FILM REVIEW: MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (12A) ESP RATING: 2.5/5

Everything seemed to be coming together for this blockbuster reboot of a dormant franchise – hoping for potential greatness.

But sadly the Powers of Grayskull don’t seem to have been strong enough – as this tonally doesn’t really hit the mark.

Mattel’s mega-popular range of toys, which sparked a childhood animation that were a weekly mainstay of schoolkids’ TV schedule (including mine), did manage to get an underwhelming Dolph Lundgren-led 1987 movie.

But this universe was yearning a Marvel-esque treatment worthy of modern cinema. And with Amazon Prime purchasing the property everything seemed to be destined to ignite He-Man and company back into the mainstream.

Unfortunately – despite trying something different – this isn’t exactly what was potentially expected by the fanbase. It was way too goofy and comedic for my liking and just felt very, erm, eighties.

In one sense, it does deserve praise for that. For harking back to an almost retro Flash Gordon-like feel. Brian May – like Queen did with that 1980 film – actually collaborated on the soundtrack with the likes of The Darkness. Which is fine. But is that really the basis of a long-term franchise?

It opens on the planet of Eternia, with the formulaic plot of young Prince Adam being catapulted to Earth via a portal – with the aid of Morena Baccarin’s (Deadpool) The Sorceress, guardian of Castle Grayskull – after the evil Skeletor (Jared Leto) enslaves the land – with equally iconic cronies Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie), Trap Jaw (Sam C Wilson) and Beast Man (Gary Martin) by his side – and takes Adam’s King/Queen parents prisoner. In the process, Adam loses the Sword of Power the Sorceress entrusted him with.

Fast forward fifteen years, and a now-adult Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) is working for a human resources company in Oklahoma City, obsessed with locating the sword which will get him back home.

When he finally tracks down the weapon, its powers sends a tracking signal back to Eternia, and Beast Man comes looking for it – but fortunately his childhood friend Teela (Camilla Mendes) comes to his rescue and takes him back to his homeworld.

Here, the fragile Adam soon discovers he is the ‘chosen one’, and after summoning the power of the sword transforms him into heroic warrior He-Man.

Through the usual plotlines seen dozens of times before, he combines forces with the legendarily familiar Teela, her father, Idris Elba’s Duncan (aka Man-At-Arms), Fisto (Johannes Haukur Johannesson), Ram-Man (Jon Xue Zhang), as they venture to Skeletor’s lair at Snake Mountain – climaxing with the inevitable final duel at Grayskull.

And as a spectacle it gets some things right. It pays homage to the Eternia setting, has a lot of the memorable characters, and is generally okay(ish) for a family movie (if a little long) in a very old-school way.

But it’s just way too campy and cheesy humour-heavy – the saturation of self-deprecating jokes are to the point of annoyance – with Galitzine’s Adam way too much of a ‘Doofus’ to be truly memorable. Continuing when he becomes He-Man. Even Battle Kat is a bloomin’ wuss.

Even the usually always-reliable Elba is quite tediously irritating.

Which leaves this all a little head-scratchingly confusing to where it’s long-term aim was.

Leto’s Skeletor proves to be the main winner – with his pseudo-English accent amusingly reflective of the cartoon – as he makes for a somewhat interesting villain, but beyond that it doesn’t really ground the story in a way that makes you think this has got a real future.

Which is a hell of a shame coming from a director who dazzled with arguably the best Transformers movie in 2018’s Bumblebee.

But any buzz this may have generated will probably fizzle out pretty quickly, as this is ultimately a masterful – if intermittently admirable – misfire.

ESP Rating: 2.5/5

Gavin Miller

Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough & Odeon Luxe Peterborough, Out Now

Cast: Nicholas Galitzine, Idris Elba, Jared Leto, Camilla Mendes, Alison Brie, Charlotte Riley, Johannes Haukur Johannesson, Jon Xue Zhang, Sasheer Zamata, Sam C Wilson, Gary Martin, Morena Baccarin, Kristen Wiig, James Purefoy & Dolph Lundgren

Running Time: 2 Hrs 20 Mins

Director: Travis Knight

Film Review Venue: Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough

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