Welcome to another edition of Alicorn Reviews and we once again await the Forgotten Friendship episode. I will be checking out Movie Magic which was the second 2017 special about the girls going on another one of their hi-jinks. One of the director's named Canter Zoom invites the HuMane Seven after what they did for Camp Everfree. The invite was to have back stage access to the making of the Daring Do movie. However, things start to happen around the set when the props that are important to the movie's plot disappear. The HuMane Seven try getting to the bottom of who stole them so the studio could get back to the film's production. The episode came off like your typical Scooby Doo style plot where the girls get into some hi-jinks. The plot starts normal like any MLP episode/movie where the girls were on set watching Canter Zoom direct. One thing about this funny scene was when Rainbow (who's the huge Daring Do fan) points out the character's inconsistency. I love how she played the usual fanboy/fangirl geek that points out such thrive details of any adaptation. During the filming, the actor played villain was going to say his lines when something happens on the stage. The background of the volcano falls apart and it also turns out the props of the movie's relics have disappeared. Canter feeling extremely annoyed by the situation wonders if someone who worked on the set caused the damages. The HuMane Seven voluntarily agreed to help Canter and the crew find out who might be behind it. The premise was nicely setup, and you can tell this was going be a fun episode based off the Scooby Doo vibe. You also got to love the classic "we should split up" moment as that's something the Scooby gang usually did. They even got trapped a couple of times in the most obvious ways which in the end resulted in a chase scene going after a masked Juniper. Using a movie studio was actually a better spot compared to the Canterlot Mall. However, I do find it unusual how close the Movie Studio Lot is to the suburban area of Canterlot City. The map, despite being inaccessible at moment on the official MLP site (don't know why it's taken so long), shows the lot is closer to the suburbs. Regardless, it was diffidently a great spot for a fun hi-jinks episode because of the movie props and stage sets. I also find it interesting how they decided to expand on Canter Zoom who was that bearded light brown human at the party from LOE. I figured he would be some important character later on but myself would never expect Canter as a movie director. I also find this hilarious he's representing the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg of the MLP verse. According to the backstory, Canter invited the girls to the studio after he saw what they did for Camp Everfree. They were given backstage passes to see the production of the new Daring Do movie. We move on to Juniper Montage, the niece to Canter who was an assistant (nothing along production) to him. If there is one thing that made her stand out a little was being more of a geek on pop culture then Twilight. I do find it strange how her first name is Juniper but the name is a berry fruit. I don't know what that has to do with filming a montage which is what her last name means. Probably one of the best cameos we have to FIM was the Power Ponies appearing in EQG. Just like in Season 4, the HuMane Six and Spike wear the costumes their counterparts had on when they got thrown into the comic. I got a good snicker out of Sunset wearing the maniac costume based off her being a villain in the first film. I mean it also makes sense since Starlight wasn't with the Mane Six when the Power Ponies episode debuted. Now I'm sure you all noticed how Rainbow took the role of Zapp while Pinkie was Fili-Second. Of course, I'm pretty sure Human Rainbow has the same magic features as her counterpart with controlling the weather. It's just odd in a funny way that Rainbow wasn't Fili-Second when she actually has the satire super heroine's ability. I also find this funny how the studio's staff just threw them into a scene all because they needed actors immediately. It was even more hilarious watching them wear these costumes while chasing Juniper in her black cloak outfit. It came off as your typical hero goes after the villain scene that we would see in those campy comics. However, let's not forget another FIM cameo and that's Daring Do who appears through Chestnut Magnifico. We did learn that there was a human J.K. Yearning in this world as it is in Equestria. Unfortunately, with only 22 minutes, there wasn't much the writer could do to show the actual Human Daring Do. Maybe down the line we might get another 22 minute episode dedicated to Rainbow and Twilight finding out about J.K. Yearning's secret. As you already know, the fact that Hasbro literally snuffed Flash has been a good thing about EQG lately. That's what happens when you get rid of a Jar Jar Binks type character from any part of a brand whether it's a spin-off or the main series. If only the current Lucas Film studio understood that and didn't care (whether it sucked or not) would figure this out. Now, I did feel that this episode wasn't as strong as Dance Magic because of a few issues. I found this a little pathetic on the writers' part of using Chestnut Magnifico into thinking she was the one plotting. It was so stupid to let this on based off her throwing a tantrum that would make both Rarity and Adagio blush. I'm glad it turned out it was Juniper that was behind the stealing and not this wannabe Angelina Jolie. Unlike Dance Magic, there was no development for any characters but this was still a HuMane Seven focused episode. I would love if Juniper and Canter got more screen time especially for the latter. Of course, we have Mirror Magic for that which gave some form of development to her personality. The last thing that annoyed me little is how this episode was to promote the new EQG mini toy line. It's obvious Movie Magic, and Mirror Magic was used to sell the movie theater set with Juniper as their advertising. Yes, I get it; Hasbro is a business that's trying to make money but because of this will make these specials come off a little cheap. I found this episode very entertaining and that's all thanks to the style DHX choose to use. It wasn't a slice of life episode as Dance Magic but a fun Scooby Doo hi-jinks story. The new characters might have not been the best of Gen 4 but I still enjoy who they're supposed to represent. The fact that Canter got based off the Movie industry's top directors is still funny. It's like MLP has every celebrity satire version of reality's own stars, I mean there is a Weird Al and Q equivalent in this universe. The Power Ponies reference gave us the human version and it was a funny contradiction. I know Hasbro did that on purpose for the laugh since Rainbow has super speed but wore the Zapp costume while Pinkie was Fili-Second. The Daring Do cameo was more than a FIM reference as we finally see the human counterpart. It would've been great if J.K. Yearning made an appearance even for a couple of minutes. The plot wasn't as strong as Dance Magic; nevertheless, it was still a very entertaining episode with new characters and a couple of FIM references. However, a little character backstory on Canter and Juniper could've been written into the story. So far Hasbro has proved that the 22-minute episode format has worked in EQG. Rating: 8.4/10 Very Good
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Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
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