The My Little Pony franchise has impressed a following that has turn out to be a world of its personal, particularly for the reason that in style TV collection My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic expanded its goal demographic from younger youngsters and preteens to youngsters and younger grownup males (identified to one another as “bronies”). Only one factor unites this disparate group of followers: a love for the colourful ponies generally known as the Mane Six and their homeland of Equestria. However, My Little Pony: The Movie usually appears to be aimed extra on the “bronies” than on the youthful followers who initially represented the first demographic of Friendship Is Magic—significantly in its surprisingly darkish story and frequent pop-culture references.

The story focuses on the Mane Six’s makes an attempt to avoid wasting Equestria from an evil goat-like monster referred to as the Storm King (voice of Liev Schreiber) and restore the sunshine of friendship to the land. To do that, they seek for the Hippogriffs—a legendary race of pony-eagle hybrids—with the assistance of a motley crew that features a group of benevolent pirates and a conniving cat (Taye Diggs). The essential draw back to this journey is that there isn’t a lot enjoyable available alongside the way in which. There are just a few moments of harmless, playful humor scattered all through, however in any other case the ponies discover themselves in nearly fixed peril as they’re pursued by a fallen unicorn named Tempest Shadow (Emily Blunt) and her band of hulking guards and threatening monsters.

The film can be weighed down by too many musical numbers, which serve little operate aside from to pad the operating time and lighten the temper a bit—and younger youngsters are in all probability simply as prone to be bored by these sequences as they’re scared by the remainder of the movie. It’s an odd system, one which appears to have left behind the franchise’s core fan base in an effort to attain a wider viewers. This is perhaps precisely what older followers had been hoping for all alongside, but it surely additionally signifies that youthful followers would probably be happier rewatching their favourite episodes of Friendship Is Magic and enjoying with the road of lovable motion figures that this film is certain to spawn.