Steven Universe: The Movie Review · 3:17am Nov 17th, 2020
Hey there, everyone.
This is my very first and only time that I get to review something, but I'm both very excited and a little nervous about doing it.
Since there aren't many reviews, if at all, about my favorite movie, Steven Universe: The Movie, or Steven Universe (TV Series) in general, I've decided to give my take on it.
Enjoy.
Before we get started, here's how I'm going to rank the movie:
- 10 - Near perfect
- 9 - Amazing movie with a few flaws
- 8 - Great movie with some flaws
- 7 - Good movie; not great but far from bad
- 6 - Slightly above average movie
- 5 - Average movie
- 4 - Slightly below average movie
- 3 - Bad movie; not irredeemable but far from good
- 2 - Very bad movie with some good things
- 1 - Terrible movie with a few good things
- 0 - Nearly irredeemable
Now, keep in mind that this is all my personal opinion. If you disagree with any of the points that I'm about to review, that's fine. You can tell me why in the comments down below if you want. Since this is my first and only review, I'm not going to be as experienced as other reviewers in here. Also, there will be spoilers if you haven't seen this movie yet, so you have been warned.
Without further ado, Let's get started.
After I watched it, this became one of my favorite movies of all time, if not my favorite, and I'll tell you why.
Let's start with the animation. From what I've seen, the crewniverse has really done a great job. The backgrounds, as usual with the Steven Universe series, are very pleasing to look at. The shading and different color palettes on the characters and things, like the Injector, really add some depth to them and makes it seem very different from the series' usual style. Not only that, but it's very fluid, smooth, and dynamic, especially with the main antagonist (which I'll be getting to later).
The voice acting is also really great. Each and every voice matches the characters and their expressions genuinely and really makes them feel incredibly expressive. Voices like Zach Callison as Steven, Estelle Swaray as Garnet, Michaela Dietz as Amethyst, Deedee Mango Hall as Pearl, etc. really did a great job voicing these characters and really fit their designs and personality in a very natural way. Not to mention, their singing voices are amazing.
Speaking of singing, the music and most of the songs are really catchy, incredible, and help show the mood and/or situation in an entertaining way. While I know that some of them may not be entirely needed for the story to flow, they're still great regardless. My favorite ones are Happily Ever After, Other Friends, Drift Away, True Kinda Love, and Change. And since this is a musical, it's very much obvious that this movie would have a lot of songs, especially if those songs are great.
Some of the humor is okay. Like the show's usual humor, it can be very gut-busting and entertaining-to-watch, though I'm not a fan of the puns most of the time. Despite that, there are some major highlights, like Peridot's meme about losing her character development, the antics with the factory reset forms of the main Crystal Gems, and the jokes with Greg, which are very hilarious in their own right. The emotional moments of the film are very genuine and well-written, showing a lot of both heartfelt and heartbreaking value and almost got me to start crying the first time I watched it. Not to mention, this film has some great messages, especially the main message about change and growth.
Most of the characters, except for a few ones that I'll also get into later, are all just as quirky, likable, and relatable as they were in the show. The crewniverse really captured the personalities of them amazingly and gave them an incredible amount of development in the story, specifically Steven, the Crystal Gems, and the main antagonist (Again, I'll get to later). Though I know that some might want Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot to get more spotlight, I honestly don't mind it, since they work really well as supporting characters in the film.
The plot and pacing, for the most part, is very well-paced and easy to follow. When it's not moving things too fast or too slow, it does a good job of showing what it needs to show and when it needs to show it. It also has great tension and action scenes that are very epic and really show off that fluid and phenomenal animation of the film. While the whole amnesia plot with the main Crystal Gems and the main antagonist can be very cliche and over-done, it does give a great trip done memory lane of both the show and the characters best moments and development.
Now, let's talk about my favorite part of the movie as a whole: the main antagonist herself, Spinel. Her character animation that she shows off with her stretchy abilities are amazing and entertaining-to-watch, showing a great 1930's rubber-hose style that's greatly incorporated into the more modern animation. Her character design for both her old and current form are also phenomenal, showing both her more cute, bubbly, excitable, and innocent form and her threatening, sinister, insane, and violent form while also being comical, funny, expressive, and entertaining-to-watch overall. Her voice actor does a great job of showing off her emotions in a very genuine and near-perfect way and the crewniverse couldn't have had a better version to do it for her, plus she has a good singing voice as she sings both of Spinel's best songs, Other Friends and Drift Away. And then you have her backstory and character arc, which is both very heartbreaking, tragic, and depressing-to-watch, but also very outstanding, relatable, and well-written overall. I just love Spinel so much and I can't get enough of her.
While there are a lot of great things about this movie that I love, it's not completely flawless and it does have some glaring issues, but they aren't enough to ruin the film's entire quality in my opinion.
First off, a few of the songs like Disobedient aren't my favorite as they can range from average to not-very-good. Disobedient is my least favorite of them since its lyrics are too basic and not very well-written, most of the singing is hard-to-listen, and what it's trying to do in-universe doesn't make much sense.
The way that the Diamonds are written after their redemption is okay, but also not very great. While they are trying to be good leaders and gems and their redemption doesn't bother me as much as it does to others, I still don't like how they're forgiven for their massive amount of crimes regarding galactic genocide, abuse, and war. Not to mention, their smothering and affectionate behavior towards Steven can be grating at times. Though, I do like that they were willing to let Spinel live with them and give her the love and attention she deserves despite her attempts to wipe out Steven, the Crystal Gems, and all organic life on the planet out of revenge.
Also, despite Steven's great character development, realization, usually kind-hearted, compassionate, and forgiving personality and determination to save his friends and the planet, that scene where he temporarily brushed off Spinel's abandonment trauma to focus on getting his happily ever after back rubbed me the wrong way. While it is understandable considering everything he's been through throughout the series, it's still very insensitive and wrong that he did that and caused Spinel to relapse despite trying to help her through her trauma.
And then you have Pink Diamond and her actions towards Spinel. While most of her reckless and selfish actions, despite her character development later on, can be very excusable, the way she treated Spinel was nothing short of horrible and evil. She outgrew, abandoned, forgotten about, and replaced her for 6,000 years despite Spinel trying to be her friend and make her happy before she got her own colony, causing Spinel to slowly and mentally grow insane and eventually snap when she found out that Pink died by giving up her physical form to give birth to Steven and made friends with the other Crystal Gems. What Pink Diamond did was inexcusable and caused even more harm and pain to the Earth despite her wanting to save it.
In conclusion, despite its flaws, Steven Universe: The Movie is still a very great movie and one of my most favorite of all time. It serves as a great epilogue story before Steven Universe Future, and such a great self-contained storyline that you don't have to watch the original series in order to understand it. I highly recommend it to both Steven Universe fans and newcomers of the series.
I give "Steven Universe: The Movie" an 8 out of 10.
But what do you guys think of both the movie itself and my first and only review? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you for reading this and have a great day.
As a fan of this amazing cartoon, your review is incredibly well-written and the movie is one of the best that I ever watched. Spinel is such a great antagonist and I was genuinely in tears when she performed Drift Away and Found, as well as when she said she never wanted to hurt anyone and all she wanted was a friend.
Steven Universe as a whole helped me grow into a better person, as well as learning how to love myself regardless of what others would say. I'm really thankful that Rebecca Sugar and the Crewniverse created a groundbreaking show that helped people through the dark days and changed their lives.
5399653
Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.