“My Little Pony: The Movie” was a very enjoyable film from a fan standpoint. The new art design and graphics for the movie were beautiful, the new locations and races incorporated in the film were interesting and well designed, and the eight original songs were ear-catching. 

In the film the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, went through a great character arc as they dealt with betrayal, distrust, paranoia and deceit. After the conquest of Equestria by the Storm King, Princess Twilight seemed to be the only character in the “Mane 6” to be aware of the danger the group was in. The other five ponies continued to be boisterous and instantly trusting throughout the second and third acts, leading to terrible consequences. 

After a neighboring kingdom refused aid, Princess Twilight used her friends’ behavior as a distraction to steal a magical artifact. She failed and her friends left her alone after being deported. Princess Twilight was captured, but her assistant, the child dragon Spike, escaped and informed the others. 

The group then reunited with the surviving pirates, a con artist from the second act, and the kingdom’s princess defying the queen’s orders, and returned to their land, Equestria. Their determination liberated the capital, freed Princess Twilight and the other Equestrian rulers and defeated the evil Storm King. 

While to many fans the “My Little Pony” movie was wonderful, in a non-fan’s view the movie may understandably appear not so great. For a movie based on other media, one measure of quality is not simply if it is enjoyable on its own, but also if it makes the viewer interested in the source material. This movie failed on both accounts. 

While the first act of the movie went out of its way to establish the characters of the main cast, the film boxed them into one-dimensional stereotypes. Rarity was presented as a drama queen and Rainbow Dash was unthinking and cocky, resulting in the group almost getting killed — yes, killed in a “My Little Pony” movie. However, for a viewer who is not a My Little Pony fan, this flaw may not matter. 

There might be mild surprise coming from what many consider a little girls’ show, but the movie did follow the generic story arc. For example a kingdom gets conquered, heroes go on a quest to faraway lands to gather allies, the group fights and breaks apart, a group member is kidnapped while broken apart and needs rescuing, the main villain dies in the final battle, followed by a huge celebration and the credits start to roll. 

However, this movie did have some surprisingly dark moments. The main antagonist and the Storm King’s second in command, the unicorn Tempest, had a broken horn and scarred face in the film from surviving an Ursa Minor attack as a child. Ursa Minor is the name for cubs of a kaiju-sized bear species that even at a young age can flatten a small town. 

Ponies kidnapped for slavery and organ harvesting for magic potion ingredients were on full display and were in the desert port town, where the second act took place. The main cast also suffered two drowning attempts by the Sea Ponies, which are basically pony mermaids. 

In the finale, Spike lit a large group of minions on fire, leaving them running and screaming. And the Storm King was killed, a fate only delivered once before in “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.”

The movie relied too much on the audience knowing the lore to get the full emotional impact, like recognizing that the blue furred bear in the flashback of how Tempest lost her horn was not a random animal, but a baby kaiju. 

In reality, the capturing of unicorns and using their body parts for magical ingredients is a large part of unicorn mythology and is found in many magical fantasies like “Harry Potter,” so even those who are not fans of My Little Pony would likely have some background on the concept. But a fan would be surprised at the inclusion of heavy innuendos related to large-scale slavery and harvesting of ponies for magical components continuing into modern times.

For a casual My Little Pony fan or hard-core “Brony,” “My Little Pony: The Movie” is worth the watch. For a chaperon to younger kids, it is tolerable enough that viewers will not have to gouge their eyes out 10 minutes into it. But for a non-fan, it is a generic children’s adventure flick that gives little insight into why “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” is so popular with adults or invites them into exploring the show.

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