Masters of the Universe: Revelations Season 1 (2021) Review

After plenty of build up the much hyped new Netflix made Masters of the Universe show Revelations has come out and I watched the whole thing today and here is my review for it. The premise of the show sees He-Man and his compatriots go up against Skeletor and his forces. 

Main Character

Chris Wood voices He-Man and he does a decent job in the role, the issue is that this show is a lie and barely has him in it. For a show that is literally marketed around his character and he is the most famous one, to barely have him in this show is ridiculous and allows us no time to grow to care about the character and his motivations. Instead the lead character is Teela played by Sarah Michelle Gellar and she is fine, if she was a support character but the show tries to force her down your throat and you are wondering where the hell He-Man is and why we are being forced to watch this characters journey and I just couldn't get past this. 

Supporting Characters

There are some decent voice performances here, for me Leana Headey as Evil-Lyn was a real highlight and delivers a menacing and interesting character that has depth and I wish that we could have seen more of the story from her perspective. Also Mark Hamill voices Skeletor and he is clearly having a blast, he seems to be channelling his former voice work as The Joker and it is wonderful to hear. But again he is barely in this show and it feels like he never gets the real time to shine here. This show has a massive cast and for me at least not too many more of them shone for me, I am a casual fan of this world, knowing the basics but the show does a pretty lousy job of explaining all of the characters and some come across as really strange and like you should automatically know who they are because you are a die hard fan. 

Story 

The story is where the show really messes up, the first episode is fine and fun enough but then something happens and the show really focuses on the wrong things for this show. If they wanted to make a He-Man spinoff and not really include him then thats fine but don't lie and try to convince the fandom that we were getting a true He-Man show. The ending is fine, but the show felt like such a slog to get there and I just didn't get engaged enough with the story or characters. 

Script

The script is okay with some decent dramatic moments and bits of humour but there isn't enough. The show feels conflicted whether to stay a bit more family friendly or more adult and it never chooses one or the other and I felt like that hurt the vibe of the show. 

Style 

Overall, the animation and action is decent enough, I mean it doesn't look exactly revolutionary for 2021 but it is serviceable and does get the vibe of what I would expect from a Masters of the Universe show. But despite the show not even clocking in 3 hours I was bored at times and felt a bit loss with where things were going, moving at a pace that really didn't do a good job of establishing the world and characters.

Overall 

Overall, Masters of the Universe: Revelations is a poor show that does a disservice to its material. It is a slap in the face to He-Man fans and isn't good enough for new fans of the franchise either and I think it should be skipped despite its short run time. 

Rating - 3/10