My quick rating – 6.5/10. Does it really feel like nearly forty years ago when Dolph Lundgren roared his “I have the power! “? Masters of the Universe is back on the big screen at last. It’s good to see that this movie realizes that it is based upon action figures who kick the crap out of each other. Not some reimagining nonsense.
We start with Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) narrating what feels like the entire history of Eternia. Don’t get me wrong, it looks fantastic. Castle Grayskull. The sweeping landscapes. The flashy special effects. It’s all very pretty. But by the time Adam finished explaining his family tree, I was ready for Skeletor to interrupt just so something would actually happen.
Eventually we get to young Adam, his journey begins, and thankfully the movie wakes up.
One thing I immediately noticed was the runtime. 146 minutes. That is quite an ask for He-Man swinging his magic sword around and whacking bad guys. The pace matters a lot, and even though the action does not disappoint at all, some of the talking scenes border on breaking the world record for “Most talking before anything happens.”
Thankfully, the fight scenes are excellent. Great choreography, slick camerawork, and some impressive visual effects make every battle feel big-budget fantasy epic worthy.
Jared Leto‘s Skeletor is easily one of the biggest wins. Instead of trying to modernise him into some generic dark wizard, they actually made him look like…Skeletor. You know, the blue guy with the skull for a face we’ve all known since we were kids. Funny how respecting the source material actually works.
Then comes one of the film’s better moments. Prince Adam bumps into Dolph Lundgren. I was smiling about that tiny cameo. That is the type of fan service that just feels right. I wish that they would have used it more. Director Travis Knight knows that nostalgia works best when you don’t beat people over the head with it.
Idris Elba is fantastic as Duncan. Casting him was the right choice, and watching him stumble around playing the slightly drunken mentor was way more entertaining than I expected. Every scene he’s in gets an instant boost.
And there’s Fisto. Yes, they actually have Fisto. Now look, I’m a grown adult. Every time someone mentioned “Fisto!” while he “fists” every bad guy in sight never stopped being funny. Whoever decided to keep a straight face through those scenes deserves an Oscar.
Not everything works.
Some of the quieter scenes drag on forever, especially whenever He-Man starts giving speeches. One motivational speech before an escape honestly felt longer than the escape itself. I was expecting Skeletor to wander in halfway through and tell him to hurry the hell up because evil has a schedule to keep.
Battle Cat eventually makes an appearance, and thankfully they didn’t forget one of the franchise’s coolest characters. Another nice little reward for fans.
Then we jump ahead six months. Apparently rebuilding an entire kingdom destroyed by war only takes half a year in Eternia. Meanwhile I’m still waiting for the council to fix the potholes down my street.
Makes perfect sense.
Although it has some issues, Masters of the Universe turns out to be an actually entertaining movie. The action in it is consistently entertaining, the jokes are on target much more often than not, and Travis Knight has found a good way to balance his respect for cartoons with a cinematic approach.
And yes, because Hollywood physically cannot help itself, there’s a mid-credits sequel tease.
Would I watch the next one? Yep. Just maybe shave thirty minutes off it first.
