As far as sequels go, this show takes the sword and sorcery of the original, and tacks on an uninspired time travel pilot. But if you disregard the initial episode, the show itself is a bonafide jewel.
This is "The New Adventures of He-Man", and as the title implies, the adventures are new. Both He-Man and Skeletor gain new allies, new powers, and newly found depth to their characters. Skeletor in particular is no longer just a bumbling goon, but he has not turned into the sinister live action movie version of the character. He still has a wry sense of humor and a surprising amount of humility as he is no longer the true alpha dog, but his villainous works are just as heinous as a "real" villain's.
Which brings me to the mutants. Early into the show it's readily apparent that like Skeletor's last minions, they do have a penchant for mistakes, but are a much stronger and fearsome group. Instead of being just a mish mash of villains, they're a well oiled fighting machine strengthened by years of war. Flogg in particular is far from the brightest tool in the shed, but he's as sincere as can be, and you can see it in him, that if he was just a little bit better at his job, perhaps even Eternia would need to fear him.
He-Man as well gets an overhaul, with a much heavier focus on "the way of the magic." His power sword has taken on She-Ra like transformation powers and can not only defend and reflect enemy weapons, but can also be used as a "gun" itself. This part did bother me, as it just feels tacked on, as though the creators wanted him to be so good, that guns were out of the picture. Yet the more useful (this time) Adam ends up with some gun-play...
As solid as the villains are, the Galactic Guardians really seem to be more akin to the bad guys of the old series. There's very few introductions and more often than not their victories feel more like lucky breaks than true skill. While the mutant's mistakes are essentially luck for the Guardians, if really feels like I said. If Flogg was just one iota more competent or maybe if Skeletor truly fell into the line of command as a cooperative underling, the people of Primus would be in grave danger.
Plotwise, the (generally) five episode story arcs are superb, with the earliest one having shades of Vietnam and even aspects similar to WW2. The stand alone episodes range from well done (especially the episodes around the scientists) to terrible (a galactic rodeo anyone?) But all of them serve at least some purpose.
Animation is at times a bit "jerky" but the fight scenes are much closer to Japanese anime than traditional American animation. Overall, the lips sync with the voices well, and at in many cases the show has a very clean feel to it. The backgrounds also range from unique to downright boring, but largely lean towards unique.
Sound is another high point. Ouside of a few goofy music clips, the music itself is good enough at time to drive anyone with a taste for electronica wild. Voices, like all cartoons, range from annoying to pleasing, but all seem to fit the characters.
In summation, at the least The New Adventures of He-Man is a must see for fans but could also be enjoyed by people new to the franchise.
This is "The New Adventures of He-Man", and as the title implies, the adventures are new. Both He-Man and Skeletor gain new allies, new powers, and newly found depth to their characters. Skeletor in particular is no longer just a bumbling goon, but he has not turned into the sinister live action movie version of the character. He still has a wry sense of humor and a surprising amount of humility as he is no longer the true alpha dog, but his villainous works are just as heinous as a "real" villain's.
Which brings me to the mutants. Early into the show it's readily apparent that like Skeletor's last minions, they do have a penchant for mistakes, but are a much stronger and fearsome group. Instead of being just a mish mash of villains, they're a well oiled fighting machine strengthened by years of war. Flogg in particular is far from the brightest tool in the shed, but he's as sincere as can be, and you can see it in him, that if he was just a little bit better at his job, perhaps even Eternia would need to fear him.
He-Man as well gets an overhaul, with a much heavier focus on "the way of the magic." His power sword has taken on She-Ra like transformation powers and can not only defend and reflect enemy weapons, but can also be used as a "gun" itself. This part did bother me, as it just feels tacked on, as though the creators wanted him to be so good, that guns were out of the picture. Yet the more useful (this time) Adam ends up with some gun-play...
As solid as the villains are, the Galactic Guardians really seem to be more akin to the bad guys of the old series. There's very few introductions and more often than not their victories feel more like lucky breaks than true skill. While the mutant's mistakes are essentially luck for the Guardians, if really feels like I said. If Flogg was just one iota more competent or maybe if Skeletor truly fell into the line of command as a cooperative underling, the people of Primus would be in grave danger.
Plotwise, the (generally) five episode story arcs are superb, with the earliest one having shades of Vietnam and even aspects similar to WW2. The stand alone episodes range from well done (especially the episodes around the scientists) to terrible (a galactic rodeo anyone?) But all of them serve at least some purpose.
Animation is at times a bit "jerky" but the fight scenes are much closer to Japanese anime than traditional American animation. Overall, the lips sync with the voices well, and at in many cases the show has a very clean feel to it. The backgrounds also range from unique to downright boring, but largely lean towards unique.
Sound is another high point. Ouside of a few goofy music clips, the music itself is good enough at time to drive anyone with a taste for electronica wild. Voices, like all cartoons, range from annoying to pleasing, but all seem to fit the characters.
In summation, at the least The New Adventures of He-Man is a must see for fans but could also be enjoyed by people new to the franchise.