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The Gabeatorial - Max Steel 2013 First Impressions


Gabriel Smith

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blog-0201173001373385715.pngLadies and Gentlemen, it's that time of year again. Nottingham's turned into Miami, resulting in an invasion of Wandering Spiders. So naturally, my brain is operating a lot slower and even less stable than it was previously.

 

Moving on, after the Drama of last week, I felt we should sit down and review something again. Though in this case, this is more of a first impressions video, since the show is currently on a Mid Season hiatus (because America - if Egypt is the source of all evil, then America is the source of every bad idea ever).

 

That being said, Max Steel. Let the Nostalgia flow.

 

First, a little background - the original Max Steel was a early 2000 era show based on the Mattel action figures of the same name (who were the spiritual successors of their "Big Jim" line. This is even referenced in both shows, with "Jim McGrath" being the father of the Protagonist). It was also a Gregg Wiseman show.

 

Yes, THAT Gregg Wiseman.

 

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If this isn't a memory jogger, I'm not sure what else is short of sitting your brain next to an electric chair.

 

To give a short hand summary and review, the original Max Steel focused on the exploits of Josh McGrath, a nineteen year old professional athlete who thanks to an incident involving a killer cyborg, nanomachine gunk and an energy infusion gained superpowers, and thus became Max Steel - a secret agent working for N-TEK, a counter intelligence agency his adoptive father is in charge of.

The show could be summed up as "smart people sometimes do stupid things". In a more sparse bullet pointing however:

  • The first season is the ONLY season I'd strongly recommend people watch, with the Wisemann magic on full display.
  • The second season is watchable, but I don't consider it up to the standards of the first season. It didn't help that a lot of bad habits (such as disappearing cast members, who were written out without an adequate explanation) started to surface here.
  • The third...should be avoided at all costs. Really.It probably goes without saying that only the first season made it to DVD. The second and third Seasons have only been commercially released on Sony's own Crackle network.

However, given Max Steel is very much merch driven, I am inclined to think that the original's seasonal rot was not a result of Wisemann having too much power or anything of the sort, but rather executive meddling on the half of Mattel. It didn't help that the original show went through three different animation studios during it's run - the first season was made by Netter Digital (whom I know nothing about), the second was made by Foundation Imaging (of Godzilla and Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles fame) and the third was made by...Mainframe Entertainment?

 

Yes, THAT Mainframe Entertainment. Oh we fell of our rocker since ReBoot, Beast Wars and Shadow Raiders, huh?

 

Mainframe would continue to animate the show even after the TV Series officially finished, which resulted in seven TV Movies and 37 "Turbo Missions" (later retitled "N-TEK Adventures") - a series of short, one minute episodes which were made solely to keep Max's presence alive. If you are wondering why you've never seen any of them, there is a reason - both the TV Movies and Turbo Missions were only broadcast in Latin America (So don't even try looking for an English Dub).

 

This means that the new 2013 show - which we're looking at today - is the first commercial outing for the character in thirteen years if you're not from Latin America.

 

Which is probably going to present some confusing aspects for people like me, who were big fans of the original show when it first aired. That is, if you can survive the fact they changed everything.

 

And I mean EVERYTHING.

 

The new Max Steel is pretty much set up to show it off as "not your granddaddy's Max Steel". Instead of the premise above, we now follow 16 year old Maxwell "Max" McGrath, who has just moved into Copper Canyon with his mother, Molly. Unfortunately for Max, things get a whole lot crazier when various organisations take note of the fact he's one of the few people capable of naturally generating and controlling Tachyon Unlimited Radiant Bio-Optimized (or TURBO) energy (I wish I was making that Acronym up). After being taken in by N-TEK (one such organisation, founded by his father Jim McGrath and currently ran by Commander Forge Ferris, Max's Uncle and a friend of his late father's), Max shortly meets up with Steel - a tiny sentient AI about the size of a phone who can link with Max to harness his energy and use it to fight crime and what have you.

 

...If you're seeing the similarity between this and another show, you're not the only one. It's very clear that this "Reboot" is aimed at the Ben 10/Generator Rex crowd, and the show does little to hide it. While I can't make too many comparisons having not seen either show (and having no desire too after seeing Man of Action's episodes they wrote for Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes) so correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the Omnitrix - the little gizmo Ben uses to transform into his alien forms - work on a similar principle?

 

To elaborate a little on that previous point, in the older show Max's probes were controlled with a little wrist device that allowed him to "Go Turbo", gaining boosts to his strength and agility for short periods, had a cloaking mode that wouldn't look too out of place with Prophet, Alcatraz or Nomad ("Stealth Mode"), enhanced hearing (which did not require any energy) and could change his appearance (used to his advantage to toggle between "Josh McGrath" and "Max Steel"). To contrast, Max...uses Steel to turn into various different armoured forms (a Strength Mode, a Flight Mode, a Scuba Mode and a Speed Mode have all been used so far) and can project holographic clothing (though one must wonder what material is helmet is made from, since it provides as much protection as a non holographic helmet).

 

If the newer version doesn't sound like the Omnitrix or what have you, then I don't know what does.

 

Before we go on,

. Listen closely.

 

...Yes, that is freaking Shining Armour playing Max. His buddy Steel may also be the same voice actor as Claptrap.

 

...Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not Max Steel. This is The Hilarious Misadventures of Shining Armour and Claptrap, and I will now refer to them as such (it doesn't help that yes, Max likes surfing and Chilli Dogs, as confirmed by a conversation between him and Steel. Oh Friendship is Witchcraft...).

 

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You have seen this, and now you cannot unsee it! Nor can you unhear it!

 

Now I can see why some of these changes were made. The "Going Turbo" business was perceived by some to be a metaphor for steroid and illegal substance use, at a time when such practices was a constant public issue, among other things (in personal opinion, if you look hard enough into anything you see what you want to see, so this line of argument is a little weak).

 

However, some of the changes are very, very strange. Most of the villains so far (specifically Elementor, Extroyer and Toxzon) all originate in the TV Movies, though their backstories have been altered (Elementor for example is now four individual beings, rather than one superpowered being who can morph into different elemental forms), and thus unless you saw those movies (and your an old time viewer like me), it's going to leave your head scratching your post. However, some information leaking in suggests the return of Dragonelle, Bio-Constrictor and Electrix from the original show (how concrete this is is open to debate), and Miles (formerly John) Dredd (please note that John has the correct spelling of Dread as his last name) is around...

 

...Despite Mattel stating that the show "still retain the name, but feature different characters, villains, and an entirely new storyline". If that's the case, why bring Dread back at all? I know this guy is a totally different Dread (John Dread was more of a Chessmaster, while this Dredd appears to be more of a straight up supervillian), but still double standards much? If we're reintroducing some of the classic villains, then where are Psycho and Vitriol in all this? Is Psycho off auditioning for the role of the T-800 or something?

 

Robot+Psycho.jpg

 

 

"Ready for my close up, Mister Cameroon."

 

While we're on the subject of what doesn't work - the soundtrack can't make up its mind if it wants to be Dubstep or Drum & Bass. It's horrendous to listen too, and while it may not incite the same excruciating physical and psychological pain and agony like the songs in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic does, we may have a contender strong enough to knock that horse off its throne as Worst Soundtrack.

It's not all bad though. I really like the rebooted N-TEK, even if their uniforms look like a Global Agenda team who all decided to play Poison Medic that day. They're shown many times to be just as competent (if not moreso) than Shining Armour, in a genre that would usually delegate such an organisation to being almost entirely ineffectual outside of Shining Armour and Claptrap. There's also significant mystery to keep watching the show...meaning that the side characters effectively outact Shining Armour and Claptrap. Heck, Commander Ferris even gets some of the best lines, and is a sufficient enough badass to make me wish his voice was that of the original Command & Conquer Commando (I should call him "Frank").

 

Also I found the episode "Supermania" to be mildly amusing. Then I shoot myself in the foot as it's the only time the Humor really worked and something I'd expect out of a better show (i.e: Reboot comes to mind almost immediately)

 

Overall, the show is...safe. Average. Run O' the Mill. Cookie Cutter (though I wouldn't say "Designed by Committee - see Avengers Assemble for that). And I think that's it's biggest problem right now. It also represents one of the biggest problems in media today - "modern standards". The same modern standards that mean only GRIMDARK Superman is profitable, where show legacies are repeatedly urinated on by writers who simply don't give a damn, and which leaves me with one simple question...

 

...What exactly is it doing differently from Ben 10?

 

Until The Hilarious Misadventures of Shining Armour and Claptrap can make up its mind, I have been your GABEN, and I will see you next time.

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