When his planet is invaded, a young prince and his sword are sent to Earth until he is ready to return and defend it.
Just entertaining.
Let’s keep this short and to the point. Masters of the Universe is fun for the whole family… it just didn’t quite convince every family. On paper, everything is there. A beloved franchise, a sizeable budget, recognisable characters, polished visual effects, and a cast packed with charisma. Yet despite spending hundreds of millions bringing Eternia back to life, the film never managed to bring enough people into cinemas. Why? Was it the marketing? The screenplay? Travis Knight’s direction? Franchise fatigue (even though too soon)? Or perhaps a combination of all of the above?
The cast certainly cannot be blamed. Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Jared Leto, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Jon Xue Zhang, Alison Brie, Sam C. Wilson, Charlotte Riley, James Purefoy, Morena Baccarin, and the rest fully commit to the material. They are all enjoyable in their respective roles, even if this is unlikely to become the defining film of anyone’s career.
Technically, there is plenty to admire. The visual effects are solid throughout and lovingly recreate the colourful fantasy aesthetic of the 1980s. There is a genuine affection for the source material that longtime fans will appreciate. Interestingly, the editing does much of the heavy lifting, maintaining momentum whenever the narrative threatens to stall and ensuring the film remains consistently watchable.
Where it struggles is tonally. Characters and entire worlds face life-and-death situations, yet Hollywood-style punchlines continue arriving every few minutes as though everyone has forgotten the stakes. That approach once dominated blockbuster filmmaking, but today it increasingly feels dated. Humour absolutely has its place, yet when every dramatic beat is immediately undercut by a joke, emotional investment inevitably suffers. The drama/humour interplay cancels each other out, and the audience is unable to feel either in the end.
Hopefully, Hollywood is beginning to move beyond that formula. Audiences seem increasingly receptive to adventure films, willing to trust genuine emotion alongside spectacle. Ironically, I suspect Masters of the Universe may ultimately find a larger audience on streaming (Amazon) than it ever did in cinemas (MGM) – same company.
Overall, it is an entertaining enough fantasy adventure that simply lacks the magic to become memorable.
P.S. Repeating that Fisto keeps… fisting people admittedly sounds… wrong.
P.P.S. Seeing Dolph Lundgren was a genuinely lovely touch.
P.P.P.S. Masters of the Universe (1987) was the first ever film I watched in a cinema.
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