Blog:My Little Pony: The Movie: Legend of the Crystal Empire (FAKE Film)

My Little Pony: The Movie: Legend of the Crystal Empire is a 2079 animated film based on the television show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Plot
Set several years after Twilight Sparkle's coronation as princess of Equestria, Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 discover a sinister new threat to the Crystal Empire. But in order to defeat this new enemy, they must work together with an unlikely individual -- the former tyrant, King Sombra.

Bad Qualities
1) The main problem with the film is that it is completely unnecessary -- it debuted exactly 62 years after the first MLP G4 film and 60 years after the ending of the original FIM show! There was no reason for this film to be made as today's kids are likely to be more familiar with the current generation of the MLP franchise, G9.

2) The Mane 6 don't get enough screentime in the film's second act as the story shifts its focus to Sombra and the umbrum.

3) King Sombra's return came out of nowhere. He also acts extremely annoying and out-of-character. If you thought his pompous and overly-talkative personality in S9 of the show was bad, wait until you see how he behaves here!

4) Because it came out so long after the original G4 MLP series, none of the original voice actors for the movie or the show are able to reprise their roles. This can be jarring for those who grew up with the original show and are used to hearing the way the characters sounded before.

5) Although the animation is decent to look at, there are some glaring animation errors. For example, during Sombra's resurrection scene, Princess Cadance is missing her wings for a few frames. There are also some moments where the characters' voices are out of sync with their lip movements.

6) Some jokes and scenes are way too dark and inappropriate for a film aimed at children. The umbrum are way too terrifying for a kids' film.

7) Some plot holes and things that don't make sense. For example, it's never explained how the umbrum were able to escape into the Crystal Empire in the present day if they were unable to escape for the past two thousand years.

8) Misleading title: there's no "legend" of the Crystal Empire.

9) Sombra's redemption feels forced.

10) There's loads of filler in the beginning.

11) During the "It's Good to be King" musical number, as King Sombra reminisces about his time as ruler, an unintentional error (hopefully) makes one of the ponies in the crowd look like she is giving the Nazi salute to Sombra.

Good Qualities
1) Although it wasn't needed, it was still nice to return to the world of G4 MLP again, particularly during the time period between the last two episodes of the TV show.

2) The Mane 6 are still lovable and very much in-character.

3) We get to see Flurry Heart as a school-age filly.

4) King Sombra's voice acting, although over the top, is still well-done.

5) The animation is nice and fluid, and it's nice to have a 2D-animated film in this day and age.

6) Some lines are funny, such as when King Sombra asks, "You're not going to blow me up with a magic rainbow laser again, are you?"

7) It stays true to the source material, and some fans of MLP: FIM might like it.

8) Even though the umbrum are too scary for a family film, they do make good antagonists.

Trivia

 * Some elements of the plot, such as the umbrum, are taken from the official MLP comic series.


 * Most fans of G4 disregard this film as canon and consider it to be more of a non-canon fan film.


 * The director chose to have the film feature King Sombra as he was her favorite villain in Friendship is Magic.