Masters of the Universe: Revelation, review: more of a spinoff than a sequel

Masters of the Universe

Also for the Masters of the Universe, one of the most loved and characteristic franchises of the 80s, the moment of the revival arrives thanks to Netflix and Masters of the Universe: Revelation or an animated series in 10 episodes (the first 5 are available on the streaming platform from yesterday 23 July) which arises in continuity, and as an ideal sequel, of the classic animated series created in the 80s by Filmation and Mattel.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation sees Kevin Smith, in the role of showrunner and huge fan of the franchise. The premises therefore seem excellent for reviving the MOTU, how did this new beginning go?

Masters of the Universe: Revelation, the final battle between He-Man and Skeletor? [SPOILER]

After attempting to access Castle Greyskull countless times, Skeletor manages with an elaborate trick to enter it and reveal his true plan: access the most remote room deep within the castle where his true power is enshrined. . In the center of this room, which looks more like a forest than a construction carved out of stone, is a pyramid-shaped artifact. In the ensuing scuffle, He-Man stabs Skeletor using his Power Sword correctly for the first time: it is a key that unlocks the artifact revealing a sphere in which all the magical power of Eternia is contained. >
Skeletor obviously intends to absorb it through his Havoc Staff but breaking it risks destroying the whole galaxy, He-Man then offers to use his sword to absorb the enormous amount of energy released but to do so he will not only have to divide it into its two original parts but also reveal its true identity in front of his enemy but above all to his friends including the unaware Teela. In the ensuing explosion, both He-Man and Skeletor lose their lives.

In anger upon learning of his son Adam's death and secret, King Randor degrades Man-at-Arms (one of the few who know the dungeon) as Teela abandons her duties as a royal guard felt betrayed by friends, relatives and by Adam himself. The girl thus embarks on a career as an adventurer and mercenary who will lead her, together with the young Andra, to the pay of the mysterious Majestra.

Teela is soon lured to Castle Grayskull where she learns that Eternia is dying. The planet, in fact, sustained itself with the now almost completely exhausted magic. The only way to save the planet and the galaxy is to recover the two parts of the Power Sword and reunite them. After the explosion, in fact, the two parts returned to their place of origin: Subternia and Preternia. The first a hellish place, the second a Valhalla for heroes and champions.

With the fate of Eternia at stake, Teela and her heterogeneous company made up of old friends and especially old enemies embark on this mission that her it will lead to a confrontation with herself and above all with the "ghost" of Adam / He-Man. But just when the worst seems to have passed, new diabolical clouds lurk on the horizon, perhaps making the sacrifices made up to that point in vain.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation: more of a spinoff than a sequel

At the end of the first episode, whose twist is unexpected and could generate some legitimate doubts, it is evident how, in the intentions of Kevin Smith and the group of writers that accompanies him, Masters of the Universe: Revelation is configured more as one spinoff that a slavish sequel to the classic animated series or more precisely how these first 5 episodes of this first season (there will be 10 in total) are strongly engaged in the wake of the animated tradition of the MOTU so as to resemble an episode of the classic series but diluted for 125 total minutes. And this is perhaps the only real flaw of this debut: not being able to find a more stable balance between a narrative still evidently anchored to the 80s, a vast and stratified lore (and often difficult to decipher) and the expectations of an audience. heterogeneous.

If in fact the operation Masters of the Universe: Revelation was born and was openly promoted by Kevin Smith as a product wanted and developed to please the fans of the franchise, at the end of these first 5 episodes it is It is legitimate to ask both who the Masters of the Universe fans are today but above all what they want.

The search for homage and "fidelity" to the classic animated series is perhaps a bit misrepresented in these first scripts that tend to more than one juncture for stylistic features, and themes, perhaps a little too elementary too for the most nostalgic of the thirty / forty-year-olds whose attention is strongly revived, in more than one juncture, thanks to an excellent mixing of various aspects of the lore, first of all the more "dark" one of minicomics and then the revisited one of the 2002 reboot series .

It is not a linear path the one chosen by this sequel which, as mentioned above, triggers the viewer at the end of the first episode by eliminating the two main characters from the equation: He-Man / Adam and Skeletor. The void must be filled and, with a wink to the news, the protagonist becomes a resolute Teela who is counterbalanced by an excellent Evil-Lyn against the backdrop of a strange company of reluctant heroes and ex-adversaries for a quest with a very high stakes.

It is no coincidence that the term "quest" is used because what Masters of the Universe: Revelation does best is to press on the fantasy component, almost role-playing, rather than on the mythological one -fantascientific, finding its best expression in the central episodes both as a writing and as a rhythm and freshness. If the first, shocking, episode draws heavily from the lore of minicomics, the plot of the central ones and the choice of Teela as the protagonist is a self-evident remake / rehash of Teela's Quest, one of the most peculiar episodes of the classic animated series and in which in more than one passage the same Man-at-Arms seems to allude to the origins of Teela (click here to buy the new Teela action figure).

Teela is tough, also thanks to an abrasive interpretation of Sarah Michelle Gellar, and the shoulder Andra (character introduced in the unrecognized comic series produced by Marvel at the end of the 80s) is never redundant and rises well to the task of "external point of view" to the events while pregnant is the comparison with a cold but stubborn Evil-Lyn (excellent vocal performance by Lena Headey - click here to buy the new Evil-Lyn action figure).

But the void persists. In fact, the dualities that, thematically and narratively, constitute the backbone of Masters of the Universe are missing. It is not only a question of the physical absence of the struggle between He-Man and Skeletor, but also of the game of misunderstandings given by the double identity of Adam / He-Man which is first transformed into a discourse on self-confidence, then in one on the friendship and then on the family: all very noble values ​​but treated with that slightly naive, decidedly Eighty look far from both the target audience of the series and from the one who could approach it by chance, that is today's pre-adolescents accustomed to a very different dialectic on these themes.

An antagonist, true and concrete, is missing. Triklops and his techno-cult (which are a bit too reminiscent of the Borg) are liquidated with superficiality (perhaps they will be resumed by introducing Hordak in the remaining episodes?) And are a preparatory element before the reintroduction of Man-at-Arms (in the duality magic / technology) and then at the end, while in part it makes up for the lack of a Scare Glow antagonist (the character that is perhaps the best reworked of all) but he too is quickly reabsorbed in a clash too full of clichés with Teela.

And here again the series runs for cover and normalizes everything towards already beaten territories not only by hastily reintroducing Adam / He-Man but also with a twist, actually well played and devised, which however inevitably brings to mind the horizontal plot of the first season of the 2002 reboot series.

Beyond the aforementioned Gellar and Headey, the stellar vocal cast really makes a difference adds depth where necessary but above all vivacity to dialogues often deliberately naive or more simply concise. Mark Hamill is a devilishly sly Skeletor, Henry Rollins is a Tri-Klops fanatic while Alan Oppenheimer (the original Skeletor) is a solemn Moss Man. Like Hamill's performance is that of Tony Todd as Scare Glow while the legendary Kevin Conroy is a brand new Mer-Man. Also excellent Stephen Root in the role of Cringer and Griffin Newman in the role of Orko, while the jokes of Chris Wood in the role of Prince Adam / He-Man are too narrow. Finally, the cameos by Jason Mewes and Harley Quinn Smith respectively as Stinkor and Ileena.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation, the technical realization

Powerhouse Animation, animation studio " of trust "of Netflix for which he has already made Castlevania, he makes 5 episodes marked by solid animations and at an always constant level without major drops in which the use of CGI is reduced to a minimum and the use of a little more flat backgrounds and pictorial-like is really the only element that recalls the classic series of Filmation. It should be noted that the general level improves from the second episode onwards, the first in fact is perhaps the one that suffers the most and it is absurdly the least performing. On the other hand, the initial sequence deserves a separate mention, revising the classic artworks of the toy line, those of a clear Frazettian matrix signed by Rudy Obrero which were also used for the packaging of the original line of figures.

The character design is aggressive and angular in search of a realism of the figures never hypertrophic and functional in showing now the many references to classic designs (both of the original line of figures, impossible not to exult at the myriad of classic vehicles that appear in these 5 episodes, that of the 2002 reboot animated series, see Man-at-Arms in the defender version of Castle Grayskull) now the original ones that still remain modern alterations in which the only novelty are perhaps the most current haircuts and the bio-mechanical look of Triklops and its cult.

Where perhaps the series lacks slightly, from a technical point of view, it is in the direction that is a bit flat and devoid of verve both from the point of view of the rhythm but above all of the shots that are often too pedestrian failing to keep the viewer's attention high especially in the less exciting and less tense moments of the narration, i.e. where the dialogues between the characters are the masters (see the sequence where the strange couple formed by Evil-Lyn and Orko find themselves isolated in Subternia). Some interesting solution, in terms of shots but also choreographically, occurs in some combat sequences (see the arrival of Mer-man or Teela against He-man in Subternia) in which even the level of the animations rises dramatically, it would be interesting to see in the second part of this first season some more elaborate sequences made at this level.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation, conclusions

The first 5 episodes of Masters of the Universe: Revelation they are definitely a very enjoyable blast from the past but without that heavy nostalgic remake patina but above all without that anxiety typical of the last few years of a reboot studied at the table to keep "up with the times". The good intentions of showrunner Kevin Smith, however, clash with narrative choices perhaps too clear from the first minutes and with a plot in which for long-time fans the references to certain passages of the lore of the franchise are too slavish while for the new ones the narration could be too erratic in the face of clear explanations but still limited by the time available.

What is missing is perhaps a little more aggression, greater confidence in re-chiseling some of these characters (in a similar way to what was was done in the unfortunate reboot series of 2002) opting instead for safe solutions but at times precisely without bite. If a comparison could be made Masters of the Universe: Revelation is to the MOTU franchise as The Awakening of the Force is to that of Star Wars, it is up to the viewer to judge whether this comparison is fitting or not and above all positive or negative.