My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Legend of Everfree (2016) User Reviews

How many 'Equestria Girls' movies do we need

[tapio_hietamaki · 6/10 · 23 March 2017]

Weirdly enough, the fourth installment in the 'Equestria Girls' spin-off movie series is reminiscent of slasher horror movies like 'Friday the 13th' and 'Sleepaway Camp' as it stars a bunch of high schoolers at a remote summer camp in the middle of a forest, and they are stalked by a mysterious dark power. Of course, since this is 'My Little Pony', nobody gets killed, but there are scenes set in the woods at night, some horror stories told around a campfire, a traitorous villain character and an actual monster.

The story has good tension, but the ending falls apart. The whole 'Equestria Girls' series is hit and miss. The two first movies were energetic and fun, while 'Friendship Games' was weird and psychological. With 'Legend of Everfree', it seems the series is starting to lose steam.

The franchise is in a strange place. It's got a lot of fans and the TV show has resolved some issues that have been a long time coming, but it also is getting a bit tired, repeating the same plot lines over and over. There's also an animated feature film coming up with ponies instead of humans this time.

Sunset is by far a better protagonist than Twilight and this movie proves it

[lunalovitt · 5/10 · 24 January 2018]

First off, this is one of the better Equestria Girls movies. Probably my favorite of what has been released so far. That being said, this movie is probably the one where I find my aggravation levels caused by Twilight's character to be the highest. The entire series would have been better off not having Twilight at all. Sunset Shimmer is far and away a much more sympathetic protagonist and has the most developed and interesting story of any character related to the series.

What makes a good character is their story, and one of the reasons why characters like Luna and Sunset are so popular is because they have a base story of redemption. They went to the dark side, but have been redeemed and continuously are trying to better themselves and make up for their past. They are constantly moving forward while characters like Twilight are just... stagnant. I am incredibly disappointed at how Sunset was treated in this movie. First off, her "power" comes off as more of an afterthought than anything that makes sense. (I mean, really, the ability to touch someone and see into their mind? Compared to the abilities of everyone else, this is really bad. If anything it was only given to her to help smooth over bucketloads of exposition. Her power might as well be called "Exposition-finder-ex-machina" because that is ALL it's good for.) It's also pretty weak compared to Twilight who is given some pretty OP abilities that, to be honest, she has done nothing to even earn out of all the movies she has been present (and I mean this of her human character, not her pony character since her pony version actually did something to earn her powers). Sunset has worked the hardest to overcome adversity and is the true fighter in it all, but she's always being relegated to a back seat spot in favor of a character whose only contribution to the plot is allowing herself to be overcome with negativity.

Honestly? They should just make Sunset the alicorn of the Equestria Girls series. This is an alternate dimension, after all. Why does everything have to go by the pony universe? If another film is made (and I'm sure there will be so long as there is money to be had) then I hope more focus and ability is given to the characters who actually deserve it rather than just dumping more special snowflake dust on Twilight Sparkle. Forcibly shoving something like Twilight's inept character repeatedly down the throats of viewers is NOT the way to get people to like her more.

Summer camping with the Equestria Girls

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 22 August 2017]

'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' is in my opinion one of the best animated shows in recent years. The first film based on it 'Equestria Girls' was an enormous disappointment and the complete anti-thesis in quality as one could get. Was apprehensive about watching its first sequel 'Rainbow Rocks' but was both pleasantly surprised and very impressed. 'Friendship Games' was flawed but still decent.

Likewise with the third sequel and fourth overall instalment 'Legend of Everfree'. It's not as good as 'Rainbow Rocks' and nowhere near as good as 'Friendship is Magic', but it is a huge improvement over the first 'Equestria Girls' film. It is hard to say which is better between 'Friendship Games', there are a couple of the same problems while things are done better than the other and others done worse than the other. It was such a good surprise to find sequels vastly better than the original film, considering the general reputation with sequels (with obvious exceptions of course), but the 'Equestria Girls' films, while still not perfect films, manages this feat.

There are issues with 'Legend of Everfree'. It does suffer still, like 'Friendship Games' from trying to do too much with a few too many characters and plot strands, but whereas 'Friendship Games' suffered quite majorly in this respect it's only at times with 'Legend of Everfree'.

Other problems exist, with the most forgettable song scores of the sequels. Don't remember many of them at all, and didn't feel they were particularly good in their own right, certainly better than the soundtrack in the first film but very meh still. It also has the weakest script of the sequels too. Not awful, there are good qualities in it, but it does have some clunky and unnecessary exposition, cheesiness and repetition which wasn't present in the previous two sequels.

Much more could have been done with the magical powers stuff. An interesting angle with the powers appropriately fitting to each character, but not given enough screen time and done with not much imagination.

However, there are many good qualities in 'Legend of Everfree'. The animation is vibrant, ethereal and well-rounded, like 'Friendship is Magic', 'Rainbow Rocks' and 'Friendship Games' and unlike 'Equestria Girls', with character designs that are appealing and don't send warning signs about potential bad messaging.

While the script is flawed, there is a good balance of humour and emotion, with winning and amusing humour and poignant and never schmaltzy or mawkish emotion. The references are clever and naturally integrated and the messages are well-meaning and heartfelt and avoid being preachy.

Story here has its messy moments but still moves along nicely and it doesn't feel like an extended TV episode. It was great to see that the romantic subplots were much better handled than in 'Rainbow Rocks' (one of the very few problems with that film), especially the main one. The characters, though Flash is still a bit bland, are better developed as an overall whole than in 'Friendship Games', have believably done conflicts and flaws and are well-realised and easy to like. Twilight and Sunset Shimmer are particularly well done.

Voice acting is very strong, no talent wastes here. Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball and Rachel Shoichet are particularly good.

Overall, just as decent third sequel but could have been better. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I'm Now A Brony

[barbaradavis-39578 · 7/10 · 28 October 2017]

all of the equestria girls are good this one is the last equestria girls movie i was crying that hasbro said that legend of everfree was the last equestria girls movie i was crying so hard but hasbro made a equestria girls summertime shorts series that i was excited because i thought equstria girls was done for but hasbro made my life feel better so i was happy legend of everfree is a good movie of all of the equstria girls movies i'm not saying that all of the movies are terrible but all of them are so good and such a good musical so the equestria girls series is 20% awesome i'm now a brony because i love my little pony so much wow just wow

But cringe at points but overall pretty cool

[boswc · 6/10 · 15 February 2022]

Cringed at Embrace The Magic cus it was a bit random and stuff. Wasn't vibing with how Twilight's love interest was a guy who seems in his late 20's at the least. The first song and Gloriosa's solo slapped. Kinda wish Sunset and Flash got a little more closure than just "Geez, tough love." but go off I guess. Derpy had one line and I am forever betrayed, give best girl more screen time, please, for my sake.

If I were to write down what the plot was, it would be more so a paraphrase of what happened then a general idea of the plot. It's more so events one after another than an actual plot but I don't really mind.

Gloriosa's villain persona wasn't all that impressive besides the transformation. The little "dun dun dun" sound effect that played on her reveal was pretty funny tho. Overall pretty good, I enjoyed it when I was a kid, and I enjoy it now still.

People like this one???

[laurengracethesing · 3/10 · 27 August 2022]

Baffled that people like this one? I like the first Equestria Girls movie alright because the fish out of water elements are cute and it parallels nicely with Twilight's discomfort at becoming an alicorn princess but in this one (human) Twilight spends all her time being upset that she briefly turned into a demon monster against her will in the last movie and is terrified she'll turn into that monster again despite no indication or established threat that she might and as such spends the whole movie afraid. She runs off into the woods and sits apart from her friends and becomes convinced she's infecting them and then has to be convinced to use life-saving magic multiple times even when the characters are on the brink of death because she's afraid of something that seems completely irrational as far as we know. The rest of the characters besides Sunset feel flanderized with Rarity being completely absorbed with her fashion show lazing back and watching other people do the work, Applejack apparently is so rough and tough she made her own hammer out of stone rather than grabbing one from a toolbox and Pinkie Pie is such a menace she throws a box of nails at people.

The movie has a weird relationship with The Magic where Twilight is terrified of her own magic because she's debilitatingly afraid of turning back into the monster, Sunset is excited by it to the point of ignoring Twilight's feelings and encourages the rest of the humane 7 developing magic to use it, but the main villain of the film who just wants to keep her camp and presumably home turns into a big evil monster because they needed one I guess and she was using The Magic. It seems like a missed opportunity to not draw a parallel between Twilight being afraid of her own magic and the person who's trying to save her campgrounds turning into a big evil monster

First movie is good and I wanted to like this but it's disappointing. If you want good Equestria Girls try the first movie or the specials Rollercoaster of Friendship and Spring Breakdown, the characters there aren't flanderized and take actions that make sense for them. Review is a 3/10 because the voice work and animation is nice and the film is nice to look at but the story and characterizations make it kind of agonizing.

A surprising improvement

[chainedsoulz · 8/10 · 28 September 2016]

After Friendship Games being as weak as it was, I went into this movie expecting another downward spiral for this franchise. I was pleasantly surprised though to see how much this movie actually improved the Equestria Girls formula. The pacing seemed to work a lot better, and the music while not as good as Rainbow Rocks manages to move closer to the "good" side of the scale.

Plot as well taking a positive turn as this film seemed to be more entertaining with a more focused plot that didn't feel like it was scrambled together at the last minute like the previous film. I think the biggest issue that FG suffered from is that the writers changed their mind about the focus of the film halfway through and it showed. This one however pulled less punches. With Sunset being a bigger role in this movie, and the overall feeling being far better, I would have to say that Legend of Everfree refreshes the series and is definitely worth a watch!

A bit of a letdown

[elfishpirat · 4/10 · 5 November 2016]

***Spoilers***

I've watched all the Equestria Girl's movies and I have to say, this is my least favorite.

No memorable songs, barely there plot and completely off-the-wall developments.

We already have the girls ponying up when they play music or show their true selves. Now they have super powers? Total gimmick from Hasbro to sell more EG dolls before Christmas. The geodes reminded me of the elements of harmony...but then...what is Sunset's?

This movie had a lot of potential...but it was a bit of a letdown.

There are enough unanswered questions to warrant another film...hopefully better than this one.

And please, please, please. If they make another film. Please develop better songs.

Best One Yet, in My Opinion

[shotgun-69216 · 8/10 · 1 October 2016]

To start, let's stick with spoiler free. It was a great movie with solid characters and character development. The story was fairly standard, but still entertaining. There were a few moments of clunky exposition or unneeded repetition, but nothing that really killed the movie. Music-wise, there weren't any songs that I would say were bad, but I've already forgotten one out of the five songs, with two of them stuck in my head because they were so good.

Now comes the spoiler part. You have been warned.

The start of this movie was perfect for Twilight's character arc, with a nightmare being the first scene. The way this is carried throughout the movie was surprisingly well done, giving this version of Twilight a bit of a redemption arc. I know it was already done in the last movie, but this one solidifies her reasoning and gives a strong "Jekyll and Hyde" feel between Twilight and Midnight. I personally loved this part of the story, partially because it gave a fantastic, yet far too short song from her. As to the overall story of the movie, it's pretty much the girls dealing with magic when they weren't expecting to. However, towards the end, it transitions into a superhero movie, which I wasn't entirely expecting. Along with that, this entry of the Equestria Girls series gives a red herring, pointing you towards one of the new characters, and explaining their motivations, when it's really someone else. Well done, movie. Bonus points for that.

But now I have to address the elephant in the room: the romance subplot. Now, I'm not a fan of the way this subplot found its way into the first two movies. It was clunky, and didn't really fit into the overall story much. That along with the painful lack of character from Flash Sentry made those parts irritating to me. I liked the step away from it in Friendship Games, instead focusing more on the characters and story, but Hasbro or DHX or at least one of the other studios involved in this one thought it would be a good idea to put not one, but two romance subplots in here.

My thoughts on this choice? It actually worked. It surprised me when the main one actually tied into the story in a way that made sense and wasn't just to put one in there. Plus, that one didn't involve Flash, and instead took to someone that had a solid, albeit simple character. The second one felt a little more forced, but still fit in there fairly well. This one actually involved what seemed to be an attempt at rekindling a relationship between Flash and Sunset Shimmer, and while it only really had a couple of moments, it wasn't too bad. I was actually surprised at how well it was handled.

The way I see it, with the villain, she's more of an antagonist, as she's actually trying really hard to do good, but ends up taking it too far.

No, I'm not going to say who she is. This review may have spoilers, but I'm leaving that for you to figure out.

But what about the side characters? The other six main characters? Don't they play a role in this? Yes. Yes, they do. However, I'd say for this one, most of the Mane Six's counterparts take a backseat in this movie. The biggest focus is on Twilight and her inner struggles, and Sunset who's trying to help her. And while the other five definitely play a strong role, and show their growth over the previous films, their parts are smaller than I had expected going in.

Now onto the new magic that was shown in the previews. Well, I was a little underwhelmed with this part. All seven of our main characters end up with new abilities because of magic gems hidden in a stone cave in the middle of the camp. But while these abilities fit nicely with personalities of these characters, I feel as though there wasn't as much creativity as there could've been in the execution of this plot point.

The ending of this movie was fairly solid, too, as we see most of the conflicts resolved. But a question is brought up that leads to a scene that I hope will inspire similar movies to this one in the future, as we find out that there could be more than just this one random magical hot-spot. I personally think that would fill out a handful of extra movies with the proper pacing, or just one if they throw good pacing out the window and rush everything. But it was a good setup for future entries into this franchise, or possibly even a show continuing the adventures of our protagonists as they learn to be superheroes.

However, with all this praise, there are some things that drop my rating of this movie. Some of the dialogue doesn't really work for what they were going for, and there's a lot of repeated phrases, acting like we forgot something or just worded awkwardly in the context of the movie. A couple of parts stand out as odd or out-of-place, but nothing too bad. The lack of character exploration with a few of the new characters also applies to this, as the two most prominent of the new characters have fairly simple stories. The solo song from Twilight around the middle also should've been a good minute or two longer. What was there was great, but it felt like it was just getting started. That along with the completely forgettable intro makes me wonder why a couple of scenes that felt more forced were kept while other parts that could've enhanced the tone were either left out or cut.

Overall, a great movie, and the best one in the franchise so far.

A disappointing Equestria Girls movie

[mindos-54492 · 4/10 · 12 October 2016]

The first Equestria Girls movie was interesting because of new ideas, characters and comedy. Rainbow Rocks elevated all of this to the whole new level while adding well-balanced story structure and memorable songs. This tradition was continued by the third movie, Friendship Games, which not only provided everything good from Rainbow Rocks but also provided us with even better soundtrack and some great epic moments.

After the success of the 2nd and the 3rd films, my expectations were high enough to expect from the 4th one the same best points Equestria Girls franchise has established.

And... Legend of Everfree didn't have any of it. First of all, the plot structure. It basically doesn't exist. Almost the whole movie is composed of scenes only slightly related to each other which made me confused at about the middle of the movie and question myself of what exactly is happening. Some Scooby- Doo vibes I had during certain parts of the movie also didn't help to make an original atmosphere I was hoping to see. Most of the songs, even the antagonist's one, were good, but not memorable as in previous two films. The villain was unsurprising, her motivations and actions didn't make any sense at all. On the top of that, the culmination scene ended as anticlimactically as it was possible, which reminded me of plot resolutions in some Power Rangers episodes.

Although, I can make some good points. The comedy element of the movie was pretty well-made. Also, we see good character development of Flash Sentry (finally!) who, in my opinion, is the most underrated character of the franchise.

In the end, I can say this: upcoming three special episodes are going to be good because of lowering the bar of expectations that Legend of Everfree did. This is probably the only thing this movie successfully accomplished.

This movie was dissapointing.

[Cooleneterdome21 · 3/10 · 27 March 2021]

This is my least favorite of the Eqg movies. I don't even like this franchise at all they really should've just ended it after the 3rd movie because this is just an hour long toy commercial. The first 10 minutes of the movie are completely barebones and stupid. They even add in a fashion show subplot and an uninteresting romance subplot (which also happened in the first movie.) but after that they have this other subplot where things start to get interesting but it's written into the story very poorly. Also rarity in particular really annoyed me. Most of the movie is just the mane seven enjoying camp. The villain was very boring. I also only liked 2 out of the 6 songs in the movie songs in the first and second movies are leagues better. It also really didn't need to exist.

Definitely one of the best:)

[kylame · 9/10 · 10 October 2016]

I have watch all the movies, there was some likes and dislikes but that's just that. the music was great . about LOE I definitely liked sunset shimmer and her power of mind reading, unlike last one it was an improvement. I liked gloriosa daisy even though she was an antagonist(reformed). and the jokes are funny. there was a county style which I liked ,it was as good as rainbow rocks music, now for my dislikes its not much to dislike, I've never been a fan of sci twi and some crush things and kisses(it was a close one)well I guess that's my only dislikes OH! oh and one more there is literally no pony twilight appearance I almost thought she did ,sadly. now back again this movies is magical! it was great probably a bit predictable on who's the bad guy, but still great. it was an improvement, a fine watch for families, not just for kids but for adults too, you wont get guilty watching it. and jokes were again! awesome...... now its 9 GEIODS OUT OF 10 GEIODS!!!!!ITs Awesome!!!

Final full length EG?

[rbn_lrk-1 · 10/10 · 17 June 2019]

This is my own favorite of the EG movies. Including Twilight's new crush Timber that returns. Not anything groundbreaking like Zootopia, but some human MLP fun, as new EG specials keeps on crashing in.

Love this colorful film with an amazing story line, fantastic characters and terrific animation

[rannynm · 12 November 2016]

My Little Pony has caught up with sci-fi and now has dimensions where the ponies are teenagers. WOW! This is an awesome concept! I love this colorful DVD with its amazing story line, fantastic characters and terrific animation. This film is one of my favorites of this series. I love the story line and how it fits perfectly with the rest of the series. The animation is fantastic. I love that they mix it with a little bit of Japanese anime. It really brings this film to life.

The cast is so fun and entertaining. Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) is a loving main character. She shows this by helping her friends and trying to find ways to make the world a better place for everyone. She does this despite the fact that she is dealing with her evil dark side that came out in the last film. Plus, things at Camp Everfree are going wrong and strange things are happening all around camp. Sunset Shimmer (Rebecca Shoichet) is thoughtful, generous, wants to help everybody and wants to solve the mystery. She also helps Twilight Sparkle overcome her fear and gain more confidence about herself. Rainbow Dash and Applejack (Ashleigh Ball) is daring, adventurous and a total tomboy. She tries to do the most outrageous and dangerous stuff with her friends including rock climbing and archery. Applejack is brutally honest and cares deeply for everyone. She can be a bit mean at times, but she just wants you to know the truth about everything. She once told Rarity that her idea of a runway was dumb because they were in a forest and no one but her would use it. Pinkie Pie (Andrea Libman) is hyper and loves to throw parties anywhere, anytime and any place. She brings marshmallows to everything to make s'mores. She tries her best to be fun and bring life to the party. She even dares Rainbow to eat as many marshmallows as she can fit in her mouth in one bite while they are telling scary stories by the campfire. Fluttershy (Andrea Libman) is shy, quiet and loves animals with all of her heart. She even goes to help a bird get back into its nest when she is in a hurry. Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain) loves to sew clothes for all her friends and is a complete girly girl at heart. She even wants a runway where she can show the other campers the clothes she has made.

Sunset Shimer is my stand out character. She wears a crown that has a spell cast on it and ends up with a demon inside her that she must fight off. Her character is compassionate. I like that she is always battling her caring side against her evil side. She is thoughtful of others. The way she tries everything in her power to help Twilight Sparkle overcome her fear is a great reminder to take good care of your friends and family, which is the theme of this film.

This is filled with magnificent songs that provide a musical theater vibe because the girls sing throughout the movie. They all have beautiful voices. You will want to learn the lyrics and sing along with them. They are so heartfelt that they really make you feel the emotions the characters are feeling.

I recommend this film for ages 7 to 16. Younger kids will love the story and fun characters. Older kids will find it inspiring. I give this 5 out of 5 pony stars.

Reviewed by Morgan B., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic.