Psycho's Movie Reviews #273: Mlp: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks (2014)
- Feb 1, 2022
- 9 min read
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks, or simply known as Rainbow Rocks, is a 2014 Flash animated fantasy musical film based on Hasbro's Equestria Girls toy line and media franchise, which is a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of My Little Pony. The film was directed by Jayson Thiessen and Ishi Rudell and written by Meghan McCarthy, and was produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada for Hasbro Studios in the United States, as a sequel to the original Equestria Girls (2013). The film premiered in select theatres across the United States and Canada on September 27, 2014, which was followed by broadcast on Discovery Family, a joint venture between Discovery, Inc. and Hasbro, on October 17, 2014, and then a home media release on October 28, 2014.
Like the first film, Rainbow Rocks re-envisions the main characters of parent franchise, normally ponies, as teenage human characters in a high school setting. Set between the television series' fourth and fifth seasons, the film's plot involves Twilight Sparkle returning to Canterlot High School to compete in a Battle of the Bands alongside the human counterparts of her friends – including former school bully/former student of Princess Celestia, Sunset Shimmer – to save the school from a trio of Sirens from Equestria.
The film was well received by critics, who described it as "far superior" to the first instalment. It was followed by two sequels, Friendship Games and Legend of Everfree.
Plot
Former Canterlot High School bully and student of Princess Celestia, Sunset Shimmer, who has reformed after being defeated by the magic of Twilight's crown, is ostracized by most of the school despite her efforts to atone. Her only friends are the counterparts of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity, who have formed a rock band called "the Rainbooms" to participate in the school's upcoming musical showcase. The five girls discover that the magic left over from Twilight's crown has given them the ability to grow pony-like ears, tails, and wings when they play their instruments.
Hoping to make a fresh impression, Sunset gives a school tour to three new students – Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, and Aria Blaze – and informs them of the showcase, unaware that they possess magical powers. Calling themselves "the Dazzlings", the trio perform a song that turns the other students aggressive and competitive towards each other, convincing them to turn the showcase into a Battle of the Bands. Sunset and her friends are protected from the song by their own magic, but fail to convince Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna of the danger. Sunset remembers a magical book kept by Princess Celestia, her mentor from Equestria, which she uses to send a message requesting Twilight's help.
Receiving Sunset's message, Twilight deduces that the Dazzlings are sirens from Equestria that feed on negative emotions to fuel their singing powers for their goal of world conquest. Twilight uses the book's magic to reactivate the portal, allowing her and Spike to return to the parallel world. Twilight and the girls attempt to lift the Sirens' spell, but it takes no effect. Concluding that they must perform a musical counter-spell, the girls enter the Battle of the Bands to give Twilight time to complete the spell. The Rainbooms face hostility and sabotage from the other bands throughout the competition, which raises tensions among Twilight's friends.
Desperate for time in the semi-final round against Trixie's band, Rainbow Dash performs an egotistical song to substitute the counter-spell and nearly transforms, which forces Sunset to ruin her performance to keep her from exposing their plan to the Sirens. The Sirens intervene to allow the Rainbooms' advancement to the final round anyway, which prompts a jealous Trixie to trap the Rainbooms beneath the stage to take their place. Isolated for hours, the girls enter an argument that allows the Sirens to absorb their magic. Realizing that their constant fighting is interfering with Twilight's spell, Sunset convinces the girls to resolve their differences, while Twilight reasons that playing together as friends will make the counter-spell work.
Spike rescues the girls with assistance from DJ Pon-3, whose headphone music protects her from the Sirens' spell. DJ Pon-3 provides a sound system that the Rainbooms use to engage the Sirens in a musical battle. Overwhelmed by the Sirens, the Rainbooms are joined by Sunset; with her help, the Rainbooms are able to destroy the Sirens' pendants, the sources of their powers. Afterward, Twilight and Spike return to Equestria, while Sunset uses Celestia's book to remain in contact with Twilight.
In a post-credits scene, the human world's version of Twilight is shown investigating the strange magical activity around Canterlot High.
Production
On February 13, 2014, Meghan McCarthy wrote on Twitter that she had worked on the film during the summer of 2013. The film's opening credits were storyboarded by Tony Cliff. The storybook illustration depictions of the sirens in Equestria were done by Rebecca Dart. The illustrations shown during the ending credits were drawn by Katrina Hadley.
In the audio commentary included in home media releases, Meghan McCarthy commented that Equestria Girls was initially not intended to become an ongoing franchise, and the thought of a sequel did not cross her mind. Additionally, Sunset did not become a main character until the second draft of the script. The DVD commentary also points out that the midnight snack scene between Twilight and Sunset was actually added late into the film's production, Rarity's line "past...ahem...booboos" was ad-libbed by Germain, and the freestyle rap by Snips and Snails' counterparts was genuine freestyling by Lee Tockar and Richard Cox.
Music
On February 13, 2014, songwriter Daniel Ingram wrote on Twitter that there will be a total of 12 songs in the film, the greatest number of songs featured in a Friendship Is Magic episode or Equestria Girls film thus far; however, only 11 songs made it in the film.
Like in Equestria Girls, the songs were composed by Ingram with lyric writing shared between Ingram and screenwriter Meghan McCarthy; with the exception of "Rainbow Rocks" and "Shine Like Rainbows" which had lyrics by Ingram; "Bad Counter Spell" and "Under Our Spell" by McCarthy; and "Shake Your Tail" having a first draft by writer Amy Keating Rogers, in which Ingram later revised. Trevor Hoffman provided the arrangements for the songs, and musician Caleb Chan produced the songs as well as played guitar and bass.
"Rainbow Rocks" – The Rainbooms (voiceover)
"Better Than Ever" – The Rainbooms sans Twilight Sparkle
"Battle" – The Dazzlings and students
"Bad Counter Spell" – The Rainbooms
"Shake Your Tail" – The Rainbooms
"Under Our Spell" – The Dazzlings
"Tricks Up My Sleeve" – Trixie and the Illusions
"Awesome as I Wanna Be" – Rainbow Dash and the Rainbooms
"Welcome to the Show" – The Rainbooms, Sunset Shimmer, The Dazzlings, and students
"Rainbooms Battle" – Instrumental
"End Credits Song: Shine Like Rainbows" – The Rainbooms
Release/Reception/Box Office
The film received a limited theatrical release on September 27, 2014, in the United States through Screenvision theatres and in Canada through Cineplex theatres. It also received a "Purple Carpet" premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, which was attended by the cast and crew as well as some celebrities such as Jamie Foxx, Modern Family actress Ariel Winter, and Academy Award nominee Quvenzhané Wallis. Like the first film, the screenings of Rainbow Rocks in the United States bore no classification from the MPAA (which is not a mandatory, although many theaters carried a G-rating), while the Canadian screenings had classifications from provincial film boards (usually G).
In the United Kingdom, the film was theatrically released on October 25 and 26, 2014. The film was theatrically released on November 15, 2014, in Australia.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks was well received by critics and fans alike. Sherilyn Connelly for The Village Voice called Rainbow Rocks "far superior" to the first Equestria Girls film, and that while "the picture is continuity-heavy and not particularly accessible to newcomers", that the film was "up there with the show at its most thoughtful". Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter complimented the film, saying "Though it's strictly for the faithful, the tween-friendly mix of cute and earnest has a forthright sharpness and is never cloying." Shane O'Hare of Geekscape gave the Blu-ray of the film a score of 4 out of 5, praising the soundtrack stating "The show's composer, Daniel Ingram,...killed it. 10 all new original recordings from Daniel really stole the show." Ed Liu of Toon Zone, who gave the first film a mixed review, also found this film to be better. He wrote the film "is almost as sweet and charming as the best episodes of the series, finding new and interesting ways to expand on the show's themes of friendship."
"Gerry O", 12-year-old film critic for The Huffington Post's Kids First! column called the film "a combination of adventure with a crème of comedy and a sprinkle of excitement all rapped up in a friendship sandwich."
In Hasbro's Q3 2014 Earnings Report, it was revealed that the box office returns from this film exceeded that of the first film in the first weekend by 37%. On a per theatre basis, sales for tickets grew by 19% in the first three weeks of its limited theatrical run. The film grossed $360,736 in its limited time in theatres in the United Kingdom, Finland, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay.
Box office $347,511
My Review
'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' is in my opinion one of the best animated shows in recent years. The first film based on it 'Equestria Girls' was an enormous disappointment and the complete anti-thesis in quality as one could get. Hearing there was a sequel was less than enthusing to me and made me feel very apprehensive.
What a pleasant surprise 'Rainbow Rocks' turned out to be. While not as good as 'Friendship is Magic', it is much closer in quality to that than to 'Equestria Girls'. The general consensus is that it is an enormous improvement over 'Equestria Girls'. Heartily concur with this. Was really worried as to whether 'Rainbow Rocks' would repeat the same mistakes as 'Equestria Girls', amplify them and make more on the way like a lot of animated sequels seen recently (the 'Alpha and Omega' sequels being prime examples). Instead, it felt like 'Rainbow Rocks' seemed to have seen the numerous complaints made about 'Equestria Girls', took them on board and corrected them. A shining example of a good animated sequel that others should learn from and strive to be.
On its own two feet, 'Rainbow Rocks' fares just as well and is an incredibly fun film in its own right. It is not quite perfect, though the flaws are far less and less glaring. The romance is awkward and not particularly well written, Flash is a bland character, Twilight's role in the film is occasionally a little forced and there is some cheesy lyric writing. Compared to the flaws 'Equestria Girls' had, they are next to nothing.
'Rainbow Rocks' animation is much closer to the vibrant and rounded animation quality of 'Friendship is Magic' than the flat and robotic animation of 'Equestria Girls'. The character designs don't look anaemic or anorexic this time round, which looked ugly and parents had a field day saying what a bad message it sent. The music is much catchier and much easier to remember the lyrics (on the most part witty and heart-warming) and melodies.
Apart from in the romance, the dialogue also improves hugely here. Again more in the spirit of 'Friendship is Magic' than the predecessor film. There is a better balance of humour and emotion, with winning and amusing humour and poignant and never schmaltzy or mawkish emotion. The references are cleverer and much better integrated, much more natural and not forced at all. The messaging is well-meaning and heartfelt, not at all overly-didactic in how it's put across.
The story here is far better paced and more eventful, this is not a less than half-an-hour extended episode padded with lots of filler, the complete opposite in fact. The climax is exciting, and the characters apart from Flash and Twilight not always written consistently are more interesting and likable, with the trio of villains being humour, sinister charm and colour to the proceedings. Sunset Shimmer is a conflicted, well-developed and easy to root for character and Sonata Dusk is a hoot.
Voice acting is very strong, no talent wastes here. Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Rachel Shoichet and Maryke Hendrikse particularly excel.
In conclusion, thoroughly enjoyable and a surprising and refreshing improvement. 8/10
{Now this is my favourite Equestria Girls movie; especially the score, especially The Dazzlings/Sirens. All of their songs are in my Top 3. The score in this film is a major upgrade to the first!}
{#9/Honourable Mention - 'Rainbow Rocks' - The theme. I'll be frank this one could've made my top 3 if the Dazzling's songs weren't so good. Plus I prefer the theme from Friendship Games more}
{#8, #7, #6, #5 - 'Friendship Through The Ages', 'Life Is A Runway', 'My Past Is Not Today', 'Music To My Ears' - Even though these four were not included in the movie itself, they're still good enough to add on the list}
{#4 - 'Tricks Up My Sleeve' - I really wish that this was longer in the film, however it wasn't until a remix someone made of this online that made me love the song more}
https://youtu.be/aOEKu8L5UqQ?list=TLPQMzEwMTIwMjLnlEXMvpeOMg
{#3 - 'Let's Have A Battle (Battle Of The Bands)' - For a villain introduction song is slams}
{#2 - 'Welcome To The Show' - The fact that this is a REAL battle of the bands, and is the most satisfying climax out of all the series, is flawless}
{Although, a part of me kinda loves it a lot more when it's just the Dazzling's/Sirens singing}
https://youtu.be/e42yCiipGMA?list=TLPQMzEwMTIwMjLnlEXMvpeOMg
{#1 - 'Under Our Spell' - This song is so good, that my friend - who is a non Mlp fan - liked this song. It kinda intrigued her to watch the entire film... YOUR WELCOME BEST FRIEND!}
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