Let's start with the good. Ben 10 is a fun show with an interesting premise and a decent execution. The show centers on Ben Tennyson, a ten year-old boy, who stumbles upon an alien device that allows him to transform into different aliens. In effect, he can give himself different superpowers for a short time. It follows that the device is sought-after, creating the setup for a good story. Along with his cousin and his grandfather he begins fighting various villains they run across. The characters are real and likable and the plots are well-executed. In short, it's good entertainment.
Where does it fail? The most obvious failure is that Ben 10 — like so many of its cartoon brethren — lives in a limbo between an episodic style (villain-of-the-day, rather than a comedic Spongebob-style) and wanting to have an overarching plot. The short of it is that you can watch any episode regardless of chronology without feeling like you've missed something — not a good sign for a show trying to tell a larger story. Character development could, likewise, be improved. At the start of the series Ben is whiny, annoying, and rash. By the end of it? Slightly improved, but not as much as you'd assume from what he's been through. Gwen too is not developed to her full potential, while Grandpa Max is, frankly, underutilized as a character. The relationship between Ben and Gwen is also left under-developed. Generally speaking, character-developing moments just aren't seized and are left to flow by without mention. Ben and Gwen are the same people leaving the series that we meet at the start of it.
The action is cartoony, if entertaining. The fights are largely there because we're supposed to see some fights rather than because of natural conflict. Like most cartoons, there's lots of hitting and flashiness, but little that's actually damaging. It divorces us from the action by giving us no real sense of anyone's strengths or weaknesses. This helps hinder development even more.
In the end, the worst I can say about Ben 10 is that it doesn't live up to its immense potential. There's nothing wrong with it that isn't wrong with most cartoons, and Ben 10 among its peers is by far one of the better cartoons you could watch. The show is entertaining and fun, and while it probably won't satiate any hunger for deep stories and/or engagement the same way Avatar: tLA might that's not to say it isn't worth watching. Do I wish it could have been better? Of course, but that's only because it's so good and interesting already. There are many shows that can strive no higher than being episodic, villain-of-the-week pulp cartoons, but Ben 10 is not one of them.
It certainly makes the 2016 reboot all the more disappointing.
Where does it fail? The most obvious failure is that Ben 10 — like so many of its cartoon brethren — lives in a limbo between an episodic style (villain-of-the-day, rather than a comedic Spongebob-style) and wanting to have an overarching plot. The short of it is that you can watch any episode regardless of chronology without feeling like you've missed something — not a good sign for a show trying to tell a larger story. Character development could, likewise, be improved. At the start of the series Ben is whiny, annoying, and rash. By the end of it? Slightly improved, but not as much as you'd assume from what he's been through. Gwen too is not developed to her full potential, while Grandpa Max is, frankly, underutilized as a character. The relationship between Ben and Gwen is also left under-developed. Generally speaking, character-developing moments just aren't seized and are left to flow by without mention. Ben and Gwen are the same people leaving the series that we meet at the start of it.
The action is cartoony, if entertaining. The fights are largely there because we're supposed to see some fights rather than because of natural conflict. Like most cartoons, there's lots of hitting and flashiness, but little that's actually damaging. It divorces us from the action by giving us no real sense of anyone's strengths or weaknesses. This helps hinder development even more.
In the end, the worst I can say about Ben 10 is that it doesn't live up to its immense potential. There's nothing wrong with it that isn't wrong with most cartoons, and Ben 10 among its peers is by far one of the better cartoons you could watch. The show is entertaining and fun, and while it probably won't satiate any hunger for deep stories and/or engagement the same way Avatar: tLA might that's not to say it isn't worth watching. Do I wish it could have been better? Of course, but that's only because it's so good and interesting already. There are many shows that can strive no higher than being episodic, villain-of-the-week pulp cartoons, but Ben 10 is not one of them.
It certainly makes the 2016 reboot all the more disappointing.