Review of Masters of the Universe, directed by Travis Knight

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I recently started an 8-5 job and have been trying to reclaim my sanity and hobbies by finding fun things to do on the weekends and after work, and one of my saving graces truly has been my AMC A List subscription. I’ve always had one on and off throughout graduate school, and I recently reclaimed my subscription after a brief stint of thinking I was going to move to India (long story).

Sometimes the movies I really want to see aren’t included on AMC A List, which is sad, but I accept the reality of the situation. I get a ton of use out of this subscription despite that. On a slightly different note though, I used to work professionally as a film critic, which is very much a dying career, and when I would go to the film festivals I watched everything that really excited me.

A List is also an opportunity for me to go outside of my comfort zone. Recently, at the time of typing this, I’ve seen a handful of movies I don’t think I would have ever seen if I had to actually pay for them. I see so many movies throughout different states on A List that I basically make money off of AMC, rather than spending money. I have an entire spreadsheet for it.

That’s how my sister and I ended up seeing Masters of the Universe though. We wanted to see a movie on a Sunday night, nothing else seemed appealing, and then I decided we should see this movie without doing any research beyond seeing the trailer once. So I got comfortable with my kids’ pack and chowed down during the film.

Let’s get into the review! I can see this introduction is getting long.

Sent to Earth as a child, Adam must save the kingdom he once came from—with the help of some old friends.

This film opens when the protagonist, Adam, is a young child. He lives on the planet Eternia and fails in his battle classes, much to the chagrin of his father and Chief of the Guard, Duncan. He’s buddies with Duncan’s daughter Teela, and they’re together when Skeletor and his army invades the city.

Adam tries to flee with his parents, the King and Queen, but Duncan is injured while trying to protect them. Adam’s father is taken by Skeletor, and his mother and he run to the Sorceress who protects the Sword of Power. She gives Adam the sword, then opens up a portal to Earth.

As Skeletor approaches, taking Adam’s mother, he jumps into the portal with the sword and loses it. He grows up in Oklahoma City and no one believes his stories about growing up on Eternia. As an adult he works in HR, but he spends his free time trying to find the sword.

He ends up quitting his job and walking out when someone says they found the sword. It lies in a comic store, where he steals it publically. The next day, after getting arrested, Skeletor’s grunt Beast Man comes for him, but he’s saved by Teela.

She helps him escape and they jump into her ship to go back to Eternia. There, Adam sees how Skeletor destroyed his city, and she takes him back to where the survivors are. They’re spotted by Skeletors men and slowly followed, but in the meantime, Adam meets his father’s old guard and fails to convince them he’s the lost prince.

Teela and Adam are thrown into prison with her father, now a drunkard, but then Skeletor’s men attack. They start running after breaking free, but are cornered by Trap Jaw. Adam says the right words to activate the sword, becoming a historical warrior with immense strength, and he defeats Trap Jaw.

Teela, Duncan, Roboto (Duncan’s robot), and Adam flee in Teela’s ship. They’re chased by Skeletor’s men and crash in the forest, but while this happens, the captured guards are tortured. After Moss Man is killed, they confess Adam is alive. That night, Skeletor threatens Adam through a message by saying his parents are still alive—and he’ll kill them unless he gets the sword.

Adam decides to go to Snake Mountain, where Skeletor is hiding out. The rest of the crew is taken to the prison while Adam dukes it out and single-handedly takes out Skeletor’s men. He sees his father with Skeletor, but when he fights Skeletor, the ceiling collapses and kills his father. Adam is captured by Skeletor, who takes the sword and realizes he can’t harness its power.

His sorceress suggests she can go to the castle it was originally in and perform a spell to make it do so. Back in the prison cell, Adam uses HR jargon to rally the prisoners and escape. They steal all of Skeletor’s transport equipment and go back to the town of the original battle, knocking down Skeletor’s army.

Duncan, before the castle, takes down Trap Jaw but loses Roboto in the process. With the help of his pet tiger, Adam and Teela go after Skeletor and the sorceress. However, Skeletor destroys the sword in battle and Adam is stabbed in the stomach. He’s then trapped in a nightmare loop by Skeletor, but the Sorceress comes to visit him.

She tells him that the power is within him, and he harnesses the power to heal himself and restore the sword. He kills Skeletor, but misses his henchmen in the process. Peace is restored to the kingdom and his mother becomes queen again.

Roboto is restored by Duncan, and they bring his former roommate to prove that Adam wasn’t insane this entire time. He dubs himself He-Man and then goes off to help a village.

In the post-credits scenes, his twin sister is in the Fright Zone fighting, while the sorceress from the evil side goes to get Skeletor’s skull.

Overall Thoughts

Considering I came into this movie with little to no expectations, I found it pleasantly surprising. I usually don’t care for superhero movies, but this one was pretty solid in terms of humor and overall performances.

Now the plot was a bit cliche and something I didn’t find revolutionary, but there was a lot of heart in this one. I also am biased because I adore Camila Mendes after interviewing Rudy and her while working as a professional film critic. They were literally the sweetest interviewees I ever had.

That said, I liked this one a lot. Maybe the trick is to come in with zero expectations and knowing nothing about the franchise it’s about?

Anyways, go see this one if you’re interested. I think it’s worth a shot.

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