Adam Glenn (Nicholas Galitzine) works in HR and lives in Oklahoma City, but he is preoccupied with a fantasy world, which is upending his professional and personal life. When he finds the Sword of Power, he can finally prove that he is not crazy and return to his home world, Eternia. After Skeletor (Jared Leto) conquered it, Eternia changed from how he remembered it. Worst of all, no one remembers him except for a handful of people. To restore Eternia, will Adam be himself or try to live up to an unattainable image that did not help Eternia in its time of need? With a two-hour twelve-minute runtime, it is too long to enjoy, especially considering the mostly failed attempt at humor and lack of chemistry among most of the characters. If you were expecting “Masters of the Universe” (2026) (“MOTU”) to be the second coming of “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” (2023), you will be sorely disappointed. If you are willing to slog through this standalone reboot to get your sword sci-fi fantasy fix, have at it.
As a child of the Eighties, my interest started with the first animated series, “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe,” before segueing and ending with “She-Ra: Princess of Power.” Do I remember anything about these series? Not really other than vague impressions, and I did not prep before going to MOTU, so it did not have to live up to a childhood comparison fraught with nostalgia, yet it still fell short. MOTU tries to rely on humor with Adam as a clumsy underdog who is fluent in corporate speak, especially conflict resolution. The punchline is that he is so awkward, never fits in and is an outlier in a community that values more traditional heroic demeanor or a community that frames physical confrontation as an anathema. This film is definitely geared towards teenage boys struggling with the gap between the expectations of who they should be and the reality of who they are. It is a nice sentiment that never quite works except for all the thinly veiled sex jokes, which either get funnier as the denouement approaches or at that point, it is just easier to go with it and get something out of the experience.
So where did MOTU go wrong. Except for a handful of actors, the cast has zero chemistry. Saying that Galitzine is not right for the role seems too harsh. He handled comedy well in “Bottoms” (2023). He is attractive, did his job and bulked up, but the transformation from Adam to He-Man is so slight, his delight seems more delusional than when Adam was on Earth. Though he looks great, somehow, he seemed fleshier and softer (think baby fat without the fat) than usual muscle-bound men, which is probably a deliberate choice because of Adam’s innocent psychological makeup. The flaws probably lie with the creative choice of psychologically framing adult Adam as if he is a child or adolescent instead of a child who grew up on Earth. Remember Lion-O (Larry Kenney) from “Thundercats.” It is Clark Kent without the human experience to play his earnest, do-gooder vibes as a joke on both worlds so there is some vulnerability instead of an indomitable, inevitable victory. It should work because it is not fun to watch someone who does not struggle, but it does not.
Watching a woman kick ass is usually always a joy, but Camila Mendes as Teela, Adam’s childhood friend, is wooden and feels as if she is reading the lines from a teleprompter. It is possible that Mendes is not a bad actor because the fabulous Idris Elba, who plays Teela’s adopted father, Duncan, sounds the same. No one feels as if they are talking to each other, but as if they were on a stage trying to reach the back row. The only naturalistic performances come from Morena Baccarin who plays the Sorceress, Christiaan Bettridge, a stunt woman trying her hand at being the action version of Aubrey Plaza as Adam’s childhood bully, Dian, and Roboto, who is the most consistently funny character. King Randor (an unrecognizable James Purefoy) is as serious as a heart attack and comes across as abusive though he course corrects eventually. Can we spread that commitment out among the entire cast? Also, can we get a collection plate so Purefoy can take better projects?
The stage acting does serve the villains well. I fear that Jared Leto ate as Skeletor, and his voice was unrecognizable. He made MOTU fun though the broad comedy did not always work. His voice sounded as if he combined Tim Curry and Ian McKellan. Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn was fabulous and kinky, but it felt as if Brie got cast in a role that Kristen Wiig would have killed. Well, guess who voices Roboto: Wiig. So, she could not play both roles? Would that be too greedy? No matter. During Skeletor’s scenes, the team of six writers managed to make a movie set in the present day with the over-the-top genre of a live action children’s cartoon during a sequence when Skeletor learns about Adam’s life on Earth and appears in earlier scenes. If the entire movie had that bonkers energy, then MOTU would be an unadulterated hit, but a movie should not begin to find its footing at the end.
Instead of crafting its own way, MOTU over relies on marketing for Coca-Cola, Nike and yes, even an Amazon truck, which was one of the funnier bits, or harnessing references to other movies such as “Highlander” (1986) with the always welcome needle drop Queen’s “Princes of the Universe” or with Brian May’s amazing guitar score, which is reminiscent of “Flash Gordon” (1980), that occasionally overpowers the dialogue, which in this, was a good thing. There are post credit scenes so expect more movies from Mattel. The movie looks as if it borrows imagery from other franchises like the MCU, occasionally leaning towards the “Thor” franchise, but also pre-MCU the “X-Men” franchise. It does not ever feel like a unique world that you can mix or distinguish immediately from other fantasy worlds. Fans will not care, but newcomers may find themselves wondering why they should adopt a new franchise with such a middling, uneven start.
“Barbie” (2023) was another Mattel movie so MOTU could have been good. Adam could get his own existential crisis about the verging on contradictory varying definitions of masculinity: Earth or Eternia standards? From the early scenes on Earth, there was potential to frame Adam’s displacement as a metaphor for a high functioning autistic person though his presentation more matched a woman’s autistic profile with high empathy, bright colors and trying to understand the villain. He does not fit in either world and struggles to find a balance. That balance is not exactly transferable for application in the real world. It never had to offer a moral, but the premise exists to occupy the characters between fight and chase scenes.
MOTU did embed a great lesson that sometimes no backstory is necessary. If a villain has a skull instead of a fully fleshed out face, do not waste your time figuring him out. Maybe the film should have just followed similar instincts. Keep the sex jokes rolling with Skeletor dominating the dialogue, let the pretty boy pick things up, put them down and fight and use the cast members with better acting skills and chemistry to flesh out the rest. As it exists, it feels like a lot of time wasted with little in return.
