David R. Walker

Masters of Universe

Director: Travis Knight

Cast: Nicholas Galitzine, Camilla Mendes, Idris Elba, Jared Leto, Alison Brie, Charlotte Riley, James Purefoy, Morena Baccarin, Kristen Wiig, Artie Wilkinson-Hunt, Dolph Lundgren

Running Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

If audiences feel like some retro fantasy then catch director Travis Knight’s extraordinary new version of Masters of the Universe, with the buff and blonde 32 year old actor Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man.

If Mattel could approve the Barbie movie then why not He-Man? He was also an action figure and a supreme member of the Master of the Universe which created a range of toys in the 1980’s and 1990s.

The original 1987 film starred Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren who makes a rare appearance in this version in a weird scene in the gym in which he officially gives his approval to the younger actor. But who is Nicholas Galitzine?

He played the seductive lover of King James I in the fabulous historical TV series Mary and George opposite Oscar winner Julianne Moore (Still Alice) as his controlling and determined mother. In that series, I recognized talent and the charisma that an actor would need to play a leading role.

So Galitzine is perfect as He-Man in the meta-sexual world of Masters of the Universe in which as Adam his alter ego, he is propelled as a ten year old boy to earth when his planet of Eternia is attacked by the evil and villainous Skeletor wonderfully played with camp delight by Oscar winner Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) and Alison Brie (Promising Young Woman) as his wicked sidekick Evil-Lyn.

Adam’s parents King Randor played by James Purefoy (Vanity Fair, John Carter) and Queen Marlena played by Charlotte Riley (London has Fallen) are captured by Skeletor and while the hapless Adam works in HR in a mid-western American city hopelessly looking for a sword that belonged to his father which will give him his masculine strength and power back.

With the help of Teela played by Camilla Mendes, she rips Adam out of the American mid-west and back to Eternia to face Skeletor and his band of evil creatures.

While the narrative is crazy at times with three screenwriters including Chris Butler, Aaron Nee and Adam Nee they do delve into the origin story of He-Man as he figures out his strength, his masculinity and what it means to become a man.

Brilliantly played by Nicolas Galitzine, Adam or He-Man becomes the leader of Masters of the Universe in a strange, cheesy fantasy world complete with robots and green tigers.

The world building is clever and slightly self-reflexive capturing the appeal of the franchise and the related merchandise. Regarding the marketable toys, while Barbie was aimed at young girls, He-Man was an action figure aimed at young boys.

Despite the convoluted script, there is a clear message that in order to be brave, you don’t necessarily require a weapon. He-Man discovers this as his character transforms into a glistening warrior complete with sword and attitude. He-Man is not a superhero, he is more mythical than that.

In terms of entertainment, director Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Kubo and the Two Strings) does a brilliant job of recreating Masters of the Universe for a new generation with sufficient costumes and creatures to inspire cosplay and Comicon outfits until 2030.

Masters of the Universe is cheesy and funny, very garish and filled with fantasy and adventure. This action packed film gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is worth seeing. Audiences can discover a new hero filled with a heart of gold.

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