My Little Pony: The Movie

(Hmm....My "Lego Ninjago" review seems to have disapperead. I'll look into this.)
This was fantastic! The filmmakers really put a lot of time, effort, and love into this. I was worried that it would feel like a long episode of the show, but it wasn't. Even if you haven't watched the show, you can still enjoy it. No exaggeration when I say we may have a contendor for a "Best Animated Film" nominee in the 2018 Oscars. (We all know it's going to lose to "Coco", though. Thanks, Pixar.) This feels like a Disney Renaissance film. It's got catchy songs, great animation, and great jokes. There were even some adults laughing. (Not because the jokes were inappropriate, they're just quick, subtle jokes that kids won't get. There was absolutely nothing inappropriate in this movie. No profanity or innuendo of any kind. Good on you, filmmakers!) That makes me wonder why it was PG. Apparently it's for "Mild Action." Oh for goodness sakes! If this were made 20-30 years ago it would have been G. It's no more intense than "The Lion King" or "Aladdin," which are both G. I honestly wouldn't mind going back to see this again. Given that it's the only movie coming out in October that I'm interested in, I may have to to tide me over until "Thor: Ragnarok." The voice case is phenomanal.  They really pulled out all the stops on this one. Liev Schriber as The Storm King  and Michael Pena as the sidekick Grubber are particularly comedic, and Emily Blunt is chilling as Tempest Shadow. My one nitpick is the plot was a little all over the place and it felt like they decided to throw 3 different episode concepts and combine them here. If the plot had been more linear it would have been a perfect score, but I'm sadly going to have to take a point off. Given that this is the only good movie coming out in October Death Month, I say go see it just for the sake of not going through movie withdrawal. I promise you'll have a fun time.
Grade: A-    9/10    4/5 stars