The planet Eternia is invaded and conquered by the armies of the evil warlord Skeletor. Young Prince Adam is sent into a portal by the Sorceress of Eternia to safeguard him and the Sword of Power, but he loses the Sword mid-transit. Arriving on Earth, he spends fifteen years searching for the Sword. He finally locates it, but finds the war has followed him to his adopted homeworld. Returning to Eternia, he has to rally the Eternian loyalists to fight Skeletor, but finds his long absence has alienated his people.
Masters of the Universe is the second attempt to tackle a live-action movie based on the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise from the early 1980s. Alongside GI Joe, He-Man kicked off the whole toy/cartoon/movie phenomenon later followed by the likes of Transformers and Thundercats, but unlike those franchises it burned relatively briefly, dominating toy sales for only a few years before dropping off. The first live-action movie in 1987, launched as the franchise was waning, was critically rinsed on release, although it has since been revised as a more entertaining pulp film, mostly for Frank Langella's much-better-than-needed performance as Skeletor and the appearance of a young Courtney Cox.
This attempt sees Adam - played with winning likeability by Nicholas Galitzine - exiled to Earth, but the film gets him back to Eternia with commendable speed, where he teams up with Teela (Camila Mendes) and fighting mentor Man-at-Arms (Idris Elba). Skeletor (a pre-yikes-revelations Jared Leto) and Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie) lead the forces of evil. James Purefoy puts in a winning turn as Adam's father, but somewhat oddly he is saddled with an American accent that doesn't allow his impressive voice to shine through (casting Purefoy and not letting him use his distinctive voice is a bit weird).
Everything seems set for a solidly enjoyable popcorn flick and to some extent the film succeeds at that. The script is a bit MCU-adjacent-ha-ha funny, but for this franchise that's pretty appropriate, so isn't a major problem. The performances are all pretty good, and some of the actors make interesting choices. Idris Elba seems to realise this is the sort of role he can do sleepwalking, so makes more comedic choices and plays slightly against type in some scenes, which freshens up his role.
One problem is that the action is a bit over-stylised, with a few too many clever-arse, CG-enhanced camera moves that never feel convincing. This is a shame as some of the fight choreography is pretty solid. The film also arguably flounders with its central message. Adam has not looked after himself too much, repeatedly shows hesitancy and weakness in the face of a threat that should have defeated him multiple times over (the running gags of both Adam's preference for diplomacy and Skeletor's apparent refusal to kill his enemies if they have names and/or toys on sale do address this, somewhat) and yet wins anyway because he has a magic sword that gets him ripped in five seconds flat. The film is also easily half an hour too long, with that whole "this is the final battle, whoops, no it isn't, now this is ha ha," plot device modern action films would do well to drop. Camila Mendes is also one of the strongest performers in the film but doesn't have much to do in the second half.
Masters of the Universe (***½) is a perfectly serviceable piece of entertainment that the brain will watch, absorb and completely forget about within 48 hours. If you want a popcorn movie actually resonates a bit more and is more fun, than something like the Dungeons & Dragons movie or the better third of the MCU is probably a stronger recommendation. The film is available on streaming and media worldwide about now.
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