Ben 10 2016 Reboot Episode Review: Omni-Tricked
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Well, I finally saw the season 1 finale of the Ben 10 reboot. What do I think of it? It's...good. It's kinda good. After enduring 36 episodes of mediocre and bland quality, we finally get something from the Ben 10 reboot that is actually good. If not good, then it's at least average but definitely the best episode out of the first season. Is it amazing or great? Oh hell no. Is it terrible? No. Is it flawed? Yes and I'll explain why. Are some people overreacting over how Omni-Tricked is better than the rest of season 1? Yes and I'll explain that as well. Let's get to work.
Let's start with the pros of Omni-Tricked. Thanks to Omni-Tricked being a 4-parter with each part being 11 minutes long thus adding to a total of 44 minutes for the entire episode, the pacing and writing is better than it was in previous episodes. Sometimes the pacing and writing dips down though but it is better than it was before. Gee, it's almost like Ben 10 was meant to have a longer episode length than the 11 minute episodes that the Ben 10 reboot has. There was also better tension as well. The stakes are higher than it was in the previous episodes. Even the action scenes were pretty nice. There is some resemblance of the style of the 2005 Original Series most notably in part 3 and 4. Finally, the ending was pretty satisfying. It was a nice ending. I liked it.
Now let's get to the cons of Omni-Tricked. As I said before, the episode has some resemblance of the Original Series. I've seen a good bunch of people say as to how Omni-Tricked had a strong vibe of the 2005 original show but I disagree. This still very much felt more like a typical Ben 10 reboot episode than a Ben 10 Original Series episode. Also, the music from whenever Ben transforms into Gax got pretty annoying pretty quickly. It felt too much in your face for me. There were also some moments in Omni-Tricked that confused me. One was when "Vil" first appeared. Apparently, half of Vilgax's DNA resided in "Vil" (a weak and elderly like form of Vilgax) and Ben's alien, Gax, which holds Vilgax's source of power. There was also the moment where Ben's DNA was deleted or removed or something, thus preventing Ben from transforming back to his human self, and Vilgax restores Ben's DNA back into the Omnitrix. Like I said, Ben's DNA was deleted or removed or something of the likes. How did Vilgax restore Ben's DNA? Both of these moments made me scratch my head and go "What?" in sheer confusion.
However, what is by far the worst part of Omni-Tricked was Vilgax himself. First off, I'm not much of a fan of Gax and Vilgax having laser eyes. The first time Vilgax ever displayed being able to shoot laser out of his eyes was in Alien Force season 3 and it felt significantly out of place for him. In the reboot, it still feels out of place for Vilgax to have laser eyes. The arms splitting into various tentacles is more interesting though. Regardless, Vilgax is already an intimidating and challenging enough of an enemy for Ben to face without these abilities and the Original Series is proof of this. So yeah, I'm not much of a fan of these new abilities. Also, Vilgax's build up felt lacking, disappointing, and rushed. Vilgax most certainly needed a much better build up to his first encounter with Ben in the reboot than what we got. Let's once again compare the reboot to the original show. Vilgax's very first appearance in the Ben 10 franchise was in the very first episode of the first season of the Original Series. Hell, Vilgax was the first character we ever see with Ben being second and there was a lot of mystery to the very type of villain that Vilgax was. Throughout the first season, the show built up Vilgax. We learn more about him. We learn more about what he's capable of. We learn more about the reputation that he has all throughout the universe. We receive clues of Max Tennyson having history with Vilgax and being very concerned for Ben the moment Vilgax is mentioned to him. All of that led to a very satisfying finale for the first season of the Original Series when Ben finally encounters Vilgax for the very first time and it was one of the most intense moments in the Ben 10 franchise. When we see Ben struggling to defeat Vilgax, not even being able to put a dent nor a scratch into him and then seeing Vilgax easily gain the upper hand over Ben, fans and viewers feared for Ben's life. Like I said, it was one of the most intense moments in the Ben 10 franchise and part of that was due to Vilgax having such a great build up throughout the first season of the Original Series. In the reboot, the only build up of Vilgax that we ever got was in the season finale itself. With maybe, MAYBE, the exception of the reboot episode, Riding the Storm Out, not once does the reboot even hint Vilgax. I wasn't even sure if they were going to bring Vilgax into the Ben 10 reboot before the first set of toys based on the show were first showcased. It was clear that Vilgax needed some episodes in the reboot's first season to build him up as the villain that he is best known for. That's one of the most major problems that I have with the reboot's version of Vilgax. He doesn't have a good build up or at the very least his build up to his and Ben's first encounter with each other isn't as good as it was in the Original Series.
The other major problem that I have with Vilgax is Yuri Lowenthal providing the voice for this very villain. I previously discussed how the voice cast for the Ben 10 reboot was by far the most mismatched voice cast in the Ben 10 franchise and my reasons as to why. Yuri Lowenthal as Vilgax further solidifies my very point with the reboot's voice cast and voicing direction. He is just as much of a mismatched choice for such a villain as Vilgax as Greg Cipes as Stinkfly, David Kaye as Max Tennyson, etc and it really does do a significant disservice to Vilgax. This is not Vilgax. That voice does not suit Vilgax at all. Yuri does not make Vilgax sound like the fearful and intimidating villain that he is best known for. Instead, Yuri's voice for Vilgax sounds significantly distracting and out of place. It's clear that Yuri shouldn't be providing the voice for such a character as Vilgax. And really, they're going to replace Steve Blum, THE...STEVE...BLUM, with Yuri Lowenthal as Vilgax? Of all people, they replace Steve Blum with Yuri Lowenthal as Vilgax. There is a reason why Steve Blum is still considered to be the BEST Vilgax voice actor in the franchise. He makes Vilgax sound absolutely fearful and intimidating and his voice for Vilgax is absolutely so fitting for this very villain and this is further backed up by the strong voicing direction that the Original Series had. Overall, Yuri Lowenthal shouldn't have voiced Vilgax. He is by far not a suitable choice for such a villain like him and his performance as Vilgax clearly shows that he is very much a mismatched choice for said character.
I also want to discuss how some people had reacted to the Omni-Tricked episode. I noticed how some people had got so overly excited over how Omni-Tricked was better than the other episodes of the first season of the Ben 10 reboot and how overly hyped they are for season 2. I've seen how someone stated that they took back everything they said about the Ben 10 reboot. I've seen how someone stated that it was worth having to go through all those bland and mediocre episodes just to have a good finale and wouldn't mind if the same happened with season 2. How someone stated that Omni-Tricked is great or amazing. How someone stated that they're now willing to support the show and buy its merchandise just because of Omni-Tricked. Stuff like that. This very stuff is such an overreaction to this very episode. Like I said, the season 1 finale for the Ben 10 reboot is pretty good and it is better than all the other episodes of the first season. However, it's not amazing nor is it great. This is a good yet significantly flawed episode and it was most certainly not worth having to go through 36 episodes that were of such mediocre/average and bland quality. Hell, saying that this is a good episode and is the best part of the first season of the Ben 10 reboot doesn't even say much considering how the rest of the first season was so mediocre and bland and the season finale doesn't help the first season that much either. The first season of the Ben 10 reboot is still overall bland and mediocre and Omni-Tricked having better quality than the other episodes is not an excuse for forgiving such bland mediocrity. The level of quality that we got with Omni-Tricked, or even better quality, should've been in the Ben 10 reboot since episode 1. This is the level of quality or higher that the entirety of the Ben 10 reboot's first season should've had all throughout it and I hope that season 2 at least has this level of quality or better all throughout it. I doubt it but I hope this ends up being the case. Finally, bad/mediocre shows can have their fair share of good episodes. Teen Titans Go! is a terrible show and even that show has it's fair share of episodes that are actually good. Just because the season 1 finale of the Ben 10 reboot turned out to be pretty good or at least better than the other episodes of the first season doesn't mean that season 2 is going to have better quality than season 1. This even led to some of these people getting certain things wrong about the episode. I've seen one person mention how Max and Phil's Plumber secrets are now out. The Plumbers weren't even mentioned at all. There was no clue to Max and Phil being associated as Plumbers in Omni-Tricked. Yeah, Phil knows about the Omnitrix but that alone isn't enough to prove that him and Max are Plumbers. This is what frustrates me about some fans and viewers of certain franchises. They do stuff like this that ends up making them part of the problem as to why some franchises end up diminishing in their quality. For these very shows like the Ben 10 reboot, if that's the very reaction that you're going to give over one good yet significantly flawed episode among a season containing bland and mediocre episodes, you need to take a step back and rethink your views and judgement on matters like this because your over excitement and hype is clouding your views and judgement. I know when I see stuff like this. I've seen stuff like this happen plenty of times with various video games, movies, shows, etc and even I have found myself doing stuff like this before in the past and I've certainly learned my lessons from it. You do not want to be in that very position. Trust me.
Speaking of Max and Phil not being established as Plumbers in the season 1 finale, something recently came to mind in regards to Max. I don't think he and Phil are Plumbers in the reboot. It's stated that Phil is some science engineer. As for Max, I believe that Max is really an inventor. Considering that the Ben 10 reboot uses some concepts from the pre-production version of the original Ben 10 show (most notably in regards to Stinkfly's redesign), I believe that Max is an inventor and not a retired Plumber in the Ben 10 reboot. In the beta version of the original show, Max was supposed to be just an average inventor before he was rewritten to be the retired Plumber that's he's best known for. Not once did the Ben 10 reboot even provided any hints and clues that Max was a Plumber. One of Max's friends in the reboot, Phil, is a science engineer or something of the likes. The Rustbucket in the reboot looks more like something that an inventor would have. Considering the UFO, the Rustbucket also looks like something that ufologists would use as well so maybe Max and Phil were once studying UFOs as well, which could explain why Phil knows about the Omnitrix. That's my prediction in regards to Max's past in the Ben 10 reboot. Something tells me that Max isn't a retired Plumber in the reboot but instead an inventor likely involved with the study of UFOs and alien life and technology or something of the likes and these are my reasons as to why.
Anyways, overall, Omni-Tricked is a good yet significantly flawed episode. If not good, then it's at least average. If anyone has any thoughts and opinions of their own about this, feel free to leave a comment down below.
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@Tactical-Ochoa Why are we overly excited? Because its the best Ben 10 had to offfer IN YEARS!!! Only And then there were none and was Ben is the only good thing after Ultimate Alien except this. Thats why!
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@Mortie-10 Like I said, an overreaction because this is not the best that Ben 10 had to offer in years. Like I said, Omni-Tricked is clearly not amazing nor is it great. It's a good episode. It has significant flaws but it is good. So yes, you guys are being overly excited and are overreacting over what is NOT the best that Ben 10 had to offer in years.
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@Tactical-Ochoa Oh shut up! Now your talking like its a fact that its not the best thing Ben 10 had to offer in years. Its my and the others users opinions. NOT YOURS! Just because its not your opinion, doesnt mean its not a fact.
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In my opinion, it could have been worse. I agree with what you say, but overall, I enjoyed it more than other episodes I've seen. If the second season can build on this, I think the reboot can be salvaged. I'm not asking for perfect quality, I'm just asking for a little more backbone.
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@Mortie-10 Someone surely got triggered here.
If you disagree with me, just say so and then move on. You can disagree if you want to and leave it to that and I will be fine with that. Your reaction to my opinions is only further proving my point. You are free to express your opinions and I'm free to express mine. However, if that's the very reaction that you're going to give over one's opinion that you disagree with, then you are the one that needs to shut up here for your sake. Express your disagreements if you want to and then move on.
@Cheatster9000x Like I said, it's a good episode and it is better than the rest of the first season. I hope that the second season has better quality as the first season. I hope that the second season does make a lot of improvements. I doubt it because, well, today's Cartoon Network is today's Cartoon Network but I hope that I'm wrong and that the second season does turn out to be better than the first season.
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Man there is so much wrong with what you just said. First of all, this show is aimed at a younger demographic. Like 4 year olds. And despite how any of us feel about that, that's the way it is. 4 year olds don't care about plot, they don't care about voice acting, and they don't care about whether things make sense all of the time. So for an episode of a tv show aimed at 4 year olds, this was a darn good episode.
Also, just to point out some flaws in your logic, I'm pretty sure Phil is a plumber. He literally calls the Omnitrix by name on accident before correcting himself. (I also have a theory that Max was a plumber but just had his memory wiped, but I'm not totally sure yet) And how does the Vilgax thing make any less sense than the Ghostfreak thing? So Azmuth took Z'skayr's DNA and trapped him in the Omnitrix? What?
So basically, this show is made for young children. Many of us, including me, wish that they had made a show for an older demographic, but unfortunately this show is made for young children. I understand that you didn't think it was a great episode. But you should have different standards for a show made for younger children than you do made for a show made for teenagers or adults.
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@XLR8isBest No. The age demographic for the Ben 10 reboot aren't 4-year-olds. The reboot is aimed at 5-11 year old kids. Many shows are aimed for young kid viewers and they turn out to be at least really good. Also, a show catering to young children is not an excuse for why it's so mediocre. There are also many kids out there that do care about plot and voice acting and whether thing make sense or not. I've come across instances of kids that don't like the Ben 10 reboot for the same reasons that longtime fans of the franchise have for not liking the Ben 10 reboot.
Like I also said, Phil does know about the Omnitrix and considering that he's a technical engineer or something of the likes. However, not once was there ever a hint of the Plumbers in the Ben 10 reboot at all. Like I also said, the Rustbucket does look like something that ufologists would use so if Phil isn't a Plumber, then he could've found out about the Omnitrix if he once studied about alien life and technology in the past. I can be wrong. I hope that I'm wrong because I prefer having the Plumbers. However, until the reboot establishes the existence of the Plumbers, this is the only other reasonable conclusion that I can come to IF Max and Phil are not Plumbers in the reboot.
As for Zs'Skayr being in the Omnitrix, go read up about him and Ectonurites and what their characteristics are. Here, I'll help you. Here's the link to Zs'Skayr and Ectonurites from the Ben 10 Wiki. Read up in the "History" section of Zs'Skayr's page to know how he ended up in the Omnitrix. Sure does makes a lot of sense to me.
http://ben10.wikia.com/wiki/Zs'Skayr
http://ben10.wikia.com/wiki/EctonuriteI also didn't say that the episode is bad. I said that it's a good episode. Significantly flawed but good. How about you take the time to thoroughly read and understand everything that I state here.
Seems to me that you have so much that's wrong with what you just said.
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I will admit that I didn't know that there was such an in-depth explanation r how Zs'Skayr got into the Omnitrix. However, I do find it convenient that he just sat in the Omnitrix waiting.
Also I was mostly over exaggerating about the demographic. I only know that it's aimed at pre-teens, in which case my point still pretty much stands. Due to being in college, I don't really talk to a lot of kids within that demographic so I don't know how they feel about it.
I guess my point was just that this show was made for kids. I don't really know if kids like it or not, as I don't really talk to kids a lot. But it seems a little unfair to judge a kid's show this harshly. It also seems unfair to tell people that it is NOTHING like the original series. Who are you to tell people that? Why are you so opposed to let people feel nostalgia over this reboot? At first, your reviews seemed fair to me, but now I find it a little bit odd that you spend so much time writing essays about each episode of this show, especially since you hate it so much.
You're welcome to judge it however you want, I'm not here to stop you. But I don't think it's fair to tell people that they're not allowed to feel a certain way about this show. The same thing happened with Omniverse. People felt it was truer to the OS than UAF. People are going to feel differently about different shows. I just don't think it's fair for you to take it upon yourself to kill the hype.
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@XLR8isBest No, your point doesn't stand. Just because it's a kids show aimed towards young kids doesn't excuse it from being a mediocre show. Really? It's unfair to judge a kids show so harshly, huh? People don't seem to have a problem judging shows like Teen Titans Go! and the Powerpuff Girls reboot so harshly and those shows are aimed at young kids. The Ben 10 reboot is an exception? Don't give me any bullshit like that. Kids shows are just as equally open to criticism as every other form of entertainment media.
Maybe if you read my review thoroughly, you'd know that I said that Omni-Tricked has some resemblance to the Original Series so no, I didn't state that the reboot is nothing like the Original Series. Maybe you also haven't noticed but there's a gap of episodes between this review and my previous episode review. I'm no longer making reviews for every episode because it got tedious for me. And no, I don't hate the Ben 10 reboot. I just don't like it. I find it mediocre. I very much well established that. This show is not worth expressing so much hate over. I mean like for CHRIST SAKE, I stated that this episode is G-O-O-D GOOD. Good, as in I LIKE this episode.
I am free to express whatever opinion that I have. If you disagree with it, feel free to just state so and then move on if you don't want to get into an argument with me over it. I'm fine with you disagreeing with me. What I'm not fine with is when you express bullshit like this. The Ben 10 reboot being a kids show aimed towards kids doesn't excuse it from whatever flaws that it has. And yes, it is fair to criticize the reboot to this very extent. Like I said, you are free to express your opinions on what my opinions are. I'm not stopping you from doing that as well.
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I honestly loving this series more and more each episode, it's really getting better in my opinion and I'm looking forward to what season 2 has to offer, but I understand that this episode hasn't won you over, but it did to me. Yeah, it had its flaws, but wow I was blown away by what MOA (alot of people pretty much hate them now, I'm not a massive fan of them, but they know how to write, the gave use the Gen Rex/Ben 10 crossover for crying out loud) gave us, it's not perfect, but it's a good start from the previous episodes. We have to tell MOA that we want more episodes like this in future seasons, I'm hoping for more surprises from this series.
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Now this is a good episode. Although I would've preferred that this would be done with OS's art style, I still like it. However, IMO, Yuri Lowenthal was not a good choice as a VA for Vilgax.
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Oh yeah, I forgot one more thing in regards to Yuri Lowenthal's voice as Vilgax. Much like with Ben's aliens, Vilgax didn't sound alien. Yuri's voice for Vilgax sounded too familiar. It sounded more human than alien. Steve Blum's voice for Vilgax sounded genuinely alien. It was almost like you couldn't tell who was voicing Vilgax along with who was voicing Ben's aliens as well. So that's another problem with Yuri's performance as Vilgax. He doesn't sound alien. He sounds too human and recognizable.
I also had a short discussion with someone on Twitter in regards to the finale and he does make some good points as well. There were some moments where the finale did feel unfocused on what it was trying to be. Like I said, there were some moments where the writing and pacing did drop in quality and the finale still felt very much like the reboot's style while also sometimes feeling like the Original Series' style among other points of criticism that I addressed on here. So yeah, I can agree that the finale did feel unfocused at certain moments in it as well.
I also agree that it did felt like a chore to sit through. Things started to kick up in parts 3 and 4 but parts 1 and 2 were just not as good to watch. Also, I do agree that there were some moments in the finale that felt meaningless as well. One definite example was when Gwen jumped onto Vilgax's ship to help Ben. That was pretty unnecessary, and even careless and reckless, for her to do and Max was already about to jump in and help Ben anyways. Plus, even though Vilgax had Ben pinned, Ben was doing just fine enough on his own to not need Gwen's help anyways and Gwen doesn't even do much either. She sprays Vilgax with a fire extinguisher, talks to Ben for a bit, and then Ben tosses her back up to where Max was, and that was it. They clearly set that scene up just to have a "genuine/life lesson" type of moment which doesn't have a good impact on the episode considering how pointless that scene is. Like I said, there were some moments where the writing and pacing drops in quality.
So yeah, there's some more issues with the finale. I still consider it to be pretty good but like I also said, it's also significantly flawed.
If anyone wants to check out the short conversation that I had on Twitter, here's the link.
https://twitter.com/KingRemDogg/status/874749040629612544 -
So a while back, I had a conversation with Ben 10 News about the part of the episode where half of Vilgax's DNA was put inside the Omnitrix. It was here where I came to a realization as to why I found that very aspect of the episode to not make sense for me. Here's the conversation on Twitter if anyone wants to check it out and read it. It's a continuation of the previous conversation that I linked on here.
https://twitter.com/Ben10FansUnited/status/880454692576387078 -
I looked at the BEN 10 Reboot 4 part episode "Omni-Tricked" on kimcartoon.me and it was great episode and I enjoyed it. it's the end of season 1 of Ben 10 Reboot but I can't to see preview episodes for season 2 of Ben 10 Reboot including more new Ben-tuition clips really soon.
