Fun, fast paced action that forget it's own strengths

gabrielpappel

The action is fast paced and ever present, sometimes so much it feels overwhelming. The main characters are all lovable and funny with distinct personalities and their own time to shine.

The storyline about saving the universe takes the main focus and does it (mostly) well. The aliens are interesting and diverse and there's a lot of hidden references to pop culture which are always a joy to pick up on. The animation on the action sequences are top notch and will leave you clutching your seat, granted you take a couple breaks inbetween to catch your breath and process. We have one character who is basically an deux ex machina in and of herself, being the solution to each otherwise unsolvable riddle. This still works, mostly, due to the mystery of alien magic.

Unfortunately this makes little time for the show's absolute strong point - the characters. The character development is splotchy at best and storylines built up by one character are anticlimactically ended by another. Relationships are failed to be clearly established, creating confusion.

Even in spite of this issue, more characters and side plots seems to be introduced each season while what would be important scenes seems to be routinely cut. At first I expected this to be to leave room for a fandom to explore, but after a while it got clear it's more likely a flaw in the writing. More than once you're left waiting for a scene that never comes or faced with crucial development apparently happening away from the camera. You get the feeling the show wanted to include a hundred storylines at once, but didn't have the necessary idea of how to make the stories fit into the greater one. It leaves you as an involved viewer with a lot of unsatisfactory endings.

In conclusion; If you want a show to every-now-and-then and in-the-background watch about some people saving the universe, battling and working with cool aliens - you'll love Voltron: Legendary Defender. If you want to watch a show about just people or because you've heard there's some kind of representation to be found - despite it quickly growing a mighty fandom, this show is not for you. The more you try invest thinking into it the less enjoyable this show will become.

score 5/10

gabrielpappel 1 November 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4431574/