by Kristin Ciliberto, Contributing Writer
Based on Hasbro’s My Little Pony franchise of toys and merchandise comes a brand new journey for its young audiences to get swept away by magic, eye-catching colors, and friendship with My Little Pony: A New Generation. In 2017 audiences were treated to My Little Pony: The Movie, which starred the likes of Emily Blunt, Liev Schreiber, Zoe Saldana, and Kristin Chenoweth; however, is it too soon for another film? In this latest animated film featuring the ponies, an Earth pony, Sunny (Vanessa Hudgens) and unicorn, Izzy (Kimiko Glenn) go on an exciting adventure that puts them on their greatest challenges leading them to far away lands as they make new friends and restore harmony to Equestria after living in fear, prejudice, and paranoia.
This film deserves a lot of credit and respect for what it aims to reach in terms of its themes and messages. This heartwarming story encourages audiences to be brave, but most importantly shows the power of friendship and makes the statement to put fears aside and put kindness and love towards others. The film takes a look at how politics and racism have impacted the world over the last few years and makes it a life lesson. Children are going to have a lot of fun watching Sunny embark on this journey with her new friends. The film is also a musical, which I wasn’t expecting, but then again it’s a children’s film, so almost anything is possible. Most of the songs are catchy and come off as silly. The film is predictable, and it doesn’t show anything new to adult audiences. Even though it is only 90 minutes, the film does drag on in the midst of introducing a lot of new characters.
A list of talented stars that I’m sure many millennials will recognize include the likes of High School Musical alum, Hudgens, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse actress Kimiko Glenn, internet superstar Liza Koshy, and Sofia Carson for Disney Channel’s Descendants. These actresses involve scream girl power, as they all bring a sense of joy and fun chemistry to the film with each pony, who has their own sparkle of personality. Hudgens’ character stands out as Sunny brings a heartening story which radiates sweetness and love. Hudgens really embodies Sunny’s personality and does an excellent job bringing her to life. The striking various rainbow of colors make the story more magical, and audiences will want to pet each of the ponies. Each actor filled their parts in their respective roles with the help of a strong and supporting voice cast including James Marsden, Ken Jeong, Jane Krakowski, Phil LaMarr, and Micharl McKean.
It’s no surprise that the success of the film has been strong, as young audiences will sure see some kind of future spin-off series or sequel to sell even more merchandise, which is not totally bad. They will fall in love with the brand new new ponies that are filled with magic and friendship. It aims to please and is exactly what it wanted to be: a family friendly film that radiates positivity.
Grade: B