By Dan Skip Allen

It would go without saying that I was a huge fan of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe when I was a kid. I probably watched the cartoon series a dozen or so times with my brother David. The magical world of Eternia was right up our alley growing up. We loved the supposed weakling Prince Adam who then when he was needed turned into he-man the strong and powerful man who would constantly thwart the effects of Skeletor and his minions and henchmen Beast Man, Trap Jaw and Evil Lynn. It was good old-fashioned entertainment. That being said, the movie “Masters of the Universe” with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langell as Skeletor was pretty bad. It didn’t capture any of what made the animated series good. On the other hand, this new “Masters of the Universe” film knew exactly what the mission was and accomplished that perfectly.

This new movie starts out in Eternia with Skeletor (Jared Leto) attacking and subsequently taking over Castle Greyskull and Eternia with his minions. All the while capturing Prince Adam’s parents, King Randor (James Purifoy), and Queen Marlena (Charlotte Riley). With the help of  Sorciere (Morena Baccarin), he is sent through a portal with the “Sword of Power” to another dimension. As he’s falling through the portal, he is separated from the “Sword of Power”. So Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) has to grow up on Earth. The film fast forwards 15 years where Adam is working at a company where he’s the head of personnel. All the while, still trying to look for what he lost when he landed on his new home. Eventually, he finds the “Sword of Power” and with the help of Teela (Camilla Mendez), and her father Man at Arms (Idris Elba) and his trusty pet tiger Cringer (Tom Wilton, Fletcher Glenn) his adventure to thwart the dark forces of Skeletor and embrace his destiny as He-Man begins.

Nicholas Galitzine, last seen in the “Sheep Detectives” does double duty as Prince Adam and He-Man if you will. He plays these characters as exactly as he should. The Adam character is a bit of a bumbling oaf. He stumbles around, acting innocent.  He knows he’s from Eternia, but he still didn’t know what the “Sword of Power” could truly do for him. Until he finally uses it and transforms into He-man. Where he is an absolute bad ass. He kicks as many times as He-Man. He’s confident and doesn’t joke around as much either. There is clearly a different vibe when he’s playing He-Man instead of Prince Adam, but he does a great job differentiating between characters in his performance. I was skeptical of him as an actor, but he surprised me with how funny he could be and how much of a badass he could be as well. Hopefully, he’ll get more chances to play these characters in the near future. 

On the other hand, Jared Leto was playing Skeletor way over the top, which was a good thing. He understood the assignment regarding how sinister and evil this guy was. He even says I’m the bad guy at one point, making sure he has no redeemable qualities. He just wants to be the Supreme ruler of Eternia, and he needs the “Sword of Power” to do that. Even his henchmen and women are afraid of him. He exuded every kind of nasty persona you’d want to see with someone playing this character. There were comedic moments, but I think those were meant to be intentional because of the campy nature of this IP and character in general. Leto did a great job as Skeletor. I don’t think anybody could do better, in fact. As soon as I heard him speak and do some of the things he did, I said to myself, “That’s truly who Skeletor is.” I loved it.

Besides the two main characters, there was a pretty good supporting cast. Mendez, as Teela, was quite good. She is the daughter of Man at Arms, and she’s like the conscience of the movie. He has the personality of a woman who takes her job seriously while her father, Edris Elba, is a drunk who has mostly given up on life until Prince Adam comes back into the picture. Brie plays her character,  Evil-Lyn, pretty straightforwardly but has a look on her face most of the time, like, what am I doing here with this psychopath. Some of the other supporting cast seemed out of place in this film, such as James Purefoy, who plays the king with a weird accent. I don’t know what he was going for. The men who played Beast Man and Trap Jaw were pretty good. They came across as genuinely menacing at times, which is a stark contrast in how these characters were portrayed in the cartoon series. Overall, the supporting cast was pretty good. Even actors who played Phisto, Ram Man, and Mechineck had their moments to shine.

One of the things about this movie that stands out despite what most people would say is a good thing is the CGI. I couldn’t imagine a version of this story without a lot of CGI. It was a must to truly get into this world that Knight was creating. Sure, there were plenty of practical effects and sets, but the CGI had to be a big player in getting the look and feel of this film. Eternia as a whole looked gorgeous, and various aerial battles looked pretty good. Even some fight/battle sequences came across as pretty effective looking. That’s a key in making people forget about how cartoon the world and its characters and story truly are. Making them believe in a tangible thing goes a long way in that. The look of the movie all the way around was pretty impressive to me. As a long-time fan of this IP.

Another technical aspect of the film was the score and music. There was a techno score or 80s hair band type score throughout the movie. When certain big emotional moments happened, the energetic score would pop on. I loved the sound of this score. It fit perfectly with the vibe of the film Knight and company was going for. Near the third act, a popular Queen anthem played that fans of “Highlander” will get excited about, and that’s the “Pieces of the Universe” with Brian May as accompaniment.  This was pretty awesome if I do say so myself. As a fan of both “Highlander” and “Masters of the Universe” this was a great combination of two amazing things that came together nicely. The music across the board was amazing. 

As aforementioned, I grew up watching this IP as a kid. The 80s had a lot of these great cartoon series like “G.I. Joe”, Transformers”, “Thundercats” and “He-Man”. They were part of a childhood of wonder that also included comic books, “Star Wars”, “Star Trek” and many other great things. Knight captured the feeling of my childhood once again while I was watching this movie. I was brought back to the good times when I was a child. It felt good watching these characters on the big screen that I watched all those years ago. “Masters of the Universe” was everything I wanted from it and more. I had cameos, terrific post credits scenes, music, CGI, funny banter, and a lot of cool action sequences. Most of all, the entire cast understood what the assignment was regarding this IP, and they passed with flying colors. This was a terrific ride, and hopefully, I’ll have another chance at seeing these characters on the big screen again very soon. Knight and company deserve a second shot at this from my humble perspective. 

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 stars