Steven Universe: The Movie - 'Toon Reviews Shorty

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Steven Universe is no doubt one of the most remarkable  and influential animated shows of the decade, maybe even all time.  With every season, the passion put into the story, character development, music, and lore becomes easier to see.  Even when it calms down to simpler moments, it always goes out of its way to show that life is always going to have something tough and complicated to work through.  Nevertheless, you almost always leave the show with a positive feeling of seeing something truly unique to the animation medium and masterfully moving.  Now, just recently, the show has taken all its strengths and applied them to a feature film, and subject for this special MC Toon Reviews Shorty:

Steven Universe: The Movie

(September 2, 2019)

SPOILER WARNING IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS FILM YET!

For how greatly constructed Steven Universe is, the end of the most recent work of the series until now left one big question; where could it possibly go from there?  At this point, all the major conflicts have been resolved. Steven and the Crystal Gems have finally made peace with the rulers of all Gems, the Diamonds, and all Gems hurt and corrupted from the Gem War have gotten healed.  With how much urgency that was given to these matters during the past five seasons, you'd think that there wouldn't be much more to do now that they're resolved.  This, however, is one of the driving factors of the entire film.  After so many accomplishments in saving Earth, and the entire universe by extension, Steven is set for nothing but a 'happily ever after' in his terms for the rest of his life.  However, the film's story unfolds with the intent of showing that even with all he's achieved, conflicts and adventures are still capable of happening and needing to be worked through.  The final results amount to a grand experience with the utmost care given to the message and characters, an exceptional setup, and amazing showcase of this series' best qualities.

The best works of Steven Universe are those that stand out with unforgettable moments that build its creative world, develop characters, and play to one's emotions.  This film is filled with several of these kinds of moments one after another, allowing the experience to leave a very huge impact.  Even before the film's main conflict begins, there's a lively emphasis on how great things have gotten for the world because of Steven's adventures. The film also wastes no time answering a few lingering questions that come from the aforementioned conflict resolution.  They involve how the universe has changed following Steven getting the Diamonds to dismantle its empires, and what's become of the formerly corrupted Gems after they've been healed.  It doesn't take long to see that the Diamonds are still adjusting to the new peaceful mindset, and the uncorrupted Gems are now living a good life on Earth in their little Homeworld.  Apart from Blue, Yellow, and White Diamond still grieving over the loss of Pink, desperate for Steven to move in with them, this leaves the audience open to focus on new surprises just ahead.  After Steven's claim for desiring a 'happily ever after' and a reintroduction to the main Crystal Gems' backgrounds suitable for newcomers to the series, they make themselves known.  A mysterious Gem called Spinel suddenly comes to Earth with maniacal baggage against Steven and the Crystal Gems, and a huge injector that can destroy all of the planet's organic life.  The image of this machine and this character alone is enough to get the point that for all the peace Steven has brought, threats to everything good are still much apparent.  Given the feature-length nature, the magnitude of everything Steven has to do to stop all destruction to Earth and maintain all he achieved stands out even more.

Out of the threat brought about by Spinel's arrival and actions comes many of the film's true standout moments that demonstrate the series' unique imagination and storytelling.  There's expansion on Gem lore when Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl first encounter Spinel.  While trying to stop her, she hits all Gems with a weapon called a Gem Rejuvenator, a glowing scythe that doesn't just poof them, but reverts them back to how they were originally created.  Even Steven feels its effects where he may not poof, but his Gem half is unable to provide him with the strength he needs to work all his powers.  It's honestly hard to believe that weapons so dangerous are still around in what's meant to be an era of peace for all Gem kind.  Maybe it says a lot about how not all Gems are accepting of the era, and perhaps future seasons will look into that as a main objective.  Anyway, Steven setting out to resolve the Rejuvenator's effects by getting the Crystal Gems back to normal leads to a vast variety of experiences.  Some of them offer solid character-driven comedy.  Pearl, for instance, reforms into how she was when she first served Pink Diamond, happy to be used by the first living being she sees, that being Steven's dad, 'Um-Greg Universe."  She provides much of the comedy in how the pre-development selves of the rejuvenated Crystal Gems are quick to drive everyone crazy. 

Laughs aside, emotion is very much apparent in Steven's attempts to revive their memories by recreating past moments that brought their breaks from the societal norms to begin with. 

With Garnet's fusion components, Ruby and Sapphire, even as they reperform their assigned roles with Ruby as a guard and Sapphire as an aristocrat, they still fall for each other naturally.  When Steven tries to recreate them being in danger to get them to fuse, there's a clever mix-up of events.  Sapphire, predicting the future as normal, shows lament over Ruby failing to survive as hijinks result from Steven's staged threat.  Unlike their original first fusion where Ruby saved Sapphire from a deadly fate, here when Ruby shows gratitude for meeting Sapphire, the events happen the other way around.  It's an endearing way of showing that even without memories, and even when events happen differently, Ruby and Sapphire's love and the existence of Garnet is just as pure.  That said, it does still take a while for Garnet to completely recover.

In the meantime, Amethyst and Pearl's recoveries are also of endearing mention.  With the innocence of a newborn like she's revealed to have had when first emerging from her Kindergarten, Amethyst approaches life with unease of her surroundings.  It's really no wonder she can only get by through mimicking other people.  The thing that brings her back to her senses is a reminder of her healthy relationship with Steven.  Really, if you look back at the entire series, you could make the argument that she's the Crystal Gem he's always been the closest to.  The montage of them hanging out around Beach City and her old Kindergarten together has never been as nice to watch as it is here. 

Now, with Pearl's recovery, it features a few definitive highlights for the entire film.  As an added bonus, it comes with what's always a joy to see from this series, a newly introduced fusion.  To tap into Pearl's feelings of loss felt when Pink Diamond as her alter ego Rose Quartz disappeared and have Greg finally know how it feels, Steven fuses with his dad at a concert.  It's highlighted by some of the film's biggest production values with an amazingly performed rock ballad and stunning direction to show the extent of the fusion's, Steg's, power.  Allowing selected audience members to take to the skies illuminating a brilliant pink glow, it's no doubt a most memorable measure in reminding Pearl exactly what she's become.  For her sake and order's, it's much more than a mere servant.  Once the recovery is complete as Garnet comes to her senses by remembering her desire for the truth, all emotion is set on stopping the terror of Spinel's injector. All capable Gems get the likable Beach City citizens to safety while Steven, who becomes significantly weakened as the film progresses, reaches his own recovery.

This leads us to what may be the biggest thing this film has to offer, Spinel herself.  When the teaser trailer for this movie first dropped, it was hard to tell what to think of this character, or even what her name was prior to basically the official release.  This marketing strategy turned out to pay off with Spinel's portrayal coming off as an ultimate surprise.  When she first appears to plant her deadly injector and wrecks Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl with her Gem Rejuvenator, you can't help but see her as a full-on destructive villain.  Then again, it's hard not to get major enjoyment out of her fluid, rubbery movements as she quickly runs circles around the Crystal Gems.  She can practically allow herself to do anything and is clearly having an absolute blast.  Along with her generally fun nature, she begins to seem like less and less of a true villain as the film goes on. 

Since she gets hit by the Gem Rejuvenator too, she reforms into how she was when she was first created.  She simply could not be any more different from her introduction if she attempted.  Rather than being mad and homicidal, Spinel is friendly, happy, energetic, and is set on being Steven's best friend.  All the while, she delights with the same fluid, highly animated energy she had from her first scene onward, making her a complete joy.  Given the film's later direction, it's fitting that flaws to her friendliness are very present.  With the childish tendency to want to follow everyone around and get in the way without understanding everything, it's easy to guess that others find her overbearing.  Her flaws are at their most apparent as she causes reckless destruction (even if it does help Ruby and Sapphire refuse) and freaks out when Steven opts to leave her.  The latter quality is principal in uncovering the biggest thing to Spinel's character. 

When Steven finds he needs to get Spinel back to how he met her to stop the injector, they head off to a place where she used to live her life as a playmate to Pink Diamond.  In one of the most moving scenes in the film, Spinel explains how close she and Pink used to be, playing together in a garden when Homeworld life was too lonely and sad for Pink.  That all changed given the known fact that Pink wanted a colony. 

When she was given Earth, through showing clear annoyance at Spinel following her around, Pink had her play a game of staying put in that very spot in the garden.  Leaving for Earth shortly after, allowing the events of the series as we know them to unfold, it becomes obvious that this was all a ploy for Pink to straight up abandon her old playmate.  It's not surprising since Pink Diamond has been known to have made very selfish decisions, but it really speaks volumes of how it's no wonder why Spinel turned out the way she did.  Figuring out that Pink's gone now and replaced by her son Steven is no doubt a traumatizing reveal for this Gem.  That's not even mentioning how it gives a lot more weight to her earlier claims of hearing that story 'over and over again'.  After all this, Steven understands that Spinel really isn't a peace-loathing villain at all, but an unfortunate soul who was wrongfully hurt and betrayed, and only needs someone to trust.  He promises to set her up for friendship again, but Spinel's issues prove to be much more complex.  

Once Steven sets his attention on stopping the injector and restoring Garnet's true self, Spinel sees this as her being used and fears being abandoned again.  She ends up setting the injector to full power again just before Garnet gets back to normal, and engages Steven in an all out battle.  For Steven's sake, Spinel's actions turn out to be a grand way to get him to realize the truth of everything, mainly regarding himself. 

As she taunts Steven for being a weak human despite allegedly reshaping the Gem empire, he reactivates all his powers by realizing he got here because he grew and changed.  Wanting nothing more than happily ever after made him forget about that even before Spinel showed up.  As if to make a subtle vow to keep changing, Steven comes back strong as he engages Spinel in a fight, letting her know that she can change for the better too, but only by herself.  Through the cinematic set-up this is yet another moment that makes expected character growth stand at its strongest.  Regarding whether Spinel changes, to say anything of that would be too much of a spoiler.  However, I will say that it's a mature conclusion for her character arc as she herself recognizes what she really wants and how everything she came to do was basically pointless.  Plus she ends up with the perfect new Gems who were foreshadowed at the beginning as a means of getting a better understanding of how to function.  For all her complexities slowly revealed and maturely conceived way of coming around, Spinel quickly joins the ranks of one of the best Steven Universe characters.  In fact, she and one other element practically make this entire film. 

One of the most prominent and laudable parts of Steven Universe is its use of music.  Typically used to highlight character development or major moments of the series' underlying story, the innumerable songs have always had most of the show's passion put in.  Imagine the show adding in a lot of songs into one production as a musical.  The show has already done so with a short cartoon before incredibly well, so it's all set up to easily do it in one long movie.  The results are successful in every sense of the word with a plethora of songs elevating the story to its absolute best.  From a curtain rising and playing of a moving hymn about Steven performed by the voices of the Diamonds over the opening credits, the musical format is instantly investing.  The songs then go through the motions through introducing character mindsets and plot points and providing their own emotional experience. 

"Happily Ever After" is a beautiful recap of a series worth of character development for Steven and his team that sets up the feeling that they're in for nothing but peace from now on.  The deconstruction of that feeling, as well as Spinel herself, are introduced with "Other Friends" an unbelievably fun number highlighted by the high spirits of the character.  However, with what's later learned about Spinel, everything fun about the song becomes emotionally ironic.  Little moments setting up bigger plot progressing strategies also come with memorable songs.  The rejuvenated Pearl has a fun number of introducing herself and other rejuvenated Gems. The B-Crystal Gems, Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli, have a simple yet inspiring number that gives Steven the idea to recreate moments to remind the Gems of their true self. 

Simple as those songs are, they do their part to pave the way for even bigger ones that bring each main Crystal Gem back to normal.  Amethyst is brought back with Steven's friendly spirit reminding her of their endearing bond with the catchy "No Matter What."  Steg's song "Independent Together" practically speaks to Pearl and her apparent growth out of her unhealthy past.  For that it's exciting when she joins in for the song understanding its meaning, and later fuses with Amethyst to enhance the performance as Opal.  Garnet's recovery is highlighted by "Isn't it Love" a fresh visualization of Ruby and Sapphire feeling fusion, and "True Kind of Love" to show to completion of becoming herself again. 

Spinel's songs are also of mention, not just for fun's sake like her first song, but her heartfelt numbers too.  "Drift Away" puts her tragic backstory to great use to sell the effects of her abandonment and descent into being a villain while "Found" offers hope for finding a better friend.  Even in the heat of action, the power of the songs shine through as proven through "Change."  It happens during the climactic battle between Steven and Spinel just as Steven realizes his main virtue he has forgotten, and he later applies it to Spinel.  The impressive thing is that it keeps up with the fast pace and beat of something serious and intense as such a battle.  Then again, this isn't the first time the show has successfully put a song to a battle (think "Stronger Than You").

The film closes with many of the principal songs coming together to one grand finale that mark all the closure of all the conflicts.  With that, the musical feel is fully embraced and allows the film to go out strong.  In fact one last scene of Steven, the main Crystal Gems, and his girlfriend Connie, dancing in a starry setting is easily this show's most authentic take on classic musicals.  Going all out with such a tone for a movie is certainly suitable, especially when the experience comes from a show so well-versed in the art of musical storytelling.  You can't help but feel that every song in the show has built up to a showing of them in a production like this film.  For how great each song is and how integral they are to moving along and enhancing nearly every part of the story, the efforts certainly pay off.

The purpose of Steven Universe: The Movie is to give an idea that there are always going to be things for Steven and his friends to deal with even after all they've accomplished.  If this movie is a first look at what those challenges will be, it certainly did an amazing job at starting it out.  Highlighted by amazing characters old and new and many standout moments, including embracing its musical status, it's not just one of the best things coming from the show.  It's impressive as a movie in general that probably could have benefited from a theatrical release.  The entire film just feels that passionate and engaging and a reminder of why I and many other animation fans love this series so much.  It may make a point in saying there's no such thing as happily ever after, but works like this showcase why although life may not be perfect, it's good enough to be called a gem.

Highly Recommended

That’s it for this ‘Toon Reviews Shorty.  Next time we’ll be returning to our currently scheduled review set.  Until then:

Stay Animated Folks!