After an attack by Skeletor (Jared Leto), the kingdom of Eternia falls and its Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) is magically exiled to Earth…
A movie based on an old cartoon, based on a toy, about a character who voluntarily goes by the name ‘He-Man’, should not be taken too seriously. If you feel nostalgic about it and think it deserves respect, imagine listing off the characters to an unfamiliar fellow adult and see how long it takes you to feel embarrassed (even if you get past Ram Man, good luck navigating Fisto). That’s presumably why director Travis Knight has taken a distinctly winking approach to the self-styled Masters Of The Universe, and leaned into the utter ridiculousness in a way that, largely, works.
A wordy prologue establishes the scene: our hapless hero Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) was once a prince of Eternia, a magical land that the royal family and the Sorceress (Monica Baccarin) protected against evildoers like Skeletor (Jared Leto). But when that bad guy attacks, the King (James Purefoy) and his chief Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba) are overwhelmed, and the child Adam is sent through a portal to Earth. He instantly loses the magical sword that would allow him to return. Fifteen years later, he’s a misunderstood cog in a corporate machine, but he finds his weapon at long last and is immediately hunted by Skeletor’s goons.
Travis Knight and his cast get the big stuff right.
His childhood friend Teela (Camila Mendes) helps him escape home, where they must keep the weapon away from Skeletor and reach Castle Grayskull to… well, it’s not entirely clear. The result is a chase movie, with the pantomime bony baddie determined to get his hands on Adam’s sword (steady) and crush all opposition to his rule.
The decision to make Adam a hapless doofus is a source of great comedy — Galitzine sends himself up as gamely as he bulks up — but his childish dependence on Teela and the rest reduces the narrative propulsion. Adam needs to avoid Skeletor and Alison Brie’s underused Evil-Lyn, sure, but he has no real plan to reclaim his throne or restore Eternia. He’s just swept along by events. That might be okay, as he muddles towards a rebellion, but the muddle needed to be very funny and very sharply scripted, and there are a few lulls in the pace here.
That all said, Knight and his cast get the big stuff right. This will appeal to small kids with its bold colours, big characters and utter lack of deep thought (how does Mekaneck’s blood reach his brain when his neck suddenly telescopes 20 feet?), and will appeal to adults who remember being small kids playing with action figures. Certainly, it’s vastly more fun than the misfiring 1987 attempt, and welcome proof that Hollywood has finally given up on making everything darker and more serious.
A delightfully silly film for a perfectly stupid franchise. It could have had a few sharper lines and more narrative drive, but this should still win over a new generation of He-fans.
