Not to be confused with Kevin Smith's other Masters of the Universe entry this year. Mattel went with an interesting strategy: go with a show for the more adult audience (MotU: Revelations) and this, a show specifically for the children. This is a complete reboot of the MotU universe where the Masters of the Universe are now teens. In this, amnesiac Adam (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) has been raised in the forest by the Tiger Tribe for some time. One day he encounters witch and thief Teela (Kimberly Brooks) who has stolen the Sword of Power and is on the run from villainous foes who want the power for themselves. This all sets up a new journey for Adam as he becomes the hero known as He-Man.
For a redo of He-Man, I thought this was well done. Now, this was clearly made to entertain children and sell toys. Story isn't ambitious with the story (by children's show standards) like the recent She-Ra reboot was. However, it's a fun story. The world building isn't too in-depth, but the writers did made an effort. All the characters are pretty fun and likable.
Visually, this looks really good. I mean television 3D animation still isn't able to match the larger budgeted theatrical films, but it's amazing the leaps and bounds it has taken. Everything looks sharp, clean and colorful. The design of the world is really strong and sells the fantasy world. The city of Eternus is especially impressive. I mostly liked the new decisions for the character designs and costumes. There are a some rather radical departures, but I felt they worked. (The nose part on the helmet for Adam's tiger friend Cringer (David Kaye) is a bit flat and off for my taste.) As I said, this show looks like it's selling toys, and these characters all will make good ones. They took the basic concept of He-Man, a really ripped guy and multiplied it to 11. He's basically a mountain of muscle and it works. The main players all have superpowered forms/costumes, which probably is a fun concept that the kids will probably like.
I think grown MotU fans can have fun with this and children will definitely love it. This does have a very basic 80's Saturday morning cartoon adventure feel and there's nothing wrong with that. This makes for nice light watching.
