Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks Review

Two caveats to keep in mind for this review: 1) I am an unapologetic Brony, and 2) I’m reviewing a shaky theater cam version I watched on youtube, so I’m not qualified to comment on the quality of the animation. However, five stars for the guy holding the cam.

With that out of the way…

Equestria Girls had a rough start. In brief, the first movie focused on Sunset Shimmer, an ex-student of Princess Celestia, and her quest to gain power by stealing the magical crown from Twilight and escaping with it through a magical portal into the human world (or at least, the version of the human world that EQG takes place in). Twilight follows, has to get thee crown back by being elected a queen at the school dance, and ends up rescuing Canterlot High from a demon version of Sunset Shimmer. Without belaboring it, the first movie had a fair share of un-ignorable plot holes, and it was clear the writers had yet to find their footing with the human world.

Rainbow Rocks is a sequel, and thankfully a much more confident movie. As it turns out, Sunset Shimmer is not the only being from Equestria hanging out in the human world. Three girls who were once Sirens (G1 fans, think sea-ponies) in Equestria were banished to the human world ages ago, and as a result have little power since there’s so little magic on this side of the portal. They witness the Equestrian magic used in the first movie, and realize that absorbing that magic (through song, natch—they’re sirens, after all) would give them the power they need to enslave the world. And of course, they start with the school, setting up a battle of the bands.

By creating discontent and competition, they begin to power up, and only the knowledge and magic of the mane 5, plus a reformed Sunset, can put a stop to it. But they need their special friend and element of magic—Twilight!

Thus begins Rainbow Rocks. At heart, it’s a battle of the bands movie, with heavy elements of fantasy due to the influence of MLP. But thankfully, this time the magic makes sense. Also, the characters of Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and even Sunset Shimmer actually matter now. Without the onus of having to introduce them, the writers give their characters a chance to clash and grow. Fans of MLP will see Rainbow Dash’s trademark arrogance and tendency to want to be the star at the detriment of others, Fluttershy’s crippling shyness, and Pinkie Pie’s uncertainty when it comes to seriousness. Applejack and Rarity get the short shrift a little bit, but are still worthwhile presences. I also enjoyed that while the characters resemble their pony counterparts, they still had their own quirks and experiences to draw from. After all, they may have the same name and color schemes, but they are not the same characters, and they were given their own space to shine here.

Meanwhile, there’s Twilight, fresh from becoming a powerful princess. One would think she would be confident and have all the answers, but nope, she’s still adorkable Twilight. Given how much of a fish-out-of-water she is in the human world, I didn’t find it unbelievable that she had trouble solving the problem presented to her, especially considering the sudden pressure of being the one everybody looks up to.

And the star of the movie, in my mind, is the reformed Sunset Shimmer. She had a maturity far beyond the other characters, even Twilight, perhaps brought about by her unwillingness to push her opinion due to longstanding guilt over the events of the first movie. When she finally steps up, it’s a satisfying moment.

Overall, the plot of this movie, while simple, is miles above that of the first EQG. Everything that happens makes sense and ties together. The villains have clear goals and a clear method to attain them, and Twilight and Co. have a clear plan to stop them. The way the battle of the bands is structured, too, lets us see the other students in the school and gives us a glimpse of their characters. And of course, we get plenty of interaction between the main cast as they struggle to fulfill their goal, which has always been the meat of MLP. My only complaint here is that the characterization was a tad shallow in some respects, if only because of the large cast.

I must mention the music of this movie, since it’s an important aspect. The sirens have phenomenal music in all of their scenes. I’m no musician, but I thoroughly enjoyed their performances, and the soundtrack will be worth every penny. The final battle, too, is worth both a watch and a listen, as we get to see the magic of the sirens and good old Equestrian magic at work.

The best aspects of the movie, as is typical with most episodes of the MLP show, are the characters and the music. For fellow bronies, there are also numerous shoutouts and fanservice moments that will bring smiles to your faces.

This movie is not without its weaknesses, of course. The writers don’t seem to want to go the whole hog with the romance between Twilight and Flash Sentry, so we get tiny scenes that don’t really do anything for the movie and are better off cut. There are dangling questions—if the sirens have been banished for so long, why are they still in school? Do they not age? Speaking of school, where does Sunset Shimmer live, as she has no parents in the human world? These are questions that don’t actually affect the movie as a whole, but cast doubts about the Equestria Girls premise in general.

Of course, one of the biggest questions there is—is there an EQG Twilight?—gets answered with a teaser at the end of the credits. There will be EQG3, everyone!

Overall, Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks gets 8/10. Good characters, good music, good plot and pacing with the exception of Flash Sentry scenes. Add one point if you’re a brony. Take away a point if you dislike the EQG concept, and take away another if you despise high school drama.