Masters of the Universe Review

Funny how you can be a year younger or older than a mate and your experience of cartoons be so different. You might assume that everyone knows Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. But they don’t!

I missed out on He-Man by a couple of years, so I only really have a high-level knowledge of it. There’s no true nostalgia for me to hang onto. For me, I saw a couple of trailers that looked pretty cool and thought I’d like to give it a go. I took my wife and daughter, and we had a good time!

What I was struck by most was how unapologetic in tone and style Masters of the Universe is. The characters look weird! Bright colours and outlandish designs that just exist. No explanations, that’s just the deal. Even more important is how the protagonist, Adam/He-Man, is handled. He has a great physique, which you might say should be a given nowadays. But it’s not the ultra-dehydrated look that Marvel has championed. This is more a Batman Begins “really difficult but achievable” style of look. A better example to set, and it looks strong. Secondly, fighting isn’t his go to. He can for sure, but he’ll try to talk and deescalate first. That’s something I think we could do with more of in this world.

Then there’s Jared Leto. Completely absent from any kind of marketing, you won’t find him with the puppies or on Hot Ones. It makes sense, him being box office poison to the last few films he’s been in. But surprisingly he’s a highlight. Camp, scary, and highly entertaining. His Skeletor stole every scene he was in. Every time he spoke my wife and I shared glances of amusement.

I mentioned that the characters look like action figures. Bar Elba’s Man-At-Arms they get the same amount of characterisation you might get on the back of a figure’s packaging. There is a distinct lack of previous knowledge or relationships between the good and bad guys; like the world started when the movie did. Look too deeply and you’ll find plenty to pick at. But I’m not here for that.

My daughter did find it all a bit much early on, but soon settled in. Masters of the Universe has something for everyone. It’s an adventure, with plenty of jokes that will tickle the adults whilst flying over the kid’s heads. It’s got a great tone to it, and it doesn’t need to rely on nostalgia to be that way.