Movie Review: Masters of the Universe

 I grew up watching He-Man and She-Ra on TV. It was a very enjoyable experience and made me love sword and fantasy materials more. Last Sunday, I watched the Masters of the Universe starring Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam, Camila Mendez as Teela, Idris Alba as Duncan; the Man-At-Arms, Jared Leto as Skeletor and many more.  

If you know He-Man's story, he is the alter-ego of Prince Adam, the Prince of Eternia and son of King Randor and Queen Marlena. Eternia is a world of advance technology and magic. It is also the location of Castle Grayskull, the source of He-Man's power and is the home of the Sorceress, his guardian. 

There have been too many versions of He-Man's story (including the story of Sheera, He-Man's twin), and there have been a lot of cartoons and movies about him. In the 2026 movie through, there were a lot of changes that for me, made the movie "too woke" for my taste. In this version, the royal capital of Eternia was attacked by Skeletor and his forces and Adam was sent to Earth by the Sorceress with the Sword of Power, separating him from his parents (and the Sword) for fifteen years. Adam reunited with the Sword, was attacked on Earth, saved by Teela and journeyed back to Eternia.

In this movie, Adam was a buffed marshmallow, and an HR in one company. This deviated from almost all of the He-Man movies/cartoons I watched in the past. Here, Adam is mostly sensitive and is in-touch most of the time with his feelings. He is a reluctant hero who just decided to fight after knowing that his parents are still alive. He rushed to Snake Mountain, confronted Skeletor and won, the end. 

PROS and CONS 

The PROS: 

1. Nicholas Galitzine - I think he looks nice as He-Man. He is tall, hulking and is serving the body of He-Man. 

2. Special Effects and the fight scenes are good too.

3. New approach, Adam sent to Earth to escape Skeletor. It's nice to see that Earth is in the same universe as Eternia. 

4. I find Skeletor funny, same as his cartoon persona.

5. Dolph Lundgren's cameo. He was He-Man in the 1987 Live action movie. 

The CONS:

1. The story: The pacing of the story for me is just too fast, with a lot of plot holes. 

2. The Power - In this version, the Power resides inside He-Man, instead of being a conduit that channels the Power to him. In the previous versions, losing the Sword would revert He-Man back to Adam. Also, if the Power just buffs He-Man up in this version, he shouldn't be able to fight that well in such a short amount of time. 

3. BattleCat - In this version, Cringer was a reluctant fighter, but he still fights. In the previous versions, Cringer is a scaredycat and the Power transforms him to BattleCat.

4. The duality of Adam/He-Man - in the previous versions, only a few people know that Adam and He-Man are the same person. This adds to the mystique of He-Man and the contrast of both him and Prince Adam. Adam is always viewed as weak and lazy and compared to the hero He-Man, who is the savior of everyone. 

The Verdict - 6/10: The movie has its ups and downs, some nicer scenes and fight scenes, but one turn-off for me is the characterization of He-Man. He is always someone with a great sense of justice and would not hesitate to pummel through anything, just to save his people. Another thing is the movie's depiction of The Power, where in the past versions, it is always a power that Adam draw to become He-Man. Here, Adam was given the Power because of his heart. It is still quite an enjoyable movie though (although admittedly with a few cringe scenes).

CCTO - photos from the internet