Steven Universe: The Movie

    

Image credit: Wikipedia

What do you watch on a Sunday night when you can’t pick a TV series and a film would turn it into too late of a night? Easy. Steven Universe: the Movie! For my partner and I last night, it was the perfect choice, a none-too-complex plot with a minimal feature-length runtime. Having just finished the series, we knew exactly what we were in for and the film did not disappoint. 

Set after the events of the series where half-gem-half-human hybrid Stephen Universe has brought peace to the galaxy, the movie starts with Stephen literally singing about his own happily ever after. However, his song is cut short when a mysterious syringe-like machine comes to Earth piloted by a crazy cartoonish gem who is clearly out for revenge on Stephen. When she temporarily destroys his family, Stephen does the same to her before realising he needs her to turn off the drill that is slowly injecting poison into the planet. When the Gems reform they have no memory of Steven or their life on Earth and it’s a race against time for Stephen to restore his family’s memories, regain his magical powers, and learn what he did that made Spinella so mad. 

Steven Universe is quite possibly one of the most wholesome and truly delightful cartoon series on the planet! A Cartoon Network creation, it’s just a really lovely musical animated series filled with magic, space travel, moral lessons, and promotion of community spirit. The character development is majestic and the characters themselves are just mwah (kisses fingertips upon typing).

      

Image credit: Vulture

As can be expected, the film is more or less a feature-length episode of the show with the major difference being that Stephen is now sixteen years old and properly growing up. While the story itself is really simple and high predictable, the adorableness of the world and its inhabitants, mingled with the sincerity and tangible love that the cast and crew have for them just ensures a lovely time.

Steven Universe: the Movie is a sweet and successful follow-on to an already sweet and successful series. Delightfully, the film does not go in for overdone jokes that cheapens one’s enjoyment of the show, rather the it puts one in mind of other animated sequels including Toy Story 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet. 

I loved it. 

 Director: Rebecca Sugar, 2019

Cast: Zach Callison, Estelle, Michaela Dietz, Deedee Mango, Tom Scharpling, Grace Rolek, Matthew Moy, Kate Micucci, Shelby Rabara, Jennifer Paz, Uzo Aduba, Charlyne Yi, Erica Luttrell, Patti LuPone, Lisa Hannigan, Christine Ebersole, & Sara Stiles