While awaiting the YouTube Series, I'll be reviewing the second Equestria Girls movie. The sequel titled Rainbow Rocks would take place several months later just as Sunset was going through her redemption. It is here we're introduced to probably the best villains I have seen not only from this spinoff but the entire Gen 4. The Dazzlings of Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk would be the main antagonists of the story. Many Bronies felt this movie is what made them get back into EQG as Rainbow Rocks saw many improvements from the original. The series still saw criticism by the purists who felt it didn't belong (I don't get the hate this spinoff receives sometimes). Similar to the first film, this movie saw a theatrical release in June 2014 and played at some theaters in certain cities. One of the best things about the story is the Dazzlings, how the movie opens to them and this introduces the trio as the villains. I also love that during the introduction we see their personalities come to life. It made me want to invest more in them as it's something we see a lot later. The writers took it further even more so than with Sunset as each one represented music from a genre and an era. It is a vast step up from Sunset as instead of being the typical bad girls, their style represents music from certain eras. Another thing that makes them come off so vibrate is Adagio's sexual and smooth voice. It's clear why she is the leader of the three as she is competent and uses her mannerism to show off what she has. Then we have Aria, the badass of the three with her tough girl attitude that may give Rainbow a run for her money. Then there is the adorable and playful Sonata that despite being a thousand years old still keeps her cheery attitude. These three personalities difinetly make them a balanced trio similar to the HuMane Six. The trio of sirens also would have good moments between themselves which shows that they truly are not evil but rather misguided. Sunset was the same way as she was not evil but bad and completely misguided because of her rebellious attitude. The way Aria and Sonata interacted with each other showed that even though they didn't want to admit it but they liked each other as friends. I also love their banter and there was a couple of scenes that showed a funny interaction like when Aria flipped Sonata's bangs for failing to spike the punch. For Sunset, I loved the way her redemption played out throughout the film and you can tell that she was truly trying to redeem herself. I like how she started out timid so as not to get on anyone's bad side even when they claimed she was going back to her old ways. Then at the climax is when she shined and took charged against the Dazzlings by adding that extra support. It was her shining moment Sunset was looking for in order to prove to people that she truly changed for the better. It completely trumps Luna's and Discord's redemption because of its believability. The story itself wasn't average like the original and in fact, its writing was a lot better this time around. The cliché moments are nearly absent except for Jar Jar Flash and Twilight's interaction, something the story didn't even need. The gags are better this time around and used at the right moments between each character. Pinkie calling out Fluttershy for being scared of a light got a chuckle out of me because of the truthful statement. I also loved the way Rainbow acted so arrogant with calling her band the Rainbooms. She even dedicated a song to herself called Awesome as I Want to be which only adds to the already great soundtrack. Then we still see that Twilight doesn't always have the solution to the problem which is why she comes off believable in FIM. The moment she has with Sunset at Pinkie's sleepover was their interaction at its finest and shows how far both came. The production had a consistent quality as there is more animation to the characters movements. I honestly can't find one scene where it would come off awkward in any characters movement. Another big improvement comes from the soundtrack that wasn't based on a high school setting. Danny Ingrahm knew this time that he had to change it up and having a battle of the bands was the best thing about it. I can't find one bad song between the HuMane Six and the Dazzlings. What I like about the songs was how genuine they came off especially from the Dazzlings that had a seductive tone in their voices when they sang. The cliffhanger was a nice bonus to add showing Human Twilight looking over a built timeline on a board of the events at CHS. It gave us a tiny hint of what is to come in the next movie as we now know Twilight did, in fact, have a counterpart. Despite a big improvement over the original EQG, I still managed to find a few issues. The HuMane Five saw little development aside them wanting to start a band called the Rainbooms. Yes, it's nice that Rainbow and Applejack are rockers while Pinkie is a drummer and Rarity is a keytar player. It may differentiate them from their pony counterparts (who don't play any instruments and no Pinkie's antics don't count) but that's really it. I'm not saying that they should have gotten development in most of the scenes as this is a 70-minute movie so there was so much the writers would've done. However, a few scenes for each one where you see some progression would have been great. I mean after four seasons of witnessing the Mane Six grow and mold their personalities into better characters, this seems rather lazy to keep the HuMane Five the same. Even the shorts (a small prequel) did a better job showcasing each one with some form of character development. Then we have the return of Jar Jar Flash which shows that the writers didn't learn anything from the first film. Maybe if they developed him further than a love interest in the first movie then he wouldn't be so hated. Of course, what isn't Jar Jar Flash there for then to come off as Twilight's love interest, a shipping no one is going to care about. So how do the writers go about Flash? Absolutely nothing for him as he gets no development and the guy is basically there for Twilight. How does this further the plot in the battle of the bands? It doesn't and its because in the first film, Jar Jar Flash helped Twilight against Sunset's scheming where in this film, the guy does nothing for her. Of course, they had to resort to having them bump into each other like talking isn't a good enough interaction. It's the reason many like myself consider this the worst shipping in the entire Gen 4. Now, I'll go into the Dazzlings' departure and this movie is the last time we see them ever again. There are many reasons I still get annoyed by this as the Dazzlings are the best villains in the EQG series. However, just like it was with Discord and Sunset, the Dazzlings have great potential for another set of characters that could see a redemption. With two movies, three episodic specials, and the Summer Shorts later, all we got was references. A matter of fact, the Dazzlings are good enough to have a few episodes dedicated to them solely because of how much personality they have. I'm hoping that with the new YouTube series and added shorts shown between episodes, its something Hasbro should take advantage of for the Dazzlings. The last thing I would like to bring up is how the lore is never expanded or explained further. Nothing major along those lines of explaining a backstory for several minutes but small hints here and there. Like I said, a few scenes about this world such as, is the country in the story still called Equestria? Is the town still called Ponyville or Canterlot Town? You know it's called world building and this movie hardly does any of it especially when the writers usually start adding things in the sequels. Yes, we do know now the Parallel Equis is basically a random dumping ground for Equis' magic problems. However, there is obviously more to this world than magic seeping from Equestria. The writers at the time should have developed the human versions of what we saw in FIM. Even exclusive historic points from the past that never happened in the FIM as part of its lore would have added its own thing. Rainbow Rocks is what the series needed to take the spinoff further so as to build the entire brand. The character development of Sunset and the Dazzlings was fun to watch as it contributes to the plot. As we see from the holiday comic special, Sunset continues going through her redemption and honestly it was the most believable one out of all of them. Luna's and Discord's redemption hardly even comes close to the quality the writers put into Sunset. The Dazzlings as stated are the best villains the series saw even till now. With their competent plotting and vibrate personalities are what sold the movie to us alone. The animation and the music was another major improvement over the original which you can tell more effort went into the film's production. The only few problems present is the HuMane Five's lack of development into growing their personalities. The movie shorts shouldn't have to do that for the film's story as a few scenes are all that's needed. The return of Jar Jar Flash was the same thing with no build in his character aside acting like a dumb love interest. It's a good thing this shipping died after this as the writers acted smart for once. On top of that, the writers should have done some world building as none was even written. Rainbow Rocks set the bar for this series to use and to look back on as a golden standard that should be emulated. Rating: 8.8/10 Great
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Retro Gamer has been an avid fan of the My Little Pony Series since the debut of Gen 4 in 2010. Whenever she isn't talking about gaming, Retro will give her thoughts on MLP and other pony themed brands.
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