Masters of the Universe info:
Director: Travis Knight
Writer: Chris Butler, Aaron Nee, and Adam Nee
Starring: Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, and Jared Leto
Intro
Hello and welcome to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. Summer weather, summer movies… It’s all here, and I’m all in for it. One of my favorite things is that there are so many releases all coming out at the same time. There are several things that I want to go see, but I have to settle on just seeing a few of them for the time being, at least. That’s what we went through this past week when my buddy and I decided to meet up for a movie. Which one would we see?
Clearly, by now, you know what I picked; otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be here. But before I dive too much into “Masters of the Universe”, let me first draw my sword and let you know that there will be spoilers ahead. If you have not seen this yet and don’t want to know anything about it, then I would go back to my other reviews for now. Come back here when you are ready to read the rest.
Masters of the Universe recap
“Masters of the Universe” is a remake of the original Dolph Lundgren-led fantasy movie of the same name from 1987. Our story starts in Eternos (the capital of Eternia), where a young Prince Adam is training. Alongside a young Teela, they are trained by Duncan (Man-At-Arms) (Elba). Skeletor (Leto) shows up, attacks, and captures Adam’s parents. He is saved by the Sorceress (Morena Baccarin) and sent to Earth. So, he gets away, but in the process, he loses the Sword of Power that he will need to get back home one day.
Now, we get a 15-year time jump, and grown-up Adam (Galitzine) is mostly living a normal life. He works in an HR department and isn’t happy with his job. However, the whole time, he is searching for the sword of power. He eventually finds it, and when he does, it sends a signal. Both grown-up Teela (Mendes) and Beast Man find him. Teela saves the day and takes him back home to Eternia.
With both Adam and the sword now at home, he can speak the words and become He-Man. This is where “Masters of the Universe” really starts to heat up. There are so many characters that we get to meet along Adam’s journey to try and save his home. Fisto, Ram-Man, Meckaneck, and Moss Man are just a few of the classic characters we get introduced to. Of course, Skeletor wants the sword, and he sends everything he has to try to stop him. Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie) and Trap Jaw (Sam C. Wilson) are two of his best offensive players.
Eventually, Skeltor kills his dad, and right as it appears that he is going to win, He-Man discovers that the power had been inside him the whole time, and he rises, powers up, and defeats the villain once and for all. There is a lot of work ahead, but they are now free from Skeletor and can start rebuilding their city. Oh.. and of course there is a Dolph cameo and a secret scene setting up a sequel.
My thoughts on Masters of the Universe
Before seeing this, I really didn’t know what to expect. The original from 1987 was an ok film and holds a place in my heart since I watched it as a kid, but it honestly wasn’t a great movie. Its biggest flaw is that not enough characters were used… in my opinion. Thankfully, that was remedied this time around. There were so many of the toys I used to play with as a child that turned into characters on the big screen, which was cool.
Unfortunately, that may be its biggest downfall as well. My buddy and I both enjoyed “Masters of the Universe” because of that. But also because it was a much better story this time around. Adam finding his way back home and helping the people who were still alive was a good story for this character type, and it played well with how the movie was shot. I do feel like they spent too much time on the backstory, though.
Honestly, this would have worked better as just an origin story and then save Skeletor for a sequel, perhaps? Have Adam/He-Man fight his way through the city only to meet up with the main villain at the end… boom credits and onto part two. Then they could have a Skeletor-heavy movie and focus on his backstory. But, either way, it was fun, and I mostly enjoyed it. The humor was well-timed, and some of the “adult humor” was very on-the-nose. It made me laugh, and I didn’t have an issue with it at all.
I think what will hurt this movie is its own identity. This movie was made for my generation of people who know the characters and perhaps played with the toys. If you don’t know who the Masters of the Universe are, would you care about going to see this? Maybe, but in a jam-packed release week, there are several other choices as well, so this will probably take a hit because of that.
Overall, it was fun, action-packed, and pulled on my nostalgia string a little bit. The humor was well-placed and hit at the right moments. There is a lot here to really like, but I’m afraid it’s going to fall flat based solely on what it is and not how good it is. In the end, I toyed with giving this an 8, but decided to settle on a 7 out of 10. I think they could have done more to bring in a wider audience, but I didn’t see it done anywhere.
Watch or wait?
This is another easy one. If you are a fan of “Masters of the Universe”, not only will you go see it, but you most likely already have. If you don’t know what that is, then you may not want to. However, I ask that you go see it on the big screen and give it the chance it deserves.
Ok, that’s it for me this week. That means it’s your turn now. If you’ve seen this, what are your thoughts? How do you think it rates against the 1987 version? Do you like the addition to all the characters as much as I did? Let me know in the comments and I will be back next week with another mindless movie review of some sort.
