Masters of the Universe
I know that I had Masters of the Universe toys. I’m pretty sure I watched the cartoon series. And I’m almost certain I watched the Dolph Lundgren-starring, Cannon-produced schlockfest from 1987. And yet, outside of the main characters being He-Man, Skeletor, and Castle Greyskull, I would be hard pressed to tell you a single thing about the Mattel toy line’s universe. That’s kind of true after watching Travis Knight’s new live-action film adaptation of the property. As the story progressed, there were so many secondary creatures and characters I saw that it felt like the movie wanted me to know their names, but nope. Complete blank. Certainly, this movie was made- first and foremost- for nostalgic fans of the property, and I think that’s part of why I had a disconnect with it at the start; it expected me to know the world and character dynamics without telling me a story about them. Eventually, the storytelling grabbed me, but it took too long into this 141-minute movie to do so. If there’s a point of reference for people who are not well-versed in the world of He-Man, I would point to some of the best superhero movies. Even if you are not familiar with every facet of the world, the best filmmakers do a great job introducing it to you, and getting you hooked. Knight is a talented filmmaker, but he didn’t do a great job of doing that starting out.
After an extended prologue, narrated by Adam (Nicholas Galitzine), about his early life on Eternia, and how it was taken over Skeletor (played by a mercifully-unrecognizable, but nonetheless enjoyably camp, Jared Leto) over Adam’s father, King Randor (James Purefoy). Adam, a child, was sent to Earth with the Sword of Power by a Sorceress (Morena Baccarin). Fifteen years later, he is working in a cubicle, talking about Eternia to unbelieving humans, and trying to track down the Sword, which he was separated from as a child. He finds the Sword, and suddenly, some of Eternia comes to him- on of the one side, a beast trying to get the Sword for Skeletor, and on the other side, Adam’s childhood friend, Teela (Camila Mendes), now a powerful warrior. He is taken back to Eternia to fulfill his destiny, that sort of thing.
I will give the screenwriters of “Masters of the Universe” this- they are taking the narrative and characters seriously, but not necessarily oppressing it with a serious tone. This is a fun movie, first and foremost, and we get some truly amusing moments that don’t take away from the “heaviness” of the narrative, which is your standard hero’s journey. This is a silly world, a mishmash of fantasy and science fiction elements that doesn’t make a lick of sense, but is entertaining to look at. I don’t think it nails the combination of tone and worldbuilding that made “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” such a pleasurable experience- the visual effects do overwhelm the story here- but Knight (“Kubo and the Two Strings” and “Bumblebee”) gets the right performances out of the actors, who all seem to be having some fun, which is important. The world is a wonderful one to look at, and Daniel Pemberton does a great job having fun with the score. The film does lose moment in its nearly 2 1/2 hours, but as the story went on, I got more invested, which was part of why it ended up winning me over, even if I have some issues with it in the long run.
