If you read my post yesterday about Spinel’s songs from this movie then you should know which way this is going. At the time of writing this, I have watched the movie twice and have listened to the soundtrack more times than I can count, specifically I have been listening to Other Friends and Drift Away on an endless loop and I will probably never stop.
**This post contains spoilers for the movie***
Before getting into Spinel and how much I love her, let’s start at the start of the movie. I love how they recap everything in a really fun way. This makes it so you don’t have to have watched the series to be able to enjoy the movie. Everything you need is given to you right at the start and it doesn’t feel like an info dump. Everyone just sings about their experiences. The songs in Steven Universe are always so much fun and that keeps up in the movie.
Seeing Steven at 16 is fun too. And I definitely squealed a little bit when Connie gave Steven a kiss before running off to Space Camp. They are ADORABLE!!!
Little Homeworld is really interesting too. I’ve very excited to see what’s going to happen in the next season with that because as much as everyone is really peaceful in the movie, I’m sure there will be at least some tension during the series that Steven and The Crystal Gems get pulled in to help set right.
Spinel’s entrance was SO GOOD! The writers did a really good job at keeping the mystery as to why she’s there and why she’s so angry from getting spoiled, but when you rewatch it you get it all so much more. This movie is actually even more heartbreaking when you rewatch it. I didn’t even notice on my first watch that they showed Spinel watching the transmission of Steven at the very start. You only see her shoe tangled up in the vine, but if you missed in the first time like I did and then see it on a second watch it just hurts your heart because you know THAT is the moment Spinel just breaks.
This movie was really emotional. First, you have to relive all the moments of the Crystal Gem’s lives in order to bring them back, you watch Steven almost kill himself to save everyone (seriously, I don’t think he’s ever been more beat up except for when White Diamond took out his gem), then learning about Spinel’s tragic history and watching her deal with all of that and her rage, and Steven struggling to deal with cleaning up more of his mother’s messes. This movie HURTS, and the biggest hurt comes from the new character who we knew nothing about until this movie. Creating a strong emotional moment around Steven’s pain or one of the Crystal Gems, characters who we’ve been with for several seasons now, would have been easy. But I think this movie has had a bigger emotional impact than any episode of the show and we only knew Spinel for a short time.
I really REALLY need her to be part of the series. If she ends up being a one-off character or is barely brought back in, I think I might cry. Again.
In the midst of all the emotion and all the tears, there are a lot of really entertaining moments as well. The biggest of which was definitely when Steven and Greg fused to play Independent Together. They basically turned into a four-armed Elvis in beach-wear and it was AMAZING! Most of the entertaining bits were small moments throughout the movie, Sadie Killer and the Suspects playing, Peridot’s fun one-liners, and I loved seeing Lars at the beginning serving his cake to everyone. He was so ashamed of his baking skills and too embarrassed to let people see the real him before, that even that moment shows a LOT of character development and I LIVE for character development.
If I had to give this movie a rating I’d probably give it a 10 out of 5. It’s fantastic. I can’t stop thinking about it and obsessing about it. I kind of want to get a tattoo of Spinel now. Going to talk to my sister about that. And I’m going to end up watching the movie several more times. I’m already planning on buying the DVD when it comes out.
If you haven’t watched the movie, WHAT THE HECK, I JUST RUINED EVERYTHING. Nah, it’s fine, you’ll still love it. GO WATCH IT NOW!
Also, in no particular order, my top three favorite gems are:
- Spinel
- Peridot
- Garnet
Slán go fóill
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Charlotte L Tracey 