InspireGato Film Perfection

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

fat-21134 I don't think that there has ever been a documentary that has ever been filmed that displays the heroic courage necessary for a grown man to accept something so pure and majestic as his love for a cartoon pony. Never before has such a visual spectacle made such a deep impact upon my life. Witnessing the bravery of these individuals has given me the courage and strength to escape the dark, oppressive basement of my deeply authoritarian parents. Which is a burden that I would wish upon no one. Watching this movie has given me the strength to soar like an eagle, move out, and acquire my new job as a brewista at a local coffee shop. Every time I rewatch this documentary I weep tears of joy as I reminisce on how far I've come but yet how far I still have to go. This is why I relate so much to rainbow dash and the trials and tribulations that she has faced as a pony. I also credit this movie for meeting my life partner at our local Bronie support group which holds weekly meetings at the coffee shop that I work. Although I deeply love my life partner they erroneously identify with the pony rarity, which seems strange but opposites do attract. Anyway I'm sorry for being so long winded but I just want everyone to grasp how much this film has impacted my life. I hope to make it to broniecon 2017 and with any luck I will.

MartinHafer Depending on your age and background, you may well be aware of what 'Bronies' are. These are, usually, adult male fans of the recent animated My Little Pony series--a series intended for very young little girls. The folks who made the shows were surprised by this phenomenon. It seems that adult men are now its most rabid fans and have begun organizing giant conventions for My Little Pony which are every bit as big as you might find for Star Trek or Anime. The purpose of Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony appears to be both to explain this fandom and to also normalize it as much as possible. Nice and very likable teenage and adult men are interviewed about their obsessions with these incredibly happy and sweet cartoon characters. And, the film features charming narration by John de Lancie (who does the voice for one of the characters on the show and is also adored by Star Trek fans for playing 'Q') and it also has many interviews including the show's creator as well as another one of the voice actors, Tara Strong. They all seem to agree that it's a benign obsession and the notion of these guy emulating the positive messages of the show isn't a bad thing at all--and the film does a great job in normalizing this fandom. However, it also seems to occasionally miss the proverbial elephant in the room. This is because two big problems really aren't addressed in the otherwise entertaining film. First, the women and children who like the show are almost completely ignored. Now I know that the film is about adult fans but the film says a Brony can be a man or a woman--yet not all that many women are interviewed and the focus clearly is on the guys. No young girls are interviewed. That is all very odd-- especially in light of the second problem. There is a far darker side of many of the Bronies. The Brony movement began on 4chan--a website often linked to some of the stranger, more militant folks lurking on the internet. In light of this, it isn't surprising that SOME of the Bronies have a much more sexualized view of My Little Pony and there are quite a few reports of inappropriate behaviors by some of the Bronies at conventions or on websites. Sexual harassment, an unnatural infatuation with children, anatomically correct pony pillows or fan art and emotional bullying are sometimes serious problems. Now I am not saying all or even most Bronies behave this way, but it IS a problem--one often addressed on the internet yet oddly missing from the documentary. Sites such as Ponies for Parents and Brony Stupidity (among others) point out many examples of inappropriate conduct that clearly indicate that not all Bronies are as nice and benign as the ones you see in the film. Try a Google search using the terms 'My Little Pony porn' and you'll come up with tons and tons of examples of amazingly twisted fan art and porn videos. Yet, inexplicably, the film never mentions any of this. When a film ignores such obvious controversies, it becomes, in a way, more like propaganda than a documentary--the big reason why I felt a little uncomfortable watching this otherwise well made movie. Watch if it you want--just be aware that there is far more to the fandom than you see in this film.

alexsmith-1 This film presents itself as a documentary, but it is more of a one-sided fluff-piece that celebrates Bronyism as purely magic, devoid of discord.Notably missing from this fluff is the more provocative, dark side of adult MLP worship. Sure, one could technically divide MLP adult fans up into two separate categories, but this misses the point. Bronies misses the opportunity to present this odd realm of adult fandom in all of its dimensions, so is shallow and boring.The film avoids the truth in favor of the magical, and as such seems more childlike than MLP itself.

Origami Isopod "Isn't it amazing how a group of adult men can completely take over a show meant for little girls; making it virtually impossible to search or do anything related to the show without being exposed to over-sexualized, misogynistic, sexist crap, and they get a documentary that praises them for stepping outside of their perceived gender roles? Meanwhile 45% of the gaming community is comprised of women and I get dick pics and rape threats if I try and go on xbox live."Three stars instead of one because it's rather impressive that the documentarian could create something so smarmily self-congratulatory, yet riddled with homophobia and much less flattering to "bronies" than he'd like to think.