Masters Of The Universe Review: Endless Jokes And Riffing Rob A Potentially Fun Adventure Of Its Power – SlashFilm

What does it imply to own energy? If it needed to be boiled down to at least one phrase, let me borrow it from our pleasant neighborhood Spider-Man: accountability. In a society constructed across the patriarchy, cisgendered males wield a majority of the facility, which is why it is so vital for them (younger and previous) to recollect to make use of it responsibly. This message lies on the heart of “Masters of the Universe,” the brand new dwell-motion fantasy journey tailored from the favored cartoon and toy franchise which started in 1982. It is an excellent message, and one which is threaded all through the movie with honest coronary heart.

Sadly, that is about the one honest component to be discovered within the film, which is virtually brimming with determined insincerity masquerading as enjoyable. Director Travis Knight’s final movie, 2018’s “Bumblebee,” constructed a Nineteen Eighties sci-fi motion pastiche round a heartfelt relationship between a lady and her robotic automotive, thus emulating the perfect of ’80s style fare itself. He fails to deliver the same strategy to “Masters” right here, because the movie’s script instantly takes a tone harking back to too many different current fantasy adventures (significantly the “Thor” movies) which appears to suggest that they thought one of the simplest ways to cease audiences from probably laughing on the movie was to get them to chortle alongside. Because of this, the film finally ends up feeling much less like a rousing journey and extra like an overlong (141 minutes!) Saturday Evening Dwell sketch. It feels just like the filmmakers eschewed their accountability to promoting audiences on these characters and their world, and as a substitute relied on going for straightforward gags and cliches. “Masters of the Universe” could seem enjoyable at first look, however its ephemeral nature does its materials and themes a disservice.

When Marvel Studios employed Taika Waititi to make “Thor: Ragnarok,” Waititi’s penchant for taking nothing severely mutated right into a lethal, story-killing virus. In “Ragnarok” and its observe-up, “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the first factor that mattered was The Joke and little else. “Nothing issues and that is all foolish” is an honest sufficient philosophy for sketch comedy and have-size parody movies, however letting it threaten to kill all sincerity in an journey story is one thing to keep away from. Sadly, “Masters of the Universe” would not notice this, starting its journey into the bizarre, vibrant world of planet Eternia with a voice over from Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) which sounds positively embarrassed.

From there, the film hits so many Marvel Cinematic Universe beats that it feels prefer it’s working on Cliff’s Notes. Adam is whisked away to Eternia by Teela (Camila Mendes) after she picks him up from Earth. (We by no means see Earth once more, as a result of it was solely within the movie in order that Adam might make relatable jokey references.) On Eternia, Skeletor and Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie) need the Sword of Power that Adam introduced with him to Earth as a result of they’re Evil (no actually, that is their explicitly said motivation … they’re Evil), so that they chase the heroes round via numerous very fairly, properly rendered alien environments. 

But no matter verve Knight injects into the film’s motion sequences is regularly undercut by the movie’s willful dismissal of itself and the world it half-heartedly tries to construct. The film is caught between emulating the lighthearted tone of the youngsters’s cartoon and a extra grown-up journey fantasy, and appears to hope that infinite riffing will serve each. 

There is a unhappy irony to “Masters of the Universe,” which is {that a} film all about Adam studying to be his personal man (in addition to the broader, extra constructive definition of what it means to be a person) is so caught up in attempting to appear relatable or cool always. It feels just like the script was punched as much as demise, leaving an excessive amount of of it confused for the sake of humor. Ships that fold house name the very act of folding house “bizarre.” Eternians make savvy jokes however do not perceive sure Earth phrases. Adam is impressed to avoid wasting his dwelling planet largely as a result of he drew a bunch of images of it whereas on Earth. By the best way — who raised this child throughout his 15 years of exile? The film positive would not care!

One one who does appear to care is Jared Leto as Skeletor, who continues his marketing campaign to star in each ’80s franchise he ever liked as a toddler right here. Whereas the actor appears to be doing a thinly veiled impression of Tim Curry within the function, he is obtained a pizazz about him which actually stands out amidst the remainder of the solid, who’re saddled with too many shrug-and-snark quips. To be truthful, the movie’s little flashes of earnestness — in its message, its visible results (Skeletor seems to be genuinely actual in an uncanny vogue), its manufacturing design and its bombastic rating — maintain it from being a complete failure. Is the movie a largely correct model of the cartoon, jokey tone intact? Positive, but it surely additionally wants to inform a narrative, and at that, “Masters of the Universe” is powerless.

/Movie Ranking: 5 out of 10

“Masters of the Universe” opens in theaters on June 5, 2026.