PopHorror Let's Get Scared
When I was in 5th grade, I was a huge He-Man fan. I would race home every day after school to watch the cartoon, I had a ton of the action figures, play sets, and vehicles from the toy line, and I loved the old STAR comic books that were put out by Marvel Comics at the time. I loved everything about He-Man and wanted to be just like him when I grew up.
When I heard that they were making another live-action movie I was more than a little skeptical. The original one from 1987 left a lot to be desired and I was afraid that the people making this new one were going to ruin it like Michal Bay did with the live-action Transformers movies. Hoping for the best (especially after seeing all the negative reviews for it) I went and saw it with my wife at the theater about a week after it came out.
So, did I think it captured all the spirit that the Masters of the Universe represented, or should I have just stayed home and played with all the action figures that I had instead?
Keep reading to find out…
Synopsis
Years after escaping from his home world of Eternia after it is taken over by Skeletor and his evil followers Adam finds the magical sword that he lost and returns to his planet to overcome Skeletor and save the world.
I’m not going to beat around the bush; I loved this movie. I thought that the people behind it did everything right and for two hours I was a ten-year old boy again watching his hero kick butt and take names. To me it felt like a live-action episode of the cartoon, and I honestly don’t get all the hate that it has received since it was released. I thought that it was an awesome love letter to the characters, and in a way, it made me a little sad because it made me yearn for my childhood days when things were a lot simpler and my biggest worry in the world was to get home from school every afternoon in time to see the newest episode of the cartoon.
Directed by Travis Knight (ParaNorman, Missing Link) and written by Chris Butler (The Heritage, Kubo and Two Strings), Aaron Nee (Band of Robbers, The Lost City), and Adam Nee (The Lost City, The Last Romantic), I thought that Masters of the Universe was just an all-around awesome experience and it is obvious that the people behind it knew about the characters and cared about them as well as the entire lore of the Masters of the Universe. You can tell that these guys were fans of the characters and they put a lot of heart, effort, and love into this movie. The results are remarkable and I really hope that they make a sequel to this film soon as I would love to see how they will continue the story.
One of the best things about the movie was the premise. When I first heard about it, I was totally against it because I didn’t like the idea of Adam being on Earth, but I changed my mind quickly once the movie started because it makes perfect sense that they went this route as it works. I love that Adam has to escape his boring, so-so life and become the thing that he was destined to become as I think that it sends a positive message that no matter how bleak things are everyone has a purpose of some sort, it just may take a little while to find it.
I actually got a little teary-eyed in the theater when I was watching it as it honestly hit on some personal stuff in my life and made me believe that everything is eventually going to be OK and work out the way that you want them to. I may be reading a little too much into this but that is how I interpreted it, and I just think that it is a lovely message of hope in general that some viewers just didn’t understand or notice. It really does make you want to escape your life where you don’t have to go to a crummy job anymore and deal with everyday problems that everyone deals with to go on to live the life you always felt that you should live.
I also thought that the cast was amazing. Nicholas Galitzine (Purple Hearts, The Idea of You) is phenomenal as Adam/He-Man and does an excellent job of bringing the character to life. I don’t think that they could have picked a better person for this role as he is perfect. Camila Mendes (Do Revenge, Upgraded) is also superb as Teela, and I am so glad they didn’t force a love story between her and He-Man into the film. Idris Elba (Heads of State, Beast) shines as usual as Duncan AKA Man-At Arms and owns every scene he is in. I also must admit that Jared Leto (Urban Legend, Morbius) does a wonderful job as Skeletor as he is both intimidating and goofy like he is supposed to be and I was surprised at what a great job he did in the role.
I appreciated the fact that they didn’t beat us over the head with fan service as well. Before I saw it, I had heard that it was non-stop things thrown in there for the fans as a “nudge, nudge” thing, but honestly, I don’t think that they did that with this movie. Yes, there are some Easter eggs and one of the end credit scenes gives us some fan service, but overall, I don’t feel like they went overboard with it like some other movies do. I was also pleasantly surprised that characters like Mek-A-Neck and Spikor showed up as they were some of my favorite lesser-known characters that I loved as a kid.
I dug Masters of the Universe a lot, and I don’t see why so many people complained about it. It was fun, nostalgic, and even touching at times, and I think that you must had to have grown up with the characters or at least know a little something about them to get this movie. I had a blast with it and hope they do a sequel as it is obvious that Hordak will be the big bad in it if it happens. Now if we could just get a decent live-action Thundercats, Silverhawks, or M.A.S.K movie soon and I would be extremely happy.
