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Shadow Raiders
Review
by: Matt
McConnel 
For those
of you raised by older parents, you may remember the old radio
serials your parents were so nostalgic about. This sense one
receives watching Shadow Raiders. It is almost as someone
has taken one of these old radio plays, and glossed a CGI
over it. The end effect is not altogether displeasing, but
one must remember that this was a Saturday morning cartoon
geared at kids, and not, like most of ADVs offerings, for
the more adult (sometimes Adult) minded.
The animation
is all right, computer generated, and smooth in many regards
but nothing else to lend itself. The character designs are
well thought out, if horribly stereotypical. One thing that
has always bugged me about animation in general is the use
of stock footage. I understand the need, but Shadow Raiders
makes some of the most shameless uses of it; especially in
the space battles, it moves beyond stock footage to be come
schlock footage. Repetitive, without variety, the same clip
over and over again. To be sure this is off set by some rather
stunning vistas of the varied worlds, but it remains a thorn
in the mind.
One thing
about the writing is that it seems they were not entirely
sure how long this show would run. At times the progress is
slow, reserved, and/or sophisticated, and at other times it’s
rushed, frantic, and one is left wondering if an episode was
cut. As it is, the show itself did not even last a season,
and the episodes barely fill the requirement of a syndicated
cartoon show. There are some great one shots, but they’re
oddly placed; ‘Girl’s Night Out’ was very enjoyable, but it
falls so late in the progression that it fails as much of
a tension breaker.
Shadow
Raiders is enjoyable as a serial, but when placed next
to others in the genre, such as Transformers: Beast Wars
and ReBoot, it falls just a bit short. Though it
pains me to see so much potential and effort wasted, I cannot
recommend this set to any but the true fan. While the characters
are memorable and aspects of the plot interesting, the final
product is rushed and mismatched.
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