Masters of the Universe: Revolution Review

Evil-Lyn’s (Lena Headey, Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) nihilistic attempt to destroy creation has been thwarted. Now, Eternia looks ready for a time of peace. But darkness fast approaches as Skeletor (Mark Hamill, Fall of the House of Usher) heralds the coming of a new threat. One that seeks to overthrow the very order of Eternia. It seeks to supplant magic with technology in Masters of the Universe: Revolution, produced by Powerhouse Animation.

The latest entry in Netflix’s take on the over-30-plus-year-old franchise brings many twists and surprises. The tease that ended the last season heralds the biggest bad the series has seen yet. But while the coming of Motherboard and whom she serves delivers Masters of the Universe: Revolution‘s biggest plot line, it’s not the only one. Wishing to restore Preternia after its destruction, Teela (Melissa Benoist) sets out to gain the power of Eternia’s three ancient gods. This split focus comes to be the season’s biggest problem. It tries to do too much with too many characters.

Like each previous series, this one has a short, five-episode count, and not a second is wasted in it. Shortly after Eternia’s newest threat is revealed, our heroes are splintered into small groups. Each has a vital mission to fulfill, but never enough time to do it in. This makes some plot points fly by. Successes that are billed as great feats don’t feel that way as they blitz past the viewer in just a handful of scenes.

Also hurting the narrative’s pacing is the scope of the story. While last season saw the possible destruction of all creation, the danger was brought by a single person. Masters of the Universe: Revolution sees fleets of ships and global dangers posed over the skies of Eternia. This growth in scale is never truly done justice as the story flies through its beats. No images of the larger perils of Eternia are shown, making the battles feel smaller than they should. This is especially true after we saw all of the people of the planet unite to overthrow Evil-Lyn last season.

The other major problem Masters of the Universe: Revolution has with its plot is how predictable the villains have become. We see an extremely familiar arc play out here, leaving the bad guy’s side of the narrative less than engaging. Every beat is obvious, failing to deliver the clever twists that the rest of the narrative peppers throughout.

While the numerous plot points sometimes fail to land, Masters of the Universe: Revolution continues to excel in the treatment of its cast. There is so much personality throughout each episode that the series is always entertaining. While the highlight of the cast continues to be Hamill’s Skeletor, he has a strong rival for the spotlight in this season’s biggest addition to the cast, William Shatner. Shatner has numerous scenes beside Hamill, and his unique brand of melodramatic delivery fits perfectly with Hamill’s scene-chewing, over-the-top performance. The pair are perfect together, stealing the show every time one of them is present.

Continuing to deliver personality through its characters is fantastic writing. The number of “so bad, they are good” puns is just as high as in previous entries. Every one of these lines is delivered with all the self-awareness you could ask for. They know what these lines are, and they say them with their whole chests. The dedication to this bit brings an incredible amount of fun to the series.

One element of Masters of the Universe: Revolution that surprises is how deep the show digs into the franchise’s past. No spoilers, but some elements are brought back from one of the franchise’s biggest misfires. Seeing them again was a delight, nonetheless. The characters themselves were not at fault, and anyone who has been a fan of the franchise should at least get a laugh at the unexpected return of these often-forgotten callbacks.

While character and comedy are often the high points of the series, the animation doesn’t fall behind either. Powerhouse delivers some great visuals throughout this journey. The magic is mesmerizing, and the punches hit hard. The animators flex their creativity as technology and magic are used to their utmost to craft interesting and unique moments of action.

Masters of the Universe: Revolution delivers lots of fun and surprises despite trying to do far too much. Its fantastic cast and sense of self-awareness manage to keep the viewer entertained, even when the plot points are flying by too fast to deliver on their promise.

Masters of the Universe: Revolution is streaming now on Netflix.