It’s ok to be honest about the relevancy of He-Man. Which, if we’re really taking a good hard look in the mirror is basically non-existence in this day and age. That’s not to say it doesn’t have its fans, but any attempt at putting the hero on the big screen is, by its very nature an IP cash grab. That’s the case with most of these things; big studios rummaging through their vaults, dusting off old cartoons and things that were big in the 80s and asking themselves “can this make us money still?”
More often than not, this turns out to be a bad idea. That’s largely due to the constant need to update it for a modern audience or worse, try to give it a serious tone to cater to…I actually don’t know who but that seems to be the common trend.
Thankfully, Masters of the Universe bucks this failed tradition entirely and doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel or reject the silliness of its source material. Instead, it wholly embraces its camp, adopting the circa MCU 2016 joke machine format and giving it a a He-Man reskin. Yes, It’s basically Thor: Ragnorok, trading out Asgard for Eternia and Hela for Skeletor. Some my scoff at this blueprint, jaded by the joke per minute Taika Wiatiti/James Gunn style that has permeated just about every superhero and space adventure film for the last decade or more. But given the ridiculousness of the source material, I can’t really think of any other way to pull something like this off successfully.
A Silly Movie Based on a Sillier Cartoon, Embraces the Weird
Masters of the Universe is incredibly silly and campy, born out of rejected toy makers blitzed out of their minds as the worked to create things only a good edible could inspire. The idea that anything in He-Man was ever anything more than the lowest bar of weird, space Saturday morning cartoons is giving a little too much credit to our own collective childhood memories. We don’t need to pretend like it was ever anything else even at its peak, and this iteration is the first one to truly understand that and bring all of its silliness to its feature film. It’s essentially Barbie for boys, reimagining the beloved characters without tossing out everything that made them so iconic in the first place.
With a knowing wink, director Travis Knight perfectly balances the heart and humor of a hero’s journey story, sticking to convention but using it as a fun playground to just be as silly as he wants to be. It’s a worthy payoff and makes Masters of the Universe a fun, campy, crowd pleasing blockbuster. It’s big and loud and dumb in the best of ways, all things He-Man and friends should be.
Rather than downplaying the weirdness of the cartoon, Knight opts to draw as much attention to it as possible. This proves to be the right move, allowing the audience to both laugh with and at Masters of the Universe. And we should be doing both, laugh at the jokes being fired off but also laugh at the absurdity of a villain with a skeleton for a face.
Great Performances, Even From Jared Leto
Nicholas Galitzine is pretty great as Adam/He-Man, approaching the undersized prince with an “ah shucks” persona and buoyant amount of empathy and heart beneath his bulging muscles. He’s had an interesting career, but he continues to grow on me and Masters of the Universe unlocks both his likeability and excellent comedic timing. And yes, his ripped to shreds physique. After his abysmal appearance in House of Dynamite, I was left asking myself if Idris Elba was actually a good actor. Thankfully, Knight knows exactly what to do with him and he turns out to be a great Duncan, Man at Arms. It’s the most fun I’ve seen him have on screen in quite some time, and it’s a joy to watch him flex his comedic muscles.
I want so much more success for Camile Mendes, who is quite good as Tila, and Alison Brie is probably the most dialed in to her cartoon counterpart Evil-lyn. The biggest surprise is also the biggest elephant in the room: Jared Leto’s Skeletor. Color me shocked, but Leto is actually an excellent Skeletor. I know, I was surprised too and I don’t appreciate Masters of the Universe forcing me to write kind words about a person that frankly doesn’t deserve them.
But he IS great here, completely dialed into the sassiness of the character and knows exactly what kind of movie he’s in. That’s a rare change of pace for him, and while you wouldn’t know it was him if they didn’t tell you, he enhances the film instead of hurts it. He’s basically Tim Curry in Legend, and that’s about as high of a compliment as I can give here.
A Mixed Bag of Visual Effects
While not all of the visuals look good, Masters of the Universe excels in its practical effects and costume work. Some of the characters look incredible practically, and Skeletor is rendered with a solid balance of VFX and in camera practicality. I’m actually shocked at how good the character looks, the skeleton face extremely well crafted and blends the hyper stylized cartoonish origins with a functional sense of realism. It’s a bit of mixed bag with the visuals, and the more garish and shoddy moments forgivable given how good everything else looks. Masters of the Universe opts to spend most of its runtime in Eternia rather than on earth, a decision that obviously requires more work but is a gift for fans that don’t want to spend too much time on Earth.
While there isn’t a whole lot of thematic resonance in Masters of the Universe outside of the typical underdog hero story, it does try to deconstruct toxic masculinity and find true strength in vulnerability and honestly. It’s obvious without being egregious, and tries to dig into what’s underneath the hulking frame and give a little depth to the character. It can get a little heavy handed and there’s a sense of trying to have their cake and eat it too, but it worked far more than it missed and while it may undercut most moments with jokes I still found it emotionally moving when it needs to be. In a world of toxic men running the world, it’s refreshing to see something like Masters of the Universe reframe the titular character and reject those ideas.
Final Thoughts
Look, Masters of the Universe is just a good time at the movies. It’s vibrant, colorful, silly, funny, campy and more, all the things we want to see in big blockbuster IP. The world is dark and full of terrors, and I think it’s ok to want a little entertainment once in a while. There’s room for everything in the cinema, and Masters of the Universe taps into the childlike wonder of space adventures and does right by fans while never attempting to take itself too seriously.
I get it, the MCU is tiresome and yes we have Thor: Ragnorok at home. But if Masters of the Universe is essentially the lovechild of Ragnorok and Guardians of the Galaxy and I love both of those parents, why wouldn’t I also love their He-Man child?
We have the power to enjoy fun things, and Masters of the Universe delivers a whole lot of fun to become the most surprisingly effective blockbusters of the year. I had a blast, and while it runs way too long (there is no reason whatsoever this film should be over two hours) I was never bored and always entertained.
Time to bend space and get weird is probably my new favorite phrase and I don’t know how but I’m going to be adding it to my daily vernacular.
