Still has the power
21 July 2003
Of the many blasphemous revivals of old 80s shows, this is probably the best so far. This one actually has an origin of how Adam became He-Man in the first place and how Skeletor came to be the ugly man with no face that we all know and love/loathe (or love to loathe). It's just too bad that Battlecat can't talk anymore.

The animation's pretty good, with some very anime like touches and CGI mixes. The new He-Man kind of looks like Dolph Lundgren, who played He-Man in the live action movie, while Adam finally has the distinction of being smaller and decidedly younger. Skeletor, Mer-Man, Man-At-Arms, and Strators still look the same, though Beastman looks bigger than before. The new Teela is actually quite prettier than the old one, and apparently younger too. The Sorceress has an Egyptian thing going on now, but that's not necessarily bad.

The voice actors are pretty good. Cam Clarke lacks the soft spoken touch of John Erwin (the original He-Man/Adam) and he can't match Erwin yelling "I have the power!", but other than that, Clarke is a worthy successor, overplaying Adam as a spoiled teen (in his distinct, trademark Leonardo from Ninja Turtles voice) and He-Man as his older and decidedly more likeable alter ego. Gary Chalk (who, ironically, voiced He-Man in the 2nd remake of the show from the early 90s, and recently did Optimus Primal for "Beast Wars") is a good Man-At-Arms. Stratos (Scott McNeil, who does a few other voices too) sounds like Sean Connery now. I only wish they hadn't decided to have Skeletor sound almost exactly the same; it makes him too comical. I wish they'd found a guy who could do a sinister voice like Frank Langella from the movie.

All in all, this is good. Enjoy.
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