Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Rachel Shoichet and Maryke Hendrikse particularly excel. Voice acting is very strong, no talent wastes here. Sunset Shimmer is a conflicted, well-developed and easy to root for character and Sonata Dusk is a hoot. The climax is exciting, and the characters apart from Flash and Twilight not always written consistently are more interesting and likable, with the trio of villains being humour, sinister charm and colour to the proceedings. The story here is far better paced and more eventful, this is not a less than half-an-hour extended episode padded with lots of filler, the complete opposite in fact. The messaging is well-meaning and heartfelt, not at all overly-didactic in how it's put across. The references are cleverer and much better integrated, much more natural and not forced at all. There is a better balance of humour and emotion, with winning and amusing humour and poignant and never schmaltzy or mawkish emotion. Again more in the spirit of 'Friendship is Magic' than the predecessor film. Apart from in the romance, the dialogue also improves hugely here. The music is much catchier and much easier to remember the lyrics (on the most part witty and heart-warming) and melodies. The character designs don't look anaemic or anorexic this time round, which looked ugly and parents had a field day saying what a bad message it sent.
'Rainbow Rocks' animation is much closer to the vibrant and rounded animation quality of 'Friendship is Magic' than the flat and robotic animation of 'Equestria Girls'. Compared to the flaws 'Equestria Girls' had, they are next to nothing. The romance is awkward and not particularly well written, Flash is a bland character, Twilight's role in the film is occasionally a little forced and there is some cheesy lyric writing. It is not quite perfect, though the flaws are far less and less glaring. On its own two feet, 'Rainbow Rocks' fares just as well and is an incredibly fun film in its own right. A shining example of a good animated sequel that others should learn from and strive to be. Instead, it felt like 'Rainbow Rocks' seemed to have seen the numerous complaints made about 'Equestria Girls', took them on board and corrected them. Was really worried as to whether 'Rainbow Rocks' would repeat the same mistakes as 'Equestria Girls', amplify them and make more on the way like a lot of animated sequels seen recently (the 'Alpha and Omega' sequels being prime examples). The general consensus is that it is an enormous improvement over 'Equestria Girls'. While not as good as 'Friendship is Magic', it is much closer in quality to that than to 'Equestria Girls'. What a pleasant surprise 'Rainbow Rocks' turned out to be.
Hearing there was a sequel was less than enthusing to me and made me feel very apprehensive. The first film based on it 'Equestria Girls' was an enormous disappointment and the complete anti-thesis in quality as one could get. 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' is in my opinion one of the best animated shows in recent years.
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