Reviews

Masters of the Universe – based on the franchise of comics, animated series and action figures – hasn’t had the big-screen treatment since 1987. But after almost 40 years, it’s making a major cinema comeback.

Instead of Dolph Lundgren, our new lead is Nicholas Galitzine, whose Adam was cast out of Eternia when he was 10 years old for his own protection.

After falling from the sky into Oklahoma City, Adam lives like a regular human being for 15 years until one day he finally discovers his Sword of Power in a comic book store and draws attention to his whereabouts.

Adam is rescued by his childhood friend Teela (Camilla Mendes) and returns to Eternia, which is a shadow of its former self under the rule of the evil Skeletor (Jared Leto).

After using the Sword of Power to become the ripped Prince Adam of Eternia (the film doesn’t call him He-Man), he teams up with Teela, Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), Roboto (voiced by Kristen Wiig) and an army of warriors to fight Skeletor and his sidekick Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie) and take back control of Eternia.

Director Travis Knight and the Masters of the Universe team are fully aware that the ’80s franchise is now dated and a bit silly. So this film adaptation doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a tongue-in-cheek tone as well as plenty of innuendo and irreverent humour.

There are far too many Marvel-like quips and it goes overboard with undercutting every serious moment with humour. However, there are some great comedic beats and it’s a fun time overall.

This time around, Adam feels like a more realistic and relatable person rather than an invincible superhero. He has vulnerable moments, prefers to resolve conflict with words rather than violence, and seems a bit embarrassed by his revealing outfit.

Galitzine captures the tone well and nails the assignment physically and comedically. His physical transformation is jaw-droppingly impressive and he shows it all off in his abs-baring top and warrior skirt.

It’s refreshing to see the female character, Teela, being the more capable fighter, and a pleasure to witness Riverdale star Mendes getting her time to shine in a blockbuster movie.

While they are solid leads, the star of the show is Leto as Skeletor. But you would never know it was the Oscar-winning actor – he has an unrecognisable voice, he’s covered up in a blue muscle suit and his face was replaced by a CGI skull face in post-production.

His version of Skeletor is camp, funny and entertaining, a combination that’s rare to find in a villain these days.

The biggest drawback is the runtime – 2 hours and 22 minutes – and the sheer amount of CGI on screen for most of the movie.

Fans of the franchise will certainly get much more out of this than newcomers, but it’s a much better film than people widely expected it to be.

In cinemas from Wednesday 3rd June

By Hannah Wales

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