Were lousy with nostalgia-baiting TV revivals, butShe-Ra and the Princesses of Poweris something special.
Nothing sounds more like some Mattel executives mid-80s cocktail lunch than an evil Horde led by someone named Hordak.
Theres a pirate-ish voyage, a robo-labyrinth, a fairy-tale forest not far from a metropolitan dystopia.
Catra (AJ Michalka) and Adora/She-Ra (Aimee Carrero) on ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.'.Credit: Netflix
The reboot vibe here recalls the 2000sBattlestar Galactica, action-figure iconography grounded with wit and dark whimsy.
(One key character barely even registers as an onscreen presence.)
But in one respect, the newShe-Rafeels fully formed on arrival.
Netflix
Her antagonism with Adora lifts the series to another level.
Lifelong friends, theyve chosen radically different paths for unsteady reasons.
Adora has a strong moral code built atop encompassing confusion about herself and her world.
Doesnt take a brain surgery princess, though, to pinpoint the resonance here.
Adora and her friends arent just trying to unite their world against tyranny.
The old Princess Rebellion failed, so why, certain characters ask, should the next generation even try?
It went horribly for our parents, Glimmer says.
But we have a chance to do it right.
Were clearly stronger together.
Think what all the princesses united could do.
Indeed, just think about it, he wrote one anxious American Tuesday in November 2018.
We must, we must, we must.B+
