Disclaimer right off the jump: I grew up with He-Man and remember the animated series and action figures throughout my childhood. But it wasn’t my jam, as much as things like Star Wars was. So don’t hold me to any accuracy judgments of the depictions of characters and lore from this universe; this is purely an experience based on a singular summer blockbuster film. And within that specific context, Masters of the Universe is an absolutely hilarious and fun time at the movies.
Going in, the trailer did not do the humor justice and painted a picture in my head of a more serious Snyder-esque film than it actually is. I think the marketing could have benefited so much from the omnipresent one-liners, silly gags, and dry humor. I did not expect to laugh that much, but am glad I was able to during these dark times. I, nay, WE need these LOLs when we can get them. Not everything has to be centered around existential dread. Sometimes you gotta have fun characters being silly, doing silly shit. And thus, the energy of Masters of the Universe is its greatest strength.
Going all in on camp does have its drawbacks. The first act depiction of Adam’s fish-out-of-water experience on Earth before returning to Eternia goes on way too long and is where the humor is the weakest. It then also dilutes the sincerity of the more dire scenarios later in the film where serious emotions are attempted to be evoked. It then rings a tad hollow. But when wrapped together as a whole, the pros outweigh the cons in terms of tone.
I will also give a quick (begrudging) shout out to Jared Leto’s performance as Skeletor; an actor whose raw talent I recognize and appreciate, but quite dislike as a human being. Upon trailer release, his voice performance was derided as being a rip-off of Tom Hardy’s Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, to the point where director Travis Knight had to make a public statement saying that’s not the case. It does feel similar, but the phonetic sound and delivery felt right and was well done. I wish he wasn’t a piece of shit, though.
In the end, Masters of the Universe is not a great film, even within the category of summer blockbusters. But it’s fun and action-packed enough to be worth purchasing a ticket and bucket of popcorn for fans of the genre.
