Film Review : "Masters of the Universe"

As a kid in the 80s, I loved the figures but always thought the cartoon was a little silly. Cool character designs, but less depth than characters from, say, Marvel. So I had enough of an attachment to the concept of what tis could be, but little faith in Hollywood to respect it in 2026. What unfolded on screen was a happy surprise that did require a little compromise on my part, but was entertaining in the same way as the last "Dungeons & Dragons " movie.  It did not take itself too seriously but showed enough respect to the mythos as needed. It can be summed up when Cringer assumed the role of Bastle-Cat without armor on but said, "The next time I do this, I'd better be in armor" to acknowledge this. 

Could they have used a little CGI to help Nicholas Galitzine look more muscular as He-Man instead of having a mid-Gym-Shark build? Yes, he only weighed 200 lbs at six feet tall. Weird to think I have fifty pounds of muscle on He-Man, but here we are. The rest of the cast worked well, and Skeletor looked great and was not too jokey, but there was plenty of humor at all the characters' expense that wa still respectful. The elements of the movie that could be called "woke" felt like they were done in a way that made fun of the whole woke thing rather than capitulating to it. 

The other observation, which was not a deal breaker as they eventually delivered, was we got a little too much Prince Agam and not enough He-man, This falls along the de-powered super-hero trope from the first Thor movie where if the writers dont know how to write a powerful character they think by making him more human that will make him more relateable and I think that misses the point, as it's the god-like power gives us a vision of our higher selves to aspire to. 

Too many generic minions could have been replaced with actual characters from the series/toyline. There was supposed to be a Mer-Man in the background at the end, but he is a major charater who deserved screen time, along with Man-E-Faces, Zodak, Stratos, Two-Bad, or Webstor. The post-credit appearance of a certain character made much of this forgivable, and the fact that Snake Mountain was in the movie was also cool. All this coming from someone wh os is not all that invested in this mythos, but carries over a nostalgic appreciation for it, so super fans that do not hold the microscope too close and are just looking for fun should be rewarded. I went with younger people who had no real clue who He-Man was other than being aware of the emes and they had fun.