I wasn’t sure if I should bring up Travis Knight’s MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE on these pages but hey, the movie features some awesome looking monsters (Beast Man!, Moss Man!, Mer Man! Etc.) so I say it’s all kinds of welcome here. Who knows, maybe Skeletor’s evil glowing eyes will freak out a few kids and create future Kindertraumas? One can hope. Yours truly was a smidge too old when the toys and eighties cartoon first appeared but I was well aware of the characters thanks to my friend’s younger siblings and the ubiquitous TV commercials. My knowledge of He-man and his friends and enemies battling it out on the distant planet of Eternia is mostly limited to my yearly watch of the incredible HE-MAN & SHE-RA: A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ('85) which I can not praise enough. It’s dopey, corny, charming and hilarious and my Christmas season would not be the same without it. Still, I don’t have the extensive childhood nostalgia that many people close to my age do. It’s fine though because I certainly do have an extensive childhood nostalgia for thereliable mood enhancer known as FLASH GORDON (’80) and I think the new MOTU works as a direct homage to that fantastic spirit-cleansing film and may be the closest thing to a remake/sequel of it that I’m ever going to see. Its even got Brian May of QUEEN shredding up the proceedings (BTW: I’m so glad I saw this gem in Dolby)!
MOTU is a sort of a reverse WIZARD OF OZ tale. Young, insecure Prince Adam is thrown of of the colorful world of Eternia for his own safety and lands in our bland reality forever searching for his lost sword which can return him home. As an adult, Adam’s honesty about his extraordinary background has him looking like a lunatic but he never loses hope or conforms. Eventually he does indeed track down his magical weapon but his connection to it instantly attracts the attention of his arch-nemesis Skeletor. Soon with help from childhood chum Teela, Adam returns to his rightful world and is tasked with saving it from the forces of darkness and oppression. Nicholas Galitzine (THE CRAFT: LEGACY) is perfect as the humorously naive and guileless Prince Adam/He-man who eventually learns his power is in his heart, not his sword, Camila Mendes (DO REVENGE) endears as formidable besty/love interest Teela and my pal Idris Alba (ALIEN: PROMETHEUS) rules as Duncan/Man-at-Arms, her hardy yet inebriated father who is looking to get his mojo back (he’d be my favorite character if there wasn’t a giant green cat named Cringer running around). Jared Leto and Alison Brie seem to be having the time of their lives as camptastic villains Skeletor and Evil-Lyn, who zealously deliver the snickering goods.
As I write this MOTU has already left most theaters and is considered a box office disappointment but it’s reassuring to know that most people who have witnessed its offbeat charm and inspiring attitude thoroughly enjoyed it. Even as an on-the-fence fan without much background with the franchise (besides the X-mas special, of course), it was able to make me feel like a kid again with its spectacle and rousing nature. It sincerely feels like the ultimate summer movie to me. The fight scenes are impressively innovative and feel like comic panels sprung to radiant life, the environments are eye-poppingly gorgeous and otherworldly, the characters/creatures are fantastic and stunning and the classic Good vs Evil storytelling is engaging and satisfying. It may be based on 40 year old material but it’s a blast of fresh air thanks to its refusal to sink into the dark, drab monotones that most modern fantasy/hero tales do. I loved every second of it and I made sure to give this silly slice of escapism my highest compliment, I went and saw it twice. O.K. that was a lie. I saw it three times. In the future, when it’s on physical media, I will take it like a pill to cure my depression. For this movie, financially successful or not, has the power!!!
Unkle Lancifer:
I’m just the right age that I was all into He-Man and the Masters of the Universe when I was seven and eight. I had several of the action figures and the toys. My family was too poor for the playsets, though. I was all into the cartoon, as well, and was too young to recognize how astonishingly limited and cheap the animation was.
That holiday special is a riot, especially the scene where Skeletor discovers he has emotions.
By the time the Dolph Lundgren live-action movie was released, I had aged out. There was an animated feature film that played my local theater a few months before the Lundgren film, but I aged out by then, too. I hadn’t aged out when the animated Transformers: The Movie played the Lincoln Theater, though. This one, I saw; I freaked out when Optimus Prime died.
Thinking about it now, I wonder who Cannon films thought the live-action movie was for (back then), as the cartoon was off the air and the kids were now too old for it. The next generation of kids had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to call their own.
We aren’t the target audience (today), but a few years ago Netflix produced an excellent new She-Ra: Princess of Power series for young viewers. It didn’t use winking irony or nostalgic callbacks to the original cartoon. It was a whole new reimagining of the show, with good animation and sharp writing (much better than anything on the original She-Ra series). She-Ra has a great hero’s journey, and Catra has an equally terrific abused-villain-turns-remorseful-ally story.
I saw this at the drive-in with my kid. I didn't think I would enjoy it (I was a GI Joe kid, I had no time for He-Man or Transformers) and while I think "good" would be too hearty an adjective for this movie – I DID laugh out loud 5 or 6 times.
In the beginning, it looked like this was going to be an unnecessary gritty interpretation like the Chris Nolan Batman films but then Skeletor does his version of the "maniacal laugh" gag from The Muppets movie and i said, "Oh… this is gonna be a goof."
I guess you could say this is in the vein of Guardians of the Galaxy? Lighthearted and could kind of come and go and it wouldn't…really matter?
Jared Leto, i gotta say, was cast for reasons I don't understand. If that's not his face and its not his body and its not his voice then…..what are we doing here?
SDC,
That holiday special is everything! I love skeleton so much in it! He’s so hilarious!
One of my favorite parts of the movie is the end when they all throw their heads back and laugh just like the cartoon and Cringer gives a wtf face! It’s so perfect!
Drew,
I was GI Joe as well! I did Star Wars & Battlestar and The Black Hole & Buck and GI was my last line b4 I aged out.
I’m very jealous you got to see He Man in a drive in!! That must have been incredible! And so great to see it with your kids! I know I would have loved this movie as a kid! So sad it didn’t do better but I guess color, fun and wholesomeness is out of favor currently. I really dug the messaging that both He-man & Man at arms just needed to believe in themselves that is evergreen and worthwhile in my book.
I didn’t get the Jared Leto casting either but it worked. He kinda stunk up the Blade Runner sequel but I didn’t mind him in the TRON one. I guess this isn’t going to topple his box office poison label but I def did my part financially supporting this movie!
Oh, Unk, I see everything at the drive-in! I only do that indoor bullshit when I have to. I'm very fortunate to live within driving distance (within an hour) of 3 drive-in theatres as well as two retro programming indoor ones.