Masters of the Universe

‘By the power of Grayskull!’ If those words shoot a lightning bolt of nostalgia straight through your soul, then this is the Masters of the Universe movie you’ve been waiting for.  

Faithfully capturing the simple joys and craziness of the beloved 1980s TV cartoon, the story starts in Eternia, a beautiful, blossom-laden land that’s a boggling mix of fairytale fantasy (castles, medieval weaponry) and sci-fi (jet rockets and cyborgs with laser blasters). Here, sensitive little Prince Adam is told to ‘be a man’ by his father (James Purefoy) who forces him into combat training because ‘the world is no place for the weak’. When the family are attacked by the evil Skeletor (Jared Leto hidden under blue latex), Adam is sent to Earth via an inter-galactic rainbow highway (very Thor). 

A mild-mannered Adam (now an adorable Nicholas Galitzine) grows up and gets a Clark Kent-type job in HR where his ‘he/him’ nameplate (as revealed in a trailer) triggered instant anti-woke controversy online (it is a joke, guys). But unlike the franchise-destroying 1987 movie (nice cameo by its star Dolph Lundgren), this doesn’t waste too much time on Earth before Adam retrieves his magical sword, rips his shirt off and goes back to fight for Eternia. 

After decades in development hell, Masters of the Universe finally fell into the right hands with Bumblebee director Travis Knight. Where other reboots lean into dour origin stories, his is as brightly coloured as a bowl of e-numbered breakfast cereal. It features many of its fan-favourite, straight-out-the-toybox battle characters like ‘Ram-Man’ (Jon Xue Zhang) and ‘Fisto’ (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson), so-called ‘because he fists people’.  And yes, you’re meant to snigger. 

It’s very Rocky Horror Picture Show

The comedic tone is summed up by the two leads. In one corner, there’s Galitzine’s sweet, unthreatening brand of hunkiness which recalls those iconic ‘muscle-bound man cradles baby’ Athena posters from the 1980s. In the other, Jared Leto’s Skeletor, a cackling, hilariously camp English-accented villain in a very menacing skeleton mask, who tells He-Man he’s desperate to get his mitts on the ‘big, long sword dangling between your glorious thighs’. It’s very Rocky Horror Picture Show, with Alison Brie’s Evil-Lyn the Magenta to Leto’s Frank-N-Furter. 

Elsewhere, Camila Mendes is splendid as strong female character Teela, and Idris Elba is spot on as her dad, Duncan, the Man-At-Arms tasked with ‘making a man’ out of He-Man. Speaking of which, like the original cartoons, this movie comes with an improving social message. And though the script isn’t in the same league as the Barbie movie (also made by Mattel), it’s kind of like the male equivalent – providing a heartfelt and timely antidote to the toxicity of the manosphere. While also featuring lots of biff-wallop punch-ups. 

Best of all is the epic rock/synth score by British composer Daniel Pemberton (Project Hail Mary) in collaboration with Queen guitarist Brian May that’ll have you humming the theme tune all the way out of the cinema. Stick around for the credits too, because… saddle up battle cats, there’s going to be a sequel.

Out worldwide Wed Jun 3.