He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
TV series on Cartoon Network
Review
by : Matthew
McConnel 
It's
baaaaaaack. Yes folks, that is correct, the Power of Greyskull
once more graces the airwaves. This is not your daddy's Eternia,
ok the Eternia of many of our youths, it is instead more like
the envisioning it would be given under the direction of David
Lynch. The entire color scheme is beige and dark. This is
a plus when it comes to the characters, as much brighter,
and in fact very close to the original, are used to bring
them into higher relief. Nevertheless, the colors are muted,
and the character designs are in some cases markedly different.
Perhaps
it is the halcyon of youth, but I seem to remember that He-Man
was just a little better than most of the rest of the shows
out there. It wasn't just for the coolest villain of all time,
Skeletor, or his numerous humorous minions, it was a je ne
sais quoi that pervaded the cartoon. I do at least remember
it being a smidgen more intelligent, and that has not been
lost. Sure it is a kid's show, but the solution is not always
to blow up the problem, even if that is an option.
The big
change, aside from the revision of the character designs,
is that there seems to be a nod, really a big freaking head
butt actually, to modern cartoon trends, the heroes are in
fact self refferently called 'The Masters'. There is more
of a 'team' here than there was before. In other words, there
less in the way of Siegfried and Arthur, and more of the Power
Rangers. They have their own vehicles, witch I dare say are
not nearly as cool as the ones that they had. The characters
are more or less the same in their niches, and remain more
or less unchanged in all but their appearance. Man at Arms
is much better looking without the World War One style helmet,
but Teela's ponytail is now almost twice her height, dramatic,
but a little bizarre really.
Most changed
is the Sorcerers, from the hideous orange, blue and white
ensemble, she has transmogrified into an Egyptian goddess
getup. It is Isis and Horus slammed together into a really
stunning new amalgamation. Least changed is, of course, He-Man:
Same loincloth, same bandolier, etc. The sword is a little
different, but 'By the Power of Greyskull' really makes you
forget a lot of that.
The show
cannot seem to make up its mind over whether it is a nostalgia
piece, or if it is supposed to gear towards the target audience
everyone else is. The opening sequence is a nice throwback
to the original openener, but then breaks out into modern
style. Most of the time it seems that the makers are gearing
for true independence from the past, but at other points,
they wallow in it, loosing themselves in little self effacements
and inside jokes.
The entire
production is enjoyable but the nostalgia trip factor is a
big downer. It would be a much better thing if the producers
took a lead from the Batman, Batman Beyond, and Justice League
makers, and did that who-do voodoo that they do so well, and
forget that they are basing their show off of something with
history, and just run with it. They have done a good job of
this so far with the character redesigns, but the aspects
that are not their own drag the good parts down just enough
to be noticed.
Three
and a hal… What? Care Bears is being re-released as well?
RUN AWAY!!!
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