jwwalrath-227-85487 Rainbow Rocks is better than it has any right to be. Yes, it is a film for little girls and isn't Shakespeare, but it sets it self apart from other girls films by trying harder.The film contains strong lines and characterization. A good choice from the writers was to have the focus on the reformed villain from the last film Sunset Shimmer helping the others and dealing with her own past and self-doubt. You care a little more about her and the main cast than you think you would.Nice animation for a made-for-video budget. I was especially taken away the by the opening and end credits. Seriously, they're really eye-catching.The songs are stronger than the last film but still nothing to write home to mom about. They're decent but not memorable.

TheLittleSongbird '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 Bethany Cox

jediforce10 Rainbow Rocks is the sequel to the first Equestria Girls movie. The first film was pretty bad that had a predictable story, a mixed bunch of songs, a generic setting and premise, and was nothing more than a cheap attempt by Hasbro to compete with Mattel's Monster High series and sell toys of the MLP characters as humans. Despite the mixed reception and all, a sequel was made, but this time it would have Sunset, the villain of the last movie, take center stage.Taking place after the events of the first movie, Sunset Shimmer has been struggling to fit in and make friends with everybody; especially since the school is still angry at Sunset for the years of torment she put them through. As Sunset struggles with fitting in, three mysterious girls come into the school and use some magic to twist the school and "feed" upon their hate and bickering. Now faced with a new threat from Equestria, Sunset must get Twilight to come back and team up to take down this threat.The first thing I'll say to the movie's credit, is the story is much better than the first movie's. While still predictable and by the numbers, this one actually works out a bit more and does have some better elements in it. The story overall is nothing amazing, but at least it's a step up from the previous movie at least.What's not so good though are some of the forced plot elements. When Sunset needs help from Equestria, she writes in a magic diary that can communicate with Princess Celestia. Yet as we see in Equestria, Twilight ends up with it for no reason at all other than because movie said so. There's no explanation as to why Twilight has something so dear to Celestia in her possession other than because the plot demands it.The other major forced thing is the romance between Flash and Twilight again. If you thought the first movie was bad, this is even worse. Not only is the dialogue between them still terrible and awkward and we still know nothing about Flash, but it also makes Twilight seemingly stupid. For example, Twilight meets with her human friends after being told about the new threat. The first thing she talks about? How Flash has been talking about her. Yes, this is the first thing she brings up in regards to a threat to the human world. And don't even get me started on that near kiss.Speaking of Twilight, while the movie seems to focus on Sunset initially and her dealing with her past demons, the movie ultimately focuses on Twilight. Sunset's story about her wanting to show she's changed doesn't get a lot of focus as a result. It's rather irritating since she was supposed to be the main character, but instead gets pushed aside by Twilight. To be fair though, like the last movie, the interactions with Sunset and Twilight are good again. They have some good character development and the scenes are pretty sweet overall. It's just a shame that it feels more like Sunset gets kind of pushed aside.The villains end up being three sirens disguised as humans. Sonata Dusk, Adagio Dazzle, and Aria Blaze, AKA the Dazzlings. They're much better villains than Sunset was in the first movie. While Sunset relied on intimidation alone to rule the school, these girls use magic and systematically take over. They also get a few good laughs, especially Sonata, and are enjoyable villains overall.With the theme of the movie being about a battle of the bands competition, there are a lot of songs in this movie. Unlike the first movie with how mixed the songs were, all the songs in this movie are really enjoyable. From the Rainbooms, to the Dazzlings, and even Trixie gets a song in. They're all enjoyable and different in their own ways. Even if you don't like the movie, I'd definitely buy the music for this movie and listen to it.The climax is better as well. Ignoring the really weird inclusion of Vinyl's car (Another toy Hasbro wanted to sell), it was kind of over the top and kind of exciting to see the sirens in their true forms and it was kind of awesome to see Sunset step up to the plate and help save the day. It's nothing amazing, but at least it's a step up.While not perfect and not something I'd watch constantly, Rainbow Rocks does end up being much better than the first movie. It does improve on many things such as the story, villains, characters, and songs. However, it still has some issues that hurt it as a whole. Twilight taking over ended up being the thing that hurt the most here. Sunset barely gets to do anything and gets pushed aside. Combine that with some issues with forced plot points and the terrible romance subplot, and it brings the movie down. However, those things won't ruin what is a pretty rocking movie overall, and is worth checking out.

Yoshi XII Rainbow Rocks is the sequel that fixed everything wrong with the first one and made it better. Those who think humanized ponies is a bad concept need to watch this immediately.Probably one of the biggest improvements was the pacing. The editing doesn't feel frantic and many scenes are deliberate and slow. I especially loved how many of the shots focused on Sunset Shimmer. The entire movie feels more tightly-knit even though it does suffer from rushing in a few moments. The villains also felt more dynamic and had personalities that emphasized the theme of the movie. Songs were also good.But the best part of the movie was Sunset Shimmer, hands down. Sunset takes on a new persona that the show really needs to focus on. In fact, this movie is better than the season 4 finale in that regard since Twilight actually teaches Sunset the value of friendship--Twilight's element of harmony. The key scene in the film was Sunset and Twilight just talking to each other and noting their ironically parallel relationship. Sunset was the spotlight of the movie and really played up the role of the misunderstood friend. Her facial expressions and tentative movements vividly depict her reformation in a way that outshines Discord's by a long shot. I really hope the new spin-off focuses more on Sunset than Twilight.Other things of note. Unicorn horse was random. Lyra x Bon Bon canon. Drinking game: drink if you want to give Sunset a hug. Villains were somewhat sexy. Octavia has a voice! Rebecca Shoichet sang with herself in "Welcome to the Show" (Sunset with Twilight). Pandas were definitely thrown. Flash Sentry is useless, again.Overall, 10/10. Excited for spin-off, even more so than season 5.