Masters of the Universe
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Masters of the Universe is playing in theaters at the time of review. Rated PG-13. Common Sense says 12+
A young man on Earth (Nicholas Galitzine) discovers a fabulous secret legacy as the prince of an alien planet, and must recover a magic sword and return home to protect his kingdom.
STORY: B+
An easy-to-follow plot with a shining, self-deprecating tone.
Those of you with little-to-no knowledge of He-Man need not worry. The story pits a goofy underdog who has yet to realize he’s the chosen one against a bad guy who wants to take over the world because that’s just what bad guys do. You’ll be able to follow along just fine.
The tone is what will send you out of the theater with a smile on your face. The film isn’t just funny. It’s fun. It’s playful. And what I love most is how comfortable it struts around in its own shoes.
PEOPLE: A
Nicholas Galitzine has the power.
Galitzine makes a great He-Man, but he’s even better as Adam, the hopeless schmoe stuck on planet Earth until he can find a way back to Eternia.
The moment I fell in love with Adam is the scene where he’s on a first date. She asks him where he’s from, and he tells her — in great detail — the truth. It’s a scene that could easily fail spectacularly, but Galitzine plays it with such genuineness that we believe a dude with movie-star looks and an Adonis-like build could blow his chances so quickly and completely. He’s the kind of guy who would make most men jealous, yet he gains our empathy and affection through his open performance.
FILM NERD STUFF: B+
Let there be light.
This Eternia and its Grayskull are no dystopian hellholes. The world teems with neon pastels. Bright colors blaze a glowing trail across the landscape. Shadows are nowhere to be found. The bright color palette evokes the joy of playing with toys as kids.
ONE BIG LESSON: A
Barbie isn’t the only way.
Three years ago, Barbie waltzed into theaters and became both a cultural and box-office behemoth. Hollywood execs salivated. Before them lay a new money-making formula: hire a supremely talented filmmaker, let them tell the story they want to tell, but Trojan-horse it into the brand’s IP.
I was shocked to find that Masters of the Universe decides to blaze a new formula.
Instead of using Mattel's IP as a Trojan horse for a socially conscious story—as Barbie did under Greta Gerwig—we get a film that feels like the cinematic manifestation of a group of eight-year-olds staging an epic action-figure adventure.
The battle scenes (while still PG-13) are pretty intense. The jams the characters get into are exaggerated and often silly. The dialogue is a goofy hybrid of innocence and juvenile innuendo. The feeling in my stomach and chest transported me back to my carefree youth.
FINAL COMMENTS:
If you came here looking for a dramatic, epic showdown between two beloved characters, you won’t find it here. It’s unabashedly unserious. It’s good-natured. And it’s fully aware of what it is.
And to be sure, the movie is a commercial for toys. But it’s the best kind of commercial: one that doesn’t explicitly try to sell you anything but instead lives and breathes with the same wonder you had when you were a child.
Masters of the Universe is a fantastic summer movie. He-Man heads and newcomers should both find it delightful.