes to the animation and character designs so it looks a whole lot better, especially in High-Definition. So long as it makes the visuals more appealing and it adds more charm to the characters, can't complain. What I will complain is the soundtrack. With respect to music composer Daniel Ingram, the music of the film is hardly noticeable and the songs aren't as appealing either. I hate to say it, but it just appears the musical numbers are there for the simple reason that it HAD to, rather than to help advance the narrative. Going back to the first 3 seasons of My Little Pony, the songs there were not only good to listen to, but also help advance the story. The songs featured in Legend of Everfree do neither.
In my previous review of the films, I did complain of the lack of comedy in Equestria Girls. And in Legend of Everfree, it appears even the intent of doing comedy is done at a bare minimum, focusing instead on the plot. They did however throw one at the end-credits scene that did made me chuckle a bit.
So aside from the less than appealing soundtrack, a Scooby-Doo like plot, and this not being an entry point to the Equestria Girls series, Legend of Everfree is actually quite good and better than the last one in many aspects. Better visuals, better character development, and despite its plot, it's well written. It left me quite satisfied and looking forward to the next adventure the Mane 7 will take. It didn't made me go back to watching the main series, but I'm good with that.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give My Little Pony - Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree, a 4 out of 5.
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