Stretch Armstrong & the Flex Fighters

I'm not keen on superhero films, so this isn't the most interesting, but it drew me in. The first season involves the three protagonists, Ricardo, Jake, and Nathan testing out their powers as the Flex Fighters. One of the major themes is a corporation named Rook Unlimited which is gaining power in the city itself, even gaining control of public services, privatizing them. This is not shown in a positive light as Rook is pretty incapable without the Flex Fighters. Apart from that, there is occasional romance, like a crush of Ricardo on another girl, with the same for Jake, a sub-story. The second season parallels the skepticism of government in Gatchaman Crowds or in Macross Frontier where the government is shown as incompetent and easily corruptible. This series has no LGBTQ characters, although it is great due to its criticism of scientific hubris, propaganda, control, the media, and the dangers of technology dependence. The fact that few can figure out the real identities of the Flex Fighters is almost as absurd as the fact that only a small group of Adora's friends knew she was She-Ra in the 1980s series, She-Ra: Princess of Power. It's an annoying cliche. This is a bit broken apart as more people find out about it as the series moves forward. I enjoyed the action, the characters, and the plot of this show, making it more appealing than I would have thought. That's why I would give this show its current rating.

In 1996 we got a Flash Gordon cartoon where Flash and most of the cast were teens who rode hover boards. In 1993 we got Mighty Max that was based on a toy that was the male gendered version of Polly Pocket. In 1997 we got the Extreme Ghostbusters. These were all cartoons that had disqualifying tropes mandated by corporations with faulty market research. But despite these tropes that make you say no before seeing your first second of animation, the people making the cartoons turned out highly entertaining cartoons. (I watched Flash Gordon and Mighty Max new but didn't see Extreme Ghostbusters until I bought season 1 on DVD from Australia.)

Hasbro hit big with G.I. Joe and Transformers because writers at Marvel created endearing/enduring characters out of Hasbro's toy mess. But as a general rule Hasbro doesn't understand this and thinks they can make hits with every toy line.

Forgetting all of this, when I tried the first episode of this cartoon based on a so/so Kenner toy from my childhood that I knew a couple people who had one, involving teens, I didn't get very far in before deciding this wasn't for me.

But when season 2 launched I saw Wil Wheaton and others talking about their show with love and reverence on Twitter in a way I had not really seen before. So I decided to give it another try.

This is definitely a show, like Flash Gordon, Mighty Max and Extreme Ghostbusters, that rewards you for watching, the farther in you get. Unlike shows of the 70's, 80's and 90's, you don't get a strong sense from the show that some parents group is mandating content rules. There are some stories where bad decisions lead to consequences, but most of the episodes advance the overall storyline.

The cast is great, does a great job, and is filled with well known names. The theme song is catchy. The show is an all around good time.

Its very reminiscence of early 2000s superhero themed cartoons on tv. This animation reminded me of the Amazing Spiderman in terms of tone setup and characterisation, meanwhile the world building reminded me of very Superman and Teen Titans - ish. Plus the movements and the powerset itself almost identical to Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic 4. Everything revolves around a material known as Flexarium which in its active base form can cause mutation to anyone contacted with it. Apparently its a very powerful material in this universe that very reminiscene of how spiderman got his power.

It is kinda interesting to split the very same superpower attribute which was the flexibility into 3 different categories - 1) stretch - Jake, 2) expand/change size/mass - Ricardo and morph/flattens - Nathan. Few more interesting characters and many representation of POC and LGBTQ+ community.

The quality of the animation was good, great 2d animation with classic superhero sound tracks and scores that reminded me of superhero cartoon thag i grow up watching. Voice castings were alright and definitely liking the world building aspect of this animation. Nothing special in terms of the storyline, just a generic superhero plotting. Not a fan of the villains from this universe. Recommended.

An amazing show about superheroes and just as you think what is going to happen a huge plot twist happens. I also found similarities to the spider verse throughout the show making me more into it