MAX STEEL

Max Steel was born as action figures in 1999 thanks to the creativity of Mattel. The great success on the market of these action figures, initially large, articulated and wearable, then smaller and with fewer points of articulation, inspires a television series that aired on the Sci-fi channel from 2000 to 2002. From 15 April 2013 the success of the series has been repeated with a new remake series broadcast in Italy by Cartoon Network at 19:30 and on Boing. The series is co-produced by Mattel, Nerd Corp Entertainment and Fremantle media kids & Entertainment, written by Matthew Drderk and Lloyd Goldfine.

Max Stell is a successful television series divided into two seasons, both of 26 episodes lasting just over 20 minutes each. The story is very fascinating and each episode gives young viewers lots of emotions and suspense. The cartoon, in fact, bases its entire story on action and combat, but there is no lack of irony and good feelings. The story of the young Max is reminiscent of that of a very old anime of the 70s, Cybernella. Max, like the girl in the aforementioned cartoon, has an accident. He is implanted with micronanoprobes that allow him to do exceptional things. The boy therefore has superpowers: he can produce turbo energy of exceptional power. The only problem, however, is that he can't control it. A young and small alien comes to his aid, a project of his late father. Steel manages to control Max's powers, powers that he himself is unable to produce. Together the couple will fight the enemies and save the city from numerous invasion attempts, but they will also manage to appease several bullying acts perpetrated by some of Max's schoolmates against the most defenseless.

The first series opens with the arrival of Max and his mother in the city of Copper Canyon. The little boy lost his father who was working on a secret project with a close friend, Jefferson Smith. The man takes care of Max, making him collaborate in the company started with his dear friend who has passed away. In reality, however, the company is just a cover for an anti-terrorist organization, N-Tek. The secret organization was started by Jim McGrath, Max's father, to fight the Trans-Human industries, a ruthless corporation headed by the evil Miles Dredd and the evil Elementors. For these reasons, Max's superpowers must remain secret, the boy is thus forced to divide himself between the normal life of a teenager, made up of school, friends, skate competitions, the first heart pounding, and the bloody fight against the cruel invaders.

Max has a best friend with whom he shares all the normal adventures of any XNUMX-year-old, Kirby. With him he faces bullying at school from time to time, but always with his alien companion Steel inside the backpack, which does not fail to create some embarrassment when the boy is together with the beautiful peer Sidney, for whom he has a real and her own teenage crush. The cute alien, in fact, should remain hidden and invisible, but the exuberant character of the small (only in size) adventure companion, quite often jeopardizes the boy's double identity.

The second series continues with the usual fights against invaders, but Max has now discovered the real cause of his father's death that he has been investigating for some time. The enemies are the same as always: Miles Dredd, who is the historical antagonist of Max. The villain, before fighting against the N-Tek was one of its founders, but his greed led him to steal the Turbo energy to try to conquer the planet. Jason Nulla is Miles Dredd's trusted henchman, he has the peculiarity of being able to transform into a giant robot. Less evil than Dredd, he is often harassed by the latter. Makino is another fearsome enemy of Max, a cyber alien leader of the Ultra-links (in original language). The episodes have a very linear structure, an incipit, with funny jokes, a central part dedicated to clashes and action, and a final part where the conflict is resolved and tensions are dissolved.

Superb graphics, with technological elements that literally drive kids crazy, and not only. Even adults are fascinated by transformations and fights rendered with high quality graphics, without ever forgetting the target to which the cartoon is aimed. We never speak of gratuitous violence as an end in itself, but always of defense of the highest values of the human race, of the importance of friendship even when opposed by evident differences of race and size. A TV series for children from 8 years old.