Masters of the Universe: Revelation
Studio: Netflix
Created by Kevin Smith
Hello my friends. Welcome to another entry of my blog.
This looks like the Netflix month, because first it was Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, and now the Part II of Masters of the Universe: Revelation, then I will be reviewing Hellbound – 지옥, or perhaps Netflix’s Death Note. Whatever comes first. My point is that I was surprised, because I fell like Part II was released earlier than I thought.
And now…
But before I start, an answer to a question nobody asked. Yes, I just finished watching all the episodes of Part II of Teela and the Masters of the Universe. I mean… Masters of the Universe: Revelation. Why did I watch them? I still don’t know, I guess a part of me wanted to complete some «unfinished business» (if you know what I mean).
To be honest, I am not sure of how many people might be interested in the present entry, but I will write it anyway. Furthermore, is is my duty to remind everybody that what I write here is only my own opinion, and I am not precisely the biggest fan of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, anyway. If you enjoyed this series, that’s ok. Tell me, and I will respect your opinion.
All I can say is that Part I was a total mess for me, and that was remained unchanged.
Finally, before I start, I need to ask you my friends the typical question:
Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?
If the answer is yes, then I feel relieved.
Now, let’s show that we still have the power.
PREMISE
Literally, the Part II of Masters of the Universe: Revelation finished where Part II, I mean, with Adam returning from Preternia, Skeletor stabbing him, taking possession of the Sword of Grayskull, Evil-Lyn rejoining him while Skeletor becomes…
And as we already know, Teela, Andra and Man-At-Arms must find a way to defeat Skelegod and save Eternia before everything dies. Will they succeed?
Here is a link for My Own Impressions of Masters of the Universe: Revelation – Part I, for those who want to read it.
Also, as on the Part I – the animation is beautifully done by Powerhouse Animation Studios, with Kevin Smith as showrunner, and with the talented voices of Mark Hamill, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kevin Michael Richardson, Chris Wood, Dee Bradley Baker, and Tony Todd as Scare-Glow.
Part II has five episodes, making Masters Of the Universe: Revelation a series with 10 episodes in total, which I will assume is the first season, because whether this series sells toys or not will define a potential season 2.
Now, with that said, let’s go with the…
STORY
Now, I must tell you that, from now on, there will be some Spoilers from this point. So if you want to see Part II of MOTU: Revelation, not that you want to, don’t read the rest of the review.
First and foremost, when I finished my Own Impressions of the MOTU: Revelation Part I, I stated that it is the worst He-Man series that I have seen in many years, but after watching this Part II, I realised that… IS TRUE. Pretty much none of the problems of Part I were corrected were, in fact, everything just got worse and worse, because while in Part I, Kevin Smith humiliated He-Man and bastardised Teela, in Part II, he humiliates Skeletor and bastardises Evil-Lyn. Let’s put it like this. Remember that in Part I – I compared it with Star Wars: The Last Jedi, due to the ongoing disrespect toward everything great from Star Wars? Well, after watching Part II, now I see that Part I is more like The Force Awakens, while Part II is like The Last Jedi. Why is that?
Simple. Because in The Force Awakens, the backstory is extremely crude, and some of the main characters and institutions, like the New Republic, took decisions that made absolutely no sense and turn them into morons (J.J. Abrams abusing of his mystery box) , The Last Jedi did little to develop the backstory, while making a story that alienated the movie from the universe of Star Wars with definitely no payoff. Well. Part I of MOTU: Revelation did not build any solid backstory and turn the story into a manipulative political pamphlet, Part II did little to help on that and kept alienating Masters of The Universe from… everything and everyone.
Now, Skelegod had a really fantastic design, but then, it is revealed that Teela is the daughter of Sorceress, and she immediately cured Adam from his wounds, then, he revealed that he can transformed without the Power Sword, making him…
And I have to say that the fight he got with Skelegod is one of the best moments of the Kevin Smith series, it is absolutely epic and has an amazing soundtrack. The only problem is that the battle only lasts like eight minutes. And then what happens to Savage He-man. Practically nothing. Teela uses her magic, with no previous training, and transported to Mystic Mountains, so, after an encounter with King Randor, Adam returns to normal, and… Savage He-Man was nowhere to be found.
Yes. It disappears just like that. And this is one of the problems of Part of MOTU: Revelation – the series presents a lot of cool stuff that would enrich the lore of Masters of the Universe, but then they disappear, out of nowhere.
Another example is Skelegod myself.
He looks fantastic, simply as awesome as Evil-Lyn as The New Sorceress.
And it is on this point that Kevin Smith starts the bastardisation. During the first episodes, Skelegod starts abusing Evil-Lyn, and she gets tired of him, obviously, and decides to take the power from him. How? With the dumbest way possible. She seduces Skelegod and convinces him to relinquish the Sword of Grayskull, just for her to GET THE POWER!!! From that moment, Skeletor becomes a joke, he never truly does anything memorable in this God form, aside from fighting the Hulk version of He-Man, and then he is gone. Nothing more and nothing less. Sure, Skelegod returns again in episode ten to fight He-Man, but again, the battle doesn’t last long and Skeletor has the worst defeat possible – imitating Team Rocket.
I am dead serious.
One of the most badass villains of the 80s is reduced to a clown, because, for Kevin Smith, Evil-Lyn is a victim. Just because she is a woman, she is automatically a victim. It doesn’t matter if she committed genocide in Preternia.
If it is a man, murder and humiliation are fine, but if it is a woman, all pure because Yes.
Speaking of which, other awesome characters from the MOTU franchise, Fisto and Clamp-Champ…
…only appear like two minutes, and then both are killed off in one of the most unceremonious manner possible.
And finally… Orko revives.
He becomes practically a God, appearing in only episode 10; helping Adam, Man-At-Arms, Andra, and the rest of Eternia in the battle against Evil-Lyn. Now, that was a really sweet moment, but it felt short because of the remaining time at that point. And that is why I consider White Orko another wasted element.
Anyway, my point is that while MOTU: Revelation – Part I sinned by destroying He-Man and Skeletor in the worst way possible, making Teela an insufferable «brat», Part II sinned by having so many cool concepts that could develop both backstory and characters, but they felt short… and by destroying Skeletor in the worst way possible. And those were some examples, but there are more.
It’s like going to a barbecue and having only two options – rotten burgers or raw sausages. Both are disgusting, both will make me sick, so both make me walk away. And that is how Part I and Part II feel put together.
And now…
CHARACTERS
One element that really surprise me is the improvement with some of the characters, Teela changes her attitude for the better, because she apologises by some of her actions, she acknowledges Duncan as her father, she remembers the value of her friends and family, and, what I consider some of her best additions…
She has a really nice design as Sorceress. Of course, for those who hated Part I won’t feel comfortable with Teela, but at least I appreciate this change – it shows some necessary maturity.
Also, Adam has some relevance and his actions prove some development, when he summons the Power of Grayskull without the sword, despite the consequences; he takes initiative when Evil-Lyn attacks, he gives a decent fight against her, and have a decent chemistry with Teela. Oh… And He-Man has a better role; he appear at the end of Part II, but at least Kevin Smith show him some respect.
Unfortunately there is another problem; for one redeeming act from both He-Man and Teela, there is still a lot of plotholes that ruin their good parts, such as…
How many years has past since the «death» of He-Man?
Did really Randor and Marlena did nothing for protecting Eternia?
Haven’t at least they thought that perhaps that was the will of their son?
Why weren’t Fisto and Clamp-Champ with the kings of Eternia?
And more importantly…
Who the hell is Andra?
How did she meet Teela? Who was her grandfather? How come she didn’t hear from Adam before?
Again… Amber, from Invincible has more personality than this version of Andra.
Another flaw that disrupts the improvement on the characters is the development of Evil-Lyn, and I mean in two different ways. The first one is with her flashbacks, telling that her parents wanted to kill and eat her, and then Skeletor saves her. It is nice that MOTU: Revelation wanted to show some backstory for Evil-Lyn, indeed those flashbacks are way better than in Part I, however I have more questions:
How Evil-Lyn learnt magic? Why Skeletor was so interested on her? Did really Evil-Lyn became who she was due to sheer effort? Or Skeletor taught her? If Skeletor taught Evil-Lyn, every reason for her to betray Skeletor is pointless, but if he did not, he technically recruit a threat to his plans, something that happened.
But I prefer to discard this option, because I ruin an animated series released almost forty years ago.
The second way is through Evil-Lyn’s appearance as God-Lyn. Look.
I… do not know where to start.
She does not look intimidating, she does not look sexy, or minimally solemn. Here, Evil-Lyn looks… laughable. It is like a weird mixture between a bodybuilder and Raven. What was the purpose of this? Make Evil-Lyn more realistic? That doesn’t make any sense, because this is a fantasy story; Make Evil-Lyn look like a gladiator due to the awe-inspiration? Well… I don’t feel fear, just embarassment.
If Kevin Smith wanted to make Evil-Lyn dreadful, he succeeded… but not in a good way.
(sigh)
Finally done now.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Part II of Masters of the Universe: Revelation shows a small improvement toward Part I, but it is not enough to redeem this travesty of He-Man adaptation. I repeat myself – the good elements are the animation, the action, some character design and the soundtrack.
But the rest… is a mess.
I have the feeling that perhaps should Kevin Smith did more episodes, or properly include a story arc to each character, the final result would be better. But unfortunately that is not the case, sadly, because every concept brought by Smith had so much potential.
However, all the potential alone means nothing, and instead, we have what I believe is the worst He-Man and the Masters of the Universe that I have seen in years.
Now… I need to prepare myself to review Netflix’s Death Note, because…
Jainituos Presents 