It’s amazing how divisive EqG still is, even among people who are open-minded about it in the first place. I adore Friendship Games. There is nothing I don’t like about it! Rainbow Rocks and Forgotten Friendship are better still. I’d go so far as to say that only the first film is genuinely not very good. What it comes down to, I think, is that I just really like the characters and enjoy watching them interact. Maybe I just have a big magic-ponygirl-shaped blind spot, who knows?
EqG1 was not a good movie. As I said, it was the spinoff movie that nobody asked for, and was full of cliches, plot holes (you can barely go a few minutes without tripping over one), and shoddy writing. It had a few fun moments (the cafeteria song scene was the high point), and wasn’t as bad as people were fearing it would be, but none of that was enough to push the movie as a whole out of “not good” territory.
I was not excited when Rainbow Rocks was announced. After EqG1, I had hoped that the spinoff would just be a one-and-done kinda deal. But then I actually saw Rainbow Rocks, and… I was pleasantly surprised. It was as though they had gone down a list of EqG1’s problems and fixed as many of them as humanly possible. The writing? Greatly improved. Plot holes? I struggle to find any. Lame villains? Not this time. We actually got cool villains that felt legitimately threatening, and whose backstory actually gave some additional worldbuilding to FiM’s lore. And as a bonus, our previous terrible villain got the most epic redemption turnaround ever and became a genuinely good character. And the final confrontation was really good. It made me turn the corner on EqG, and even now I honestly consider Rainbow Rocks to be a legitimately good movie that showed that EqG can work when it’s handled correctly. It even made me excited for EqG3.
Sadly, Friendship Games turned out to be a steaming pile of utter trash. But the good news there is that Friendship Games is as bad as it would ever get. Afterwards the major releases fell into the mold of the Star Trek movie curse, where the even-numbered entries were consistently better than the odd-numbered ones. Things evened out over time, and EqG became largely inoffensive. For me, Rainbow Rocks and Forgotten Friendship are the two best ones.
@LanceOmikron
many of its redeeming moments are far few and in between: the first three movies are hot garbage, the Magical Movie Night trio and the early YouTube shorts are okay, and the rest is just mediocre. “Forgotten Friendship” and “Rollercoaster of Friendship”–the series’s only true high points–are the only parts really worth mentioning.
I am still stupefied that Equestria Girls, as a thing, garnered popularity and accolades early on, and still has traction in this fandom to this very day! it should not have caught on considering it started off on a horrible note. that’d be like if a musical group put out three shit-tier albums consecutively; their audience would’ve already given up on them by the third one!
Or…and stay with me on this one, because it might get a little technical here…
…perhaps other people didn’t hate the EqG movies and the series as much as you did. :)
@LanceOmikron
many of its redeeming moments are far few and in between: the first three movies are hot garbage, the Magical Movie Night trio and the early YouTube shorts are okay, and the rest is just mediocre. “Forgotten Friendship” and “Rollercoaster of Friendship”–the series’s only true high points–are the only parts really worth mentioning.
I am still stupefied that Equestria Girls, as a thing, garnered popularity and accolades early on, and still has traction in this fandom to this very day! it should not have caught on considering it started off on a horrible note. that’d be like if a musical group put out three shit-tier albums consecutively; their audience would’ve already given up on them by the third one!
ittedly when they first announced Equestria Girls I thought it was stupid, but after seeing the movie for the first time the first day it showed in theaters, I was a er for life. I was the only one in a large circle of bronies that ed EqG at the time. In fact, at the time the best reaction you ever got was “Meh.” I was the only nutjob at the time to think EqG was better than FiM. (I still hold that belief today, and it’s still a rare opinion).
I thought it was awful at first, but it sort of grew on me. I think what finally won me over was the scene in “Forgotten Friendship” where Twilight Sparkle goes full into a magical-girl-denouncing-the-villain-speech, and Pinkie Pie interrupts her: “Yeah, yeah, we know. LIGHT ’ER UP, LADIES!”
That line had me rolling on the floor. From then on, I decided EQG was alright.
In fairness, EQG was pretty awful when it began. The plot made no sense, the villain was an idiot, most of the ing cast were even bigger idiots, and it was resolved with the usual rainbow super-lasers, which were old even back then.
We all have different standards that we judge things by, and that’s fine.
I really have to disagree with you in regards to Rainbow Rocks, but lemme provide context first:
EqG1 was not a good movie. As I said, it was the spinoff movie that nobody asked for, and was full of cliches, plot holes (you can barely go a few minutes without tripping over one), and shoddy writing. It had a few fun moments (the cafeteria song scene was the high point), and wasn’t as bad as people were fearing it would be, but none of that was enough to push the movie as a whole out of “not good” territory.
I was not excited when Rainbow Rocks was announced. After EqG1, I had hoped that the spinoff would just be a one-and-done kinda deal. But then I actually saw Rainbow Rocks, and… I was pleasantly surprised. It was as though they had gone down a list of EqG1’s problems and fixed as many of them as humanly possible. The writing? Greatly improved. Plot holes? I struggle to find any. Lame villains? Not this time. We actually got cool villains that felt legitimately threatening, and whose backstory actually gave some additional worldbuilding to FiM’s lore. And as a bonus, our previous terrible villain got the most epic redemption turnaround ever and became a genuinely good character. And the final confrontation was really good. It made me turn the corner on EqG, and even now I honestly consider Rainbow Rocks to be a legitimately good movie that showed that EqG can work when it’s handled correctly. It even made me excited for EqG3.
Sadly, Friendship Games turned out to be a steaming pile of utter trash. But the good news there is that Friendship Games is as bad as it would ever get. Afterwards the major releases fell into the mold of the Star Trek movie curse, where the even-numbered entries were consistently better than the odd-numbered ones. Things evened out over time, and EqG became largely inoffensive. For me, Rainbow Rocks and Forgotten Friendship are the two best ones.
Or…and stay with me on this one, because it might get a little technical here…
…perhaps other people didn’t hate the EqG movies and the series as much as you did. :)
many of its redeeming moments are far few and in between: the first three movies are hot garbage, the Magical Movie Night trio and the early YouTube shorts are okay, and the rest is just mediocre. “Forgotten Friendship” and “Rollercoaster of Friendship”–the series’s only true high points–are the only parts really worth mentioning.
I am still stupefied that Equestria Girls, as a thing, garnered popularity and accolades early on, and still has traction in this fandom to this very day! it should not have caught on considering it started off on a horrible note. that’d be like if a musical group put out three shit-tier albums consecutively; their audience would’ve already given up on them by the third one!
Yeah, the first EqG movie was kind of a disapppointment. Thankfully, Rainbow Rocks was a big step up.
but it does nothing - not even the wifeys can save the show from its untimely demise! D:
well, barely. there are some EqG characters I enjoy watching, but that’s about it. :/
Your profile pic is a Wallflower Blush, so you must have retained some interest post-Rainbow Rocks…
@InuYugiHakusho
@Yet One More Idiot
…and the reason why I gave up on it. :/
That line had me rolling on the floor. From then on, I decided EQG was alright.
At first, perhaps…
Yes, Sunny-sun…and also Sci-Twi. :)
Pretty much the only reason why anyone cared about Equestria Girls.