Travis Knight’s “Masters of the Universe” redo — released almost 30 years after the original — is a fun film. It’s very comic-booky. This is not like Gary Goddard’s picture from 1987 that was dark, desperate, and war-torn. Knight’s film knows that “He-Man” meant a lot to kids in the ‘80s and that those kids — now adults — might want to see a film that reminds them of their childhood. It’s filled with homages and characters that look like the action figures collected by many. Prince Adam/He-Man looks like a prince, with his transformation into Eternia’s hero secondary. And Skeletor is not draped in battle armor and commanding battalions this time. He’s blue — like he ought to be — and has no well-defined motivations. Skeletor’s evil because, well, he’s evil. He’s the villain and that’s that.
That’s what one should know going into “Masters of the Universe.” While it is a solid summer blockbuster, it’s not uber serious and it feels like a comic book. It’s not as much so as Jonathan Liebesman’s “Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles” (2014), but definitely more than any Marvel film. As the film starts, we see a young Prince Adam (Artie Wilkinson-Hunt) trying to learn to fight from battle-master ‘Man at Arms’/Duncan (a reserved Idris Elba), but failing. He doesn’t like violence nor is he very good at it. He’s also 10 years old. He has a friendship with Duncan’s daughter, Teela (Eire Farrell as a young girl, Camila Mendes later). He feels weak and fears his father, the king, (James Purefoy) doesn’t think much of him. Then, before much time can pass, the evil Skeletor (Jared Leto doing a thoroughly unrecognizable job) attacks the kingdom. He imprisons Adam’s parents and sets forth to rule Eternia. It’s a CGI-heavy scene; and interspersed with Skeletor’s maniacal laughing, etc., hits a little less despairing than it should.
Nicholas Galitzine is a Strong Asset
As a result of these events, young Adam is jettisoned through a portal towards Earth — along with the kingdom’s sacrosanct “sword of power” — which fans will know is how He-Man gets his strength. The only problem is that as Adam lands in Oklahoma City, the sword is separated from him. He then makes it his mission to find the sword and return home.
The first 1/4 of “Masters of the Universe” is silly and unsure of itself, and the film’s trailers previously gave away most of it. Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) works as a HR representative in a corporate firm (which he’s good at — he’s always been good with people) but he doesn’t fit in. He spends most of his time looking for his sword, dressed in a salmon shirt that doesn’t fit into the corporate culture (and reminds one of his look from the ‘80s cartoons while dressed as Prince Adam and not He-Man). His boss (Sasheer Zamata) dresses him down in corporate speak. And he has a roommate (Christian Vunipola). The latter spends his time between consoling Adam in his various work and dating foils and watching tearjerking rom-coms in a hilarious bit.
The film picks up when Adam finds his sword. Skeletor sends a minion to Earth, Beast Man (Gary Martin supplies the voice but this is mostly CGI) to get the sword. In the process, Teela rescues Adam and brings him back to Eternia.
Comedy and Action Sometimes Fight for Attention
What works about “Masters of the Universe” is Galitzine’s performance and the fact that Adam spends most of the film timid and unsure of himself. It requires a dedication on Galitzine’s part and it makes him more relatable and real. When he returns to Eternia and uses the sword he becomes He-Man (we don’t learn that name until the film’s final scene). He can fight, but he doesn’t like to. He was good at his job in HR and prefers to talk. The film — written by Chris Butler, Aaron Nee, and Adam Nee — exploits this fact for some laughs. The best are when he tries to ‘form a dialogue’ with Trap Jaw (Sam Wilson) or when he calls a pep-talk he’s trying to give Eternia’s heroes a ‘seminar’ and Duncan turns that into “it’s a war seminar!” There’s a lot of comedy in “Masters of the Universe,” which may appeal to some and still distract some others.
The CGI and choreography of the film are impressive, and the way Cinematographer Fabian Wagner and the effects department highlight He-Man’s strength is well done. Adam acts as a man surprised — and excited — about his powers. However, he always comes across as that timid, kind kid we saw in the film’s beginning. It’s far from the brute force of Dolph Lundgren in the original (though the actor has a crowd-pleasing cameo here). But as a result, He-Man is able to do things no other being on his planet can. He can stop huge war machines with his bare hands, lift up spaceships with a single arm, and, of course, later beat the absolute tar out of Skeletor, whom no one else can touch.
A Family-Friendly ‘He-Man’ This Time
“Masters of the Universe” is so cast-heavy that it’s an exercise in tedium to list them all. However, the most screen-time is devoted to Mendes as Teela, Elba as Duncan, and Kristen Wiig, voicing ‘Roboto.’ Teela is a fun character. She’s a strong female warrior and caretaker for her father who’s become an alcoholic after Eternia’s fall to Skeletor. On the evil side, Jared Leto takes up most of the screen as Skeletor. He’s immense and powerful and looks down on his minions. Alison Brie plays Evil-Lyn, but unlike the ’87 film, she’s more irrelevant than evil sidekick. The aforementioned Trap Jaw commands most of the battle sequences on Skeletor’s behalf. But some others like Tri Klops (Kojo Attah) are menacing, too. And He-Man has his allies also, most notably Ram Man (Jon Xue Zhang) and Fisto (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson). And I loved here how the characters’ names sprung not from actuality, but from Adam’s 10-year-old brain many years ago as he named things he couldn’t understand. “Masters of the Universe” was meant for kids, after all.
If there are criticisms of “Masters of the Universe,” it’s that it becomes comic-heavy, which makes it more a family affair (the film PG-13) and less a serious battle movie. I might be the minority here, but I found Skeletor’s cackling alongside the deep, echoey voice Leto provides him distracting. Skeletor’s CGI form is also bit hokey, but the battle sequence between him and He-Man at the end makes up for most of it. The movie ends the way it should — and if the film does well enough in the Box Office, I’m sure a sequel will be in the works. And while “Masters of the Universe” is more family-friendly than some may be looking for, it’s still an enjoyable action-fest. Kids will love it and adults will find reminiscent — provided you can check your expectations for elevated movies at the door and just enjoy it.
“Masters of the Universe” is currently showing in theaters.
