So... what can I say about Steven Universe? Well, unlike Rocko's Modern Life, I actually did watch a lot of this show before the movie was announced. Though I still did binge watch most of it to catch up as I've kinda fell out of it. Watching it again though, I gotta say it really is great. That being said, it is flawed, and there are some things I do not think the writers really thought through, but hey, it has great characters, great animation, some great songs, I like it. I was pretty excited when the movie was announced, though I sadly did not see it as it aired, not really a Television watcher. So, I watched it online, admittedly not the best thing, but still. So, what are my thoughts on this movie?
I didn't like it.
I like the concept, a new villain comes in and reverts the gems to their original selves and begins to destroy the Earth. Plotwise, it is a fine movie, it flows well together, it's just that... well...
Can this movie go ten minutes without going into another song number?
Look, I get this is a musical, but even Disney has restraint when it comes to their song numbers. I'm not sure if they wanted to make their own "Power Puff Girls See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey" like thing but, that was like, a regular length episode and it was meant to be a rock opera like Tommy. They could have also wanted to make something like The Wall, but really The Wall worked better as an album, or maybe that is because the film cut songs out. I know the songs are a well loved aspect of the show, and don't get me wrong "Stronger Than You" and "Here Comes a Thought" are two of my favourite songs in animation, but some of these songs just appear to fast. Even ones that, if given a second listen to I'd probably enjoy, I just wanted them to end so I could get back to what I like the show for, the characters.
When it comes to characters, I want to say this movie is wonderful because it is the show characters, but a few years older, but no. While Steven is still a good character, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl are turned into their original selves (i.e. before the show began) so the characters we know and love don't really appear until towards the end. Lapis and Peridot are the same though, and that is great because I love them both, and most of the laughs I got out of this movie were from them. I, have yet to see Bismuth's return episode, but I do kind of like her character here. Connie is out of the film completely until the third act which sucks, and the new character of Spinel is... I don't really like her.
Spinel is that clingy friend people don't like to hang around with, even in her original form, she is kind of annoying. This may be because I am an introvert, but then again I would be lying if I said I didn't see a bit of myself in her. We do both love fun and do get emotional, but the difference is, I do worry that I annoy my friends sometimes... a lot... and a character like Spinel doesn't.
"But don't you like SpongeBob and Patrick? Aren't they similar characters?"
Yes and no, SpongeBob and Patrick are both fun loving and can be ignorant to the annoyance of the people around them, and the episode where that gets out of control are some of the worst episode of the show. The episodes where it's SpongeBob and Patrick working off of each other, or off of just Squidward, or where the town gets in on their antics, those are the episodes where they shine.
"But Spinel's backstory, and how she has trust and abandonment issues."
Yes, Spinel's backstory is really sad, but ultimately, I don't think a character having a trauma makes them good characters from the get-go. Also remember that she spends a good chunk of the movie as her original self anyway, Steven hit her with that, admittedly cool scythe weapon. So, I can assume that this is the character she was with Pink Diamond.
Yeah, at the end we do see the full trauma she deals with, which also hit close to home for me, but when I have to get through the stuff I don't like to get to the parts I do, that isn't fun, or entertaining, it's boring, and frustrating. Even Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, for as tedious, uncomfortable and insane as that movie got, it still had all the funny, engaging and creative moments. At the end of the day, I don't think someone should use their trauma to justify being a horrible friend, but hey, Spinel changes in the end, and for the better. Like Peridot... and Lapis... and Bismuth... and apparently the Diamonds... Yeah, just... following the formula... nothing wrong with that.
Actually that is harsh, Spinel is kind of like Tempest Shadow from the MLP movie. Though, even then, that movie did turn the main baddie into a stone statue and let him fall of a balcony and shatter on the ground. I do like the idea of using non-violent and peaceful ways to overcome your enemies, but I also think that not everyone can be won over that way. Some people are just to arrogant, to prideful, to savage or just to stupid to think that way.
I don't want to say this movie is completely bad, I did find myself laughing at some moments, I liked the concept of the movie, the animation was gorgeous, and I never really hated any of it, but I found myself not liking a lot of it either. Seriously, there were way too many songs in this movie, a Disney sing-along has less singing. I'm not sure if this needed to be reworked from the ground up, or just needed an extra re-write, or maybe if the whole thing would have been better if it was more like The Wall instead where it was all music and told a story through it all. As a whole, if you like Steven Universe, you might like it, but even then that is a big "MIGHT", there are some fans that didn't like this movie, and I can see why. Still, I don't think this is one to skip over, but it isn't one I really recommend either, you know what that means!
Oh yeah, there were also some comments that Rebecca Sugar made involving Spinel, but in these cases I like to invoke the "Death of the Author".
Also, updates to this blog may be coming infrequently for a while, here's a previous post explaining why: https://darkanimatedodeon.blogspot.com/2019/09/update-it-has-been-couple-weeks-whats.html
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