#27: Steven Universe: The Movie

Beware a court jester spurned.

It's going to be hard to watch season 6 for several reasons;

1: Cartoon Network will do a poor job advertising it and sticking it to a consistent schedule. After all, it's not "Teen Titans Go!" (which has its good qualities).

2: Returning to simpler animation after how fluid and amazing this looked will be hard. This would have been amazing to see. This would have been astonishing to see on the big screen, but the time of television cartoons to cartoon theatrical movies has long ended.

The closest thing was Nickelodeon / Viacom's intended theatrical adaptation of "The Loud House", which has now been pushed to Netflix for...eventually.

"Steven Universe: The Movie" is not hiding how its a rehash of the first 5 seasons of the show and how the main characters relearn their lessons within about an hour. It's trodding old ground, but the introduction of new villain Spinel in all her wacky, malevolent, Harley Quinn-esque fighting is incredible.

I'm not sure who Sarah Stiles is, but good lord, this was the best voice acting I have heard on a show in an insanely long time. The edge of madness, the weight of sadness, that was so impressive.

And they let Steven grow up. I'm happy to see and hear it.

I glance-listened to some of the songs out of context and wasn't terribly impressed until I saw and heard them in the movie. I love "Other Friends" and "Independent Together". Some of the other songs have really interesting instrumental pieces that jump in halfway though, but sadly it doesn't warrant listening to the entire song.

Then there's pieces like "Drift Away" and "Found" that are nothing without the visuals.




But Spinel is not 100% evil. In fact, for much of the movie, she tags along with the gang, never leaving Steven's side, and is honestly a little annoying. She's far better when her internal conflict is being lashed out against the world.

And what is this conflict? Pink Diamond was her only friend (And presumably, Spinel was hers). Pink Diamond wanted bigger and better things, a colony, and because Spinel thought everything was a game, Pink had to fool her into standing still and waiting for her for 6,000 years.

It's the equivalent of a friendship naturally falling apart, but because Gem Society is, as a whole, emotionally stunted (Though we get some pretty funny interactions from the Diamonds from it), it's a big deal.

There's a minority of us who like Pink Diamond as a character; She was flawed, a bit bratty, ambitions, and grew to be caring. Being all of those things doesn't excuse how badly she hurt over multiple beings to get what she wanted.

Steven is still Steven, with his ability and want to talk things out. At least here, unlike the Bismuth Arc, he's learned that the Diamonds weren't shit before they improved.

If you haven't seen at least the last season of "Steven Universe", most of that under the cut means shit to you. Despite the speedy recap that is the first hour, this is not for new initiates, and outsiders may be interested in the music and visuals.

For the rest of us, it is every inch a TV movie designed to push characters forward, but it's a great one.