My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks

A lot more musical, an amazing storyline. The Dazzlings feel like amazing brand new villains in the movie and feel much darker for the Bronies, and the story feels a lot more swell in many ways. Being back in the human world of Equestria feels more fun and more adventurous, plus the score and the songs of this are feeling like they have more potential and really gives us positive views. My Little Pony Equestria Girls Rainbow Rocks is way more better than the first one with a brand new story, more songs, new characters and villains, and a brand new musical adventure becoming an amazing movie that Hasbro Studios and DHX media have made.

I'll gladly state that I liked the first film in spite of its flaws; and I'm happy to say that this sequel is better than the first in practically every aspect!

The animation is a lot better this time around and the songs have more variety. The characters remain likable and the humor is really good. The references and cameos are still aplenty and, as a fan, I thoroughly enjoyed spotting each one. The villains weren't the best MLP has given us but they were still passable and served their purpose well.

But the best part about this movie by far was Sunset Shimmer. Her development, characterization, and arc in this movie were outstanding! This movie made me love Sunset (who I originally felt meh about after the first film) and I really want to see more of her in the future.

Also, just a tip, make sure to stay after the credits because there's a nice surprise at the end that opens up a world of possibilities for the future of "Equestria Girls".

Overall, "My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks" was a great movie and a huge improvement over its predecessor. I can't wait to see how this spin-off series develops from here!

After seeing Equestria Girls I had no desire to see another humanized ponies movie. But the teasers actually made me curious. Because there is actually more a theme present in this movie. The theme, music, is very well up to MLP; FiM standards as we know this song for having music that is better than most series. The music is a bit different from the series in exploring more pop genres. Aaaand, we now have a set of villains that are way more interesting than we had in Equestria Girls. The villains actually have separate characters and a history that old school bronies will find interesting. The story was also more interesting and riddled with Easter eggs. The end battle runs circles around the end battle of the former movie. Finally no simple deus ex machina. Do not see this movie expecting the level of the series, because of course these characters and story telling and cartoon style still works way better with ponies than with these doll like humans. Expecting ponies will be quite disappointing. They should have used ponies, they didn't. Tough break. But for simply a color full animation for the whole family it is a fine movie. Watch out for the risk of having the songs stuck in your head after wards. They're quite catchy.

The music is toe-tapping, catchy and fun to listen to, the animation is an improvement over the last film and as is usual with MLP, the voice acting is superb. It does feel like something is missing, though. It's not a bad movie by any means. I've watched it a couple times and found it to be entertaining both times. Be that is it may, I feel like "Friendship is Magic" has this certain charm and Rainbow Rocks just isn't able to emulate that charm.... maybe it's not trying to, though. Maybe it's trying to be its own thing.

I enjoyed it more than the first movie but there's still a lot of room for improvement if they continue this film series. I'd give it watch.

There were two things I did not like about the previous "EQUESTRIA GIRLS" movie. First was the shallow theme that fantastic musical talent wins you friends. In the last movie, instead of showing Twilight winning over the hearts and minds of her school mates through her honesty, sincerity and helpfulness, she wins them over through the magic of song and dance. Next is the tons of wasted potential to tell a much deeper or more mature story that one couldn't show in the regular MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC series. Instead of that we get unnecessary musical numbers. RAINBOW ROCKS takes a dive off the deep end and make the music the central driving force behind the whole plot. Surprisingly, it works. And what we have is a decent musical movie that works around music to deliver the morals and themes that the franchise should have from the get go.

As Canterlot High prepares for its annual talent showcase, three mysterious girls with mind controlling voices turn the showcase into a "Battle of the Bands". Their sinister songs bring out bitter rivalries between the bands, negative emotions which the girls seem to feed on and grow more powerful. Only the 5 main characters, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and AppleJack are unaffected by the spell due to their contact with Equestrian magic. Also unaffected is a reformed Sunset Shimmer, the antagonist from the previous movie.

In an interesting reflection of the original 1986 MY LITTLE PONY cartoon, Twilight Sparkle takes on the "friend from another world" role that Megan had in that series. Only this time, it is a magical pony who travels to the human world to help solve her human counterparts problems. So in comes Twilight who soon realises that trouble is brewing from within. The gang ain't getting along due to conflicts of interest, egos and generally familiar problems that tend to crop up in any group of pals. Thankfully, the day is not saved once again through a song and dance routine but through some actual character development and harsh lessons.

Generally the writing is an improvement over the lackluster first entry of EQUESTRIA GIRLS. There are good lessons to be learned from the way the group dynamics of our main characters grow and mature. The bottom line is that RAINBOW ROCKS keeps the conflicts real. The characters go through real problems that real people face everyday, solving them like real people and in doing so makes those characters all the more relatable. Most intriguing is Sunset Shimmer and her journey towards redemption in the eyes of her peers. Now the black sheep of the school, Sunset's character arc of regaining the respect and trust of her friends can get quite heart wrenching when you see how hard she tries and still people remember only her bad deeds of the past. This is a very real problem that youngsters face. Just as real is Twilight Sparkle's dilemma of being the designated "hero" and cracking under the pressure to live up to everyone's sky high expectations.

"Sky High" also describes the production quality on this. RAINBOW ROCKS earns its status as a "movie" by showcasing a tremendous leap in terms of animation quality from anything seen in the TV series. The production team experiments with bolder shot set ups and action scenes and more detail in the art. Just look at the way the shadows from the refrigerator plays off Twilight and Sunset during a night scene in the kitchen! It is beautiful!. Designs have been tweaked slightly, making the humans look less uncanny. The characters facial expressions are the definite highlight here; dynamic, perfectly drawn, and covering a wide range of emotions that are complimented with some of the finest voice acting in modern animation.

Of course, we have the songs. Expertly written and composed by Daniel Ingram, the songs are catchy and fun. As usual, one could compare them to the best of Disney musicals but with a more modern spin. Think of it as a fantasy styled retelling of Glee with a bit more depth. Moving into more mature storytelling seems to be the way to go, and a way that works well for the Equestria Girls franchise.