Thoughts on the rebooted He-Man (Netflix)

[embee]

The He-Man reboot has just dropped on Netflix. I'd like to NOT have this devolve into a discussion of the societal aspects of the reboot and instead on the show's merits on its own.

That said, 2 episodes in and there is a definite problem. Who is this show for? Because it's sure not for small children. Animation wise, it's fine. Talent-wise, again, it's fine (with Sir Mark Hamill as Skeletor). Tonally, I think they missed the mark.

Frankly, it's too mature for small children. For example, the very first episode shows Moss Man being burned to death on screen. The second episode (The Poisoned Chalice) has a lot of body horror which is way too intense for a grade schooler. Episode 3 has an elderly man get called a cripple.

While they may have been going for the She-Ra audience, this show missed wide.

Beyond that, it's good a sword-and-sorcery cartoon with a pretty solid magic vs technology storyline. It's just a shame that it's too scary for little ones.

I'd love to hear all of your thoughts...

 

[Argyle King]

I haven't watched it yet.

But I'm not opposed to a more mature He-Man. I think the old movie (w/ Dolph Lundgren) struggled because it wasn't allowed to be mature enough.

 

[jdrakeh]

Sounds like they may have been going for a Castlevania (the animated series) audience. (Which is okay with me.)

 

[embee]

They certainly didn't skimp on getting top-shelf actors.

In addition to Hamill, there's Lena Headey as Evil-Lyn; Sarah Michelle Gellar as Teela; Stephen Root as Cringer; Diedrich Bader as King Randor and Trap Jaw; Alicia Silverstone as Queen Marlena; Justin Long as Roboto; Jason Mewes as Stinkor; Phil LaMarr as He-Ro; Tony Todd as Scare Glow; Cree Summer as Priestess; Kevin Michael Richardson as Beast Man and Kevin Conroy as Mer-Man (making a sort-of BTAS reunion).

There's even Henry Rollins as Tri-Klops.

 

[Morrus]

I assume it’s going for the nostalgia market, not kids who will have never heard of He-Man? Dunno. I haven’t watched it yet but I will!

 

[Umbran]

While they may have been going for the She-Ra audience, this show missed wide.

I am pretty certain that's not the intended audience. I expect it is aiming at a nostalgia audience. Updated technical quality, add something more like a story.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I assume it’s going for the nostalgia market, not kids who will have never heard of He-Man? Dunno. I haven’t watched it yet but I will!

Kevin Smith did an interview the other day when he said this show is for the fans of the original primarily, as well as bringing in new fans (presumably older fans).

Edit* here we go:

 

[embee]

I am pretty certain that's not the intended audience. It is aiming at a nostalgia audience.

Here's the thing...

She-Ra also aims at the nostalgia audience but is also really good at being a kid's show. It's one of my favorites and a fave of my 6 year-old.

Which then begs the question as to why not aim for a TV-7 audience instead of a TV-12 audience? If you took out the body horror, questionable language, and intense violence, you'd have a good kid's show. For example, the B-plot of Episode 4 goes into Orko's backstory. And it's a good B-plot that humanizes both him and Evil-Lyn.

Setting-wise, the show is dynamite. It nails fantasy tropes with perfection. I'm just saying that if I wanted to get a kid into fantasy, take the intensity down a little bit and you can get a new generation hooked as kids.

 

[Morrus]

Wasn’t bad (first ep). My only issue was when He Man figured out that using his sword would absorb the energy of the universe or something and everybody was like “hmm, yes, I don’t need to do years off scientific study and some advanced equations to know that will work but it will kill you in the process”. He’s strong, but magically prescient isn’t one of his abilities, is it? Or how did he leap to that conclusion? It was Star Trek technobabble taken to an extreme. Next Wesley will decide that a tachyon emission from the deflector dish will invert the symmetry of the quantum foam and reverse the time anomaly or something.

 

[reelo]

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I consider myself the target audience, being 41 and having been a huge fan as a kid in the mid-80s.

Then again, I also liked the She-Ra reboot, and both shows are nothing alike!

If I had to critique one minor thing, it would be the fact that I find Teela's jaw (too square) and lips (too big) don't quite fit her. But that's a purely artistic thing, I've no issues with either her role or her character.