Masters of the Universe review: Fun, irreverent take on ’80s fantasy
Mattel’s Masters of the Universe franchise of comics, cartoons and toys spawned a feature film way back in 1987 and hasn’t been touched on the big screen since. Now, it’s having a comeback with Bumblebee director Travis Knight at the helm.
The film tells the story of Adam Glenn (Nicholas Galitzine), who was cast out of his kingdom of Eternia when he was 10 years old for his own protection. For the past 15 years, he has lived like a normal human being on Earth, working a regular 9-5 and going on dates, all the while trying to find the Sword of Power, which will get him back to Eternia. When he finally returns, he uses the power of the sword to become Prince Adam of Eternia. Together with Teela (Camila Mendes), Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), Roboto (voiced by Kristen Wiig) and an army of warriors, Adam faces off with evil overlord Skeletor (Jared Leto) and his sidekick Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie) to restore Eternia to its former glory.
Masters of the Universe doesn’t take itself too seriously and you shouldn’t either. Its tongue is firmly in its cheek, all too aware that the 1980s cartoon and comics series is a bit silly and dated now. Not all of the attempts at irreverent and awkward humour work, but there’s plenty that does, making this a fun time. Knight does a good job of taking the 40-year-old franchise and adding in modern sensibilities, including Marvel-like goofy quips and men talking about their feelings instead of blindly resorting to violence.
I wasn’t too sure about it at first and I struggled to get onboard with the tone, but I found my feet after Adam went to Earth. This humanises him and makes him more relatable than an invincible superhero. Even when he has his incredible transformation into He-Man (those biceps!!), Adam is still not perfect; he has power but not much skill, he’s awkward around Teela, he has vulnerable moments, and he’d rather resolve conflict with his words instead of his fists. Adam feels like a real person thrown into extraordinary circumstances rather than a 2D stereotype.
Galitzine does a solid job as He-Man and captures the tone well, balancing both comedy and action. His physical transformation is impressive and jaw-dropping, especially as there’s nowhere to hide with his little crop top and skirt! Elba is always entertaining in gruff action man mode, Roboto and Teela’s ship (voiced by Piotr Michael) are very funny, and it was great to see Riverdale’s Mendes kicking ass and getting her much-deserved blockbuster moment. But the highlight has to be Leto as Skeletor. You’ll never know it’s him thanks to the skull face, blue skin and the fantastically unrecognisable voice. He’s a camp, entertaining villain, which is rare to find these days.
But it’s not without some problems. The film is far too long at two hours and 22 minutes and it’s a CGI fest (were any of the surroundings real?). Plus, undercutting every serious beat with humour becomes tiresome and try-hard after a while. Pre-existing fans of the franchise will definitely get more out of it than everyone else, but it’s easy to follow and much better – and way more fun – than I expected it to be.
In cinemas from Wednesday 3rd June