Steven Universe: The Movie

[kate_nepveu]

I watched this with the kids when it aired on Monday, but it's been a week in Chateau Steelypips.

On one hand, I was never going to like this because it consciously set out to be a different thing than I wanted. It is designed to be a relatively standalone story that could function as a recruitment tool for newcomers, which means it was incapable of really digging into the questions left by S5. Unfortunately, on the other hand, I don't think it actually succeeded on its own merits.

The kids liked it, though.

And now, the SPOILERS.

Basically I think that there's a reason that "Other Friends" was trending ridiculously high on YouTube for a bit, because it's fucking great, and also it's the movie's peak: everything after that was either predictable or disappointing or both. It very clearly sets up Spinel's motivation (at least to me, the kids don't seem to have caught it), which is not a problem; but her ending feels like dysfunctions dovetailing rather than anything actually healthy. Further, Steven doesn't seem to actually change that much in dealing with her, so that doesn't really work either? It just lets the movie duck the much thornier question of how to deal with someone who really wants to be your friend when you don't reciprocate the feeling—which, under normal circumstances, I would expect Steven Universe to deal with thoughtfully and compassionately.

I briefly hoped, when the OG Crystal Gems were reset, that we would see Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot get the spotlight; but then I realized we were going to get a recap of the OG Gems' character development for new viewers, and then that hope was dashed, plus I was impatient with the stuff I already knew. (Also, I and the kids all found Steg intensely embarrassing.) Relatedly, while I was glad Bismuth got a song, it would have been nice if that sole song were anything but a black-coded character giving a white character a pep talk about how great he is.

Finally, I cannot with the disconnect between "all organic life on the planet will be destroyed in 30-odd hours" and "I will kiss the ground, affecting one small patch at a time, to solve this problem."

"Other Friends" really is great, though. I love how thoroughly Spinel's overall aesthetic is a callback to a hundred years ago.

I kept the TV on after the movie hoping for an announcement about the future of the show, and I remain absolutely baffled that they haven't said anything beyond "The television movie is not the end of Steven Universe" to Polygon. If you're hoping that new viewers will watch your movie, why don't you tell them immediately afterward what to look forward to next?

Anyway. The dependent mammals should all be settled for the night, so I'm going to bed too.

Poll #22594

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Comments

[skygiants]

The thing about "Other Friends," though, is that it's great and catchy and ... also way more repetitive than the standard Steven Universe song, with a much higher chorus-filler to verse-development ratio, which also seems emblematic of just how weirdly little ground the film covers.

I also felt like Spinel's ending did a disservice both to her and to the other Diamonds.

[kate_nepveu]

Oh, you're right about the relatively low density of the song, good point.

[musesfool]

I and the kids all found Steg intensely embarrassing

Me too! That was a DNW I didn't even know I had.

[kate_nepveu]

Yup! Definitely a polarizing character.

[laurashapiro]

I am SO GLAD I had seen your displeasure before I watched the movie or I would have been deeply disappointed. As it was...wow, I can't believe I am so utterly meh about anything that came out of Rebecca Sugar's brain. Not only did most things not make logical sense, they didn't make *emotional* sense -- and emotional sense is kind of the show's mission statement! And I was worried for an hour about the earth being poisoned. Kissing the ground? Fuck you.

I actually liked Steg a lot, but I kept thinking the whole time about how Greg couldn't fuse with Rose and how much that obviously had hurt him, and hoping that it might be a big character moment for him, and of course it wasn't, and ugh.

[kate_nepveu]

oh gosh, you're right about Greg fusing, I'd forgotten about that--but the show absolutely shouldn't have.