Me and He-Man? We go way back.
Before Star Wars was ever my thing, I was lugging He-Man, Skeletor, Tung Lashor, Buzz-Off and other weirdos around for impromptu battles in the back of mom’s Toyota, on top of the radiator, in the herb garden or wherever else the mysteries of Castle Grayskull needed defending. The Mattel Masters of the Universe toy line’s combination of sword and sorcery and far-reaching science fiction – the same combo that got me hooked on the Wars – was intoxicating for a boy of three. But was the movie similarly intoxicating for a man of 42?
For the second time ever, we have a live-action Masters of the Universe movie, which is fortunately far superior to the woefully underbudgeted 1987 film starring Dolph Lundgren. I didn’t love it – the film has some issues for me that prevent me from recommending it too strongly – but there’s a lot of fun to be had in director Travis Knight’s version of Eternia. This flick is far from a Stinkor.
Knight (Bumblebee) approaches the material with equal parts awe and embarrassment, with characters and locations that seem like they were ripped straight from the classic Filmation cartoon or mini comics but with a simultaneous inability to utter any of the characters’ names with a straight face. You want Ram Man and Fisto jokes? They’re constant. I laughed at a few of them, sure, but I feel like a dash more earnestness would have helped the stakes feel like, well, stakes.
The humor follows Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok/Thor: Love and Thunder formula: a character gears up to do something impressive, then awkwardly falls short instead. For example, near the end of the film the heroes knock down a prison gate and walk in slow motion as Queen’s “Princes of the Universe” blares. But then they all start coughing on the billowing dust from the gate’s collapse. Super awkward, right? This happens every few minutes of the movie, seemingly.
Now that my gripes are out of the way, let’s crawl out of the Slime Pit and get to the good stuff. Nicholas Galitzine is charming as Prince Adam/He-Man, and Camila Mendes and Idris Elba are a lot of fun as Teela and Man-At-Arms. Alison Brie is suitably campy as Evil-Lyn, playing wonderfully off the true star of the show, Jared Leto as Skeletor. This version of the character draws heavily from the Filmation version – he will be heavily memed – and it’s refreshing to see a character in a film like this that’s evil purely for the love of the game. Anyone worried about Leto’s Skeletor can rest assured: He’s the cackling, overdramatic highlight of the film.
But The Lord of Destruction isn’t the film’s only highlight. This film’s Eternia is bright and colorful, the action sequences are well executed and the score by Daniel Pemberton featuring Brian May guitar riffs heightens many of the film’s most exciting moments.
Without delving into spoilers, Masters of the Universe teases further adventures in this world, especially during the credits, and I sincerely hope we get a sequel. However, the box office receipts will ultimately determine whether this franchise has the (staying) power.
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