Movie Review: My Little Pony: The Movie

My Little Pony: The Movie ** ½ / *****

Directed by: Jayson Thiessen.

Written by: Meghan McCarthy and Rita Hsiao and Michael Vogel and Joe Ballarini based on the television series created by Lauren Faust.

Starring: Uzo Aduba (Queen Novo), Ashleigh Ball (Applejack / Rainbow Dash), Adam Bengis (Code Red), Emily Blunt (Tempest Shadow / Fizzlepop Berrytwist), Kristin Chenoweth (Princess Skystar), Michelle Creber (Applebloom), Taye Diggs (Capper), Brian Dobson (Verko), Andrea Libman (Fluttershy / Pinkie Pie), Max Martini (Boyle), Britt McKillip (Princess Cadance), Peter New (Big Mac), Mark Oliver (First Mate Mullet), Nicole Oliver (Princess Celestia / Lix Spittle), Michael Peña (Grubber), Zoe Saldana (Captain Celaeno), Liev Schreiber (The Storm King), Sia (Songbird Serenade), Tabitha St. Germain (Rarity / Princess Luna / Granny Smith / Muffins), Tara Strong (Princess Twilight Sparkle), Cathy Weseluck (Spike the Dragon).

 

When you become a parent, you end up watching a whole lot of movies and TV shows you never otherwise would – My Little Pony is certainly on that list. It’s been around since I was a kid, sure, but somewhere in the last 30 years, so one determined that it didn’t need to be so stereotypically girlly and frilly – that that the show could use some action and humor to go along with its sappy messages of friendship and kindness. The show has been big for years, and although I avoided the feature film version when it came out this fall (my wife got saddled with that duty) – my girls (especially my three year old) loved it so much, that I recently watched it on DVD.

 

First let me say this – unless you have kids, or are a Brony – there really is no reason for you to watch this film. This isn’t a Pixar film, or even a Dreamworks, film that tries to appeal to adults and kids at the same time – this is candy colored pablum aimed straight at the child’s brain, with only a joke or two for the audiences in the crowd. You are missing nothing by skipping this movie.

 

But I will say this for it – it’s better than it has to be. That doesn’t mean it’s good by any means – but the film is basically brand extension – it wants to add new characters to the series (and the toy line), created a new movie for parents to buy, or watch endlessly on Netflix eventually – and stopping off in theaters along the way is a good way to give it more visibility. The film could be a lot worse than it is, and still make money.

 

The film is typical kids movie stuff – an evil Unicorn (voiced by Emily Blunt) comes down and freezes almost all the ponies – except for Princess Twilight Sparkle, and her 5 best friends (6, including a small dragon), who then have to go on a journey to find a way to stop that Unicorn, and the Storm King, who she works for. Along the way, they make friends, sing songs and learn lessons. The film ends with an action movie climax – which is a little disappointing, because normally the ponies come up with smarted ways to solve their problems, but in this case, I guess not.

 

The film is overly sweet and sappy – and so colorful it will give you a headache. To me, this gets annoying, quickly – but to a three year old like my daughter, she loved every single moment. That’s a little sad of course – but she has plenty of time to realize there are better movies than My Little Pony out there. Until then, she’s more than happy with this one – which I assume we’ll watch approximately 100 times – and she’ll love every time.