REVIEW: ‘Masters Of The Universe’ Squanders Its Potential

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise as a whole hasn’t been big news in quite some time. The Netflix-produced She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and Masters of the Universe: Revelation and Revolution briefly led to a resurgence in interest that quickly died down. Never doubt the power of Gen X nostalgia, though, as He-Man is back in a brand-new live-action film from Travis Knight.

Knight previously helped adapt another 80s IP with the under-appreciated Transformers spin-off Bumblebee. Turns out, the second time is not the charm. Masters of the Universe has some tremendous sequences undercut by a glut of bad jokes, shoddy visuals, and flat characters no amount of bright colors and ‘80s reverence can hide.

On the planet Eternia, Adam lives as a prince being trained in battle. When his family’s castle, Grayskull, is invaded by the villain Skeletor (Jared Leto), Adam is sent away to our world for his safety with the royal weapon, The Sword of Power, in tow. Fifteen years later, Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) is now working in HR with his life in Eternia a distant memory.

Masters of the Universe is a mixed bag, undermined by its shoddy visuals, poor jokes, and flat characters.

But when Skeletor’s emissaries start to invade Earth looking for him, the royal warrior Teela (Camila Mendes) takes him back to Eternia, where Skeletor has decimated the realm. With the help of Teela and her father, Duncan/Man-at-Arms (Idris Elba), Adam will fulfill his destiny, harnessing the Sword of Power and becoming He-Man.

While he looks like the original cartoon come to life in the costume, Nicolas Galitzine is detrimentally miscast. He doesn’t read as powerful, funny, or even charmingly awkward; he just feels like he can’t get a handle on the character.

Camila Mendes and Idris Elba acquit themselves a little better, although they too can’t seem to grasp the tone of Masters of the Universe, so they sort of quip their way through it. Everyone in Masters of the Universe goes into three camps: not knowing what to do with their characters, playing the roles ironically, or fully committing to the camp sandbox they’re given.

Alison Brie and Jared Leto understood the assignment, leaning heavily into the camp nature of the universe.

The only two actors who seem to know what kind of movie they’re in are Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn and Morbius himself, Jared Leto. The two relish playing arch villains, with Leto surprisingly being the best part of much of the movie. His cackling mo-cap performance as Skeletor is a broad, absurd, and so incredibly on-the-nose evil villain that you can’t take your eyes off of him. He’s as ridiculous as the property itself, whereas Alison Brie is comically steely and self-serious as Evil-Lyn. These two radiate camp fun in a way the rest of the movie feels embarrassed about. 

For all of Travis Knight’s talk on the interview circuit about wanting Masters of the Universe to feel earnest and avoid the sort of irony poisoning that has infected most modern blockbusters, it turns out all that was is a nice sentiment. Masters of the Universe is littered with trite humor that feels actively embarrassed by the property.

The screenplay by Chris Butler, Aaron & Adam Nee, and David Callaham constantly feels the need to remind audiences that the world of He-Man is, in fact, very dumb. Why should we care, then? Like the worst of recent films of the once-King Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s hard to believe in something that doesn’t believe in itself.

With a need to remind audiences how dumb everything is, why then should we care?

Where Masters of the Universe has no excuse is in the visual department. There are some jaw-dropping shots that look like a candy store and a heavy metal album cover had the world’s raddest baby, courtesy of cinematographer Fabian Wagner. And then some of the film just looks like pure CGI noise, complete with obvious green screen that muddles all details, only with brighter colors so it slightly stands out. 

This trend of blockbusters that cost over $150 million having such inconsistent visuals will never sit right. Not being convincing is one thing, but even the most “fake” looking films can still impress if the action is well choreographed. The action here really does not work, with a lot of quick cuts and far too much going on in the frame, eyes are guaranteed to glaze over.

The third act of Masters of the Universe is when everything comes together, but it’s too little too late.

That is, until the third act of Masters of the Universe suddenly pulls everything together. Seemingly out of nowhere, Masters of the Universe becomes the film it needed to be all along. It’s completely earnest in its silliness. The action is a massive, well-choreographed, chaotic spectacle, and the visuals are utterly convincing.

The final fight between He-Man and Skeletor is something to behold that we truly haven’t seen in an action blockbuster, stylistically, since Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Funny enough, this film’s composer, Daniel Pemberton, also did that film’s excellent score.

By that point, though, it’s too little too late. Sending the audience out on a high note does not a good movie make; however, it does make rating Masters of the Universe more complicated than it should be. With a finale that shows how the movie could work, the rest of Masters of the Universe does not hold up its end of the bargain, resulting in the sort of confused rot that has plagued the vast majority of American VFX-driven blockbusters in recent years. Audiences have the power to choose better for themselves, and I encourage them to do so.

Masters of the Universe is now playing in theaters.