“Where do I start? Well, I guess what I really want to say is, everything I am is because of where I come from: Eternia, a world of endless beauty. All that stuff that exists only in legends and bedtime stories … on Eternia, that stuff is real. Griffins, dragons, talking tigers, enchanted forests, burning deserts, islands in the sky, you name it! I swear I’m not high!”
This is a movie that is not an afraid to make fun of itself, and I do believe that was its saving grace. When I first saw the trailer for this movie, all I could do was shake my head. I like campy movies, but the previews made the film look like it was taking campy to another stratosphere. The film does indeed take us to another stratosphere, the world of Eternia, to be exact. I never was much for the He-Man show; I gravitated more towards Thundercats, but I must admit that Masters of the Universe had me invested in its plot from start to finish. A lot of that was due to Nicholas Galitzine’s excellent performance as the mighty, albeit socially awkward, titular hero. But he is hardly the only recognizable and entertaining person in the film. The film also featured Camila Mendes as bow-staff-wielding Teela, Idris Elba as Duncan, Eternia’s former mightiest warrior, who suffered an ego-crushing defeat resulting in his confidence taking a hit, and Jared Leto as Skeletor.
The story centers on Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine), the young crown prince of the magical planet Eternia. After his home kingdom of Eternos falls to a sudden, devastating invasion by the dark wizard Skeletor (Jared Leto), Adam is separated from his family. He is sent away for his own protection to Earth, the original home world of his mother. The travel through time and space results in Adam being separated from the sword, trapping him on Earth. After being separated for 15 years, the Sword of Power leads Prince Adam back to Eternia, where he discovers his home shattered under the rule of Skeletor. To save his family and his world, Adam must join forces with his closest allies, Teela and Duncan/Man-At-Arms, and embrace his true destiny as He-Man — the most powerful man in the universe.
“This world … is no place … for the weak.”
For Galitzine’s character, this is a coming-of-age journey that forces him to bridge his ordinary life on Earth with his grand, mythical destiny on Eternia. After being stranded on Earth for fifteen years with only fragmented memories of his past, Adam starts his journey disconnected from his heritage and deeply insecure about his own worth. When he is thrust into a desperate war against Skeletor’s tyrannical forces, his arc shifts from a clumsy, self-doubting outsider into a true leader. To protect his home planet, he must overcome his inner emotional hurdles, accept the overwhelming responsibility of his birthright, and actively choose to embrace his destiny to transform into the heroic He-Man. Galitzine shone in this role. He managed to make the character more endearing than annoying. By leaning into the emotional and physical duality of his character’s two natures (Prince Adam and He-Man), he avoided the predictable, stoic superhero archetype.
As his co-lead, Camila Mendes also made her presence known early on, establishing equal footing as a foil to Galitzine’s Prince Adam. Where Adam doubts himself, Mendes’ Teela is confident and in control. She has had her own obstacles to overcome as the one who stayed behind in Eternia and watched the downfall of her home, as well as that of her father, Duncan (Elba), who disappeared into herself, leaving her to fend for herself. Mendes’s portrayal is grounded and highlights the character as someone who had to grow too fast and be the parent after her father fell into self-destructive behavior. Elba’s character is on more of redemption arc than any of the other characters. After thoroughly disappointing his daughter through his continued acts of self-pity, he eventually achieved redemption when he embraced his past failures and reclaimed his status as the realm’s protector. Granted this redemption arc followed the established blueprint, but it was no less satisfying to see.
The film featured a couple of notable cameos, including one that felt like a lot like a passing of the torch: in a nod to the franchise’s history, Dolph Lundgren—who originally starred as He-Man in the 1987 live-action film — makes a grounded cameo during the Earth segment of the movie. He gives Adam a significant piece of advice, telling him that being a man is about more than just muscles. He even delivered a line from the 1987 film: “Good journey.” The other notable cameo served as a post-credit sequence that suggested a potential sequel or spinoff by confirming the live-action existence of Adam’s iconic twin sister and setting up an eventual battle against the brainwashed Evil Horde.
Video
Masters Of The Universe is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1. The ultra-high-definition 2160p image is arrived at by an HEVC codec with an average bitrate of 75 mbps. The world of Eternia is a bright, colorful, and vivid place, and the Dolby Vision brings all of that to life. These aren’t natural colors, but vivid and sometimes over the top. The contrast also allows for nice separation of colors and darkness. Plenty of shadow definition. Texture detail is found mostly in costumes and the more furry creatures. The image presentation brings these fantastical environments alive. The f/x blend rather seamlessly, and there are no artifacts or distractions to be found. What is there is intended to be there.
Audio
The Dolby Atmos audio presentation defaults to 7.1. The surround mix is quite aggressive throughout. There’s a ton of help from the subs to give weight to these characters and environments that are merely 0’s and 1’s. Dialog cuts through just fine. Brian May provided some truly iconic music for the film, and it has that Queen-like texture to it that I think that supports the 80’s origin of the material itself. The subs also bring grand destruction to booming life. The audio and video presentations are showoff moments for your system. You’re not going to get these results from streaming the film. If you missed it in the box office, this is the best way you will have of both seeing and preserving your ownership of the movie.
Special Features
There is only the UHD copy of the film provided here. There are two extras, but both are strictly promotional items lasting just a few minutes of time. The most extensive is a drone show promotional event that lasts about four minutes.
Final Thoughts:
As I said, I wasn’t really invested when I first started watching the film, but it really drew me in by being fun and going against traditional mode to establish a story that was both campy and funn, as well as exciting. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing the franchise continue in some capacity in the manner suggested in the post-credit scene.
Parts of this review were written by Gino Sassani
