He-Man: somewhere between a blockbuster and a straight-to-video movie

I was never a particularly big He-Man fan as a kid. I liked G.I. Joe much more, partly because the figures had far more joints and gave you much more room to play. 

And because there were only about 6 or 7 He-Man figures, compared with dozens of different G.I. Joe figures with which you could invent a thousand and one different stories.

What I mean is that I watched Masters of the Universe without much nostalgia. And maybe that is why the impression it left on me is quite simple: it is entertaining, it made me laugh several times and, although it has plenty of flaws, it is easy enough to enjoy.

The film is directed by Travis Knight, who already had experience directing a live-action film based on toys –Bumblebee, from the Transformers-. Nicholas Galitzine (previously unknown to me) plays Adam and He-Man.  

That said, the movie runs for 2 hours and 23 minutes, which is quite a bit longer than it needs to tell this story.

Plot of Masters of the Universe

Adam has spent years separated from Eternia -a situation explained in the prologue- and living on Earth. When he recovers the Power Sword, he ends up returning to his world and discovers that Skeletor has taken control.

From there he has to reclaim his identity as He-Man, reunite with characters such as Teela and Duncan and try to stand up to the villain. As you can see, it is a textbook hero's journey with no surprises.

You do not need to know the cartoons or toys to follow the story because the film explains what you need, although you will only catch certain gags if you used to play with them.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Eternia edition

While I was watching this film I could not stop thinking about the similarities in tone to James Gunn's superhero films such as Guardians of the Galaxy and, above all, The Suicide Squad.

The jokes and dialogue reminded me of them so much that I checked whether they shared writers. They do not, but the constant blend of epic adventure and humour is very similar, so now you know what to expect.

There is a fight, someone makes a joke. Something appears that seems very epic and, a few seconds later, the film undercuts it again with some funny comment.

Overall it works because it keeps the film entertaining and, in fact, it got several laughs out of me. The problem is that the same mixture also leaves many scenes halfway there: neither especially epic nor especially funny, something Gunn handled better.

Nicholas Galitzine does the job as He-Man

Nicholas Galitzine does not have that charisma some major stars have, the kind that lets them fill the screen just by appearing. In fact, at certain moments the casting gives the film a slight “straight-to-video movie” feel, even though this is a blockbuster production.  

And even so,  I think he is a good choice for the character. He fits the film's parodic, self-aware tone well and gives a solid performance, without any great fireworks.

Camila Mendes is also fine as Teela, nothing more. She does what she has to do, although you will probably have forgotten her in a few days.

Jared Leto, however, I liked quite a lot as Skeletor. His performance moves between an old-school thoroughly evil villain and an exaggerated, theatrical operetta bad guy. And that is precisely why he works in this film.

The CGI works sometimes and looks painfully fake at others

Visually, this is a fairly uneven film. There are striking images and settings that are very well conceived, along with scenes that really do feel like part of a major production.

However, once the characters start moving and fighting, the problems appear. In jumps, running and certain animations, the physics are not very believable and bodies suddenly seem to lose weight -or gain it-.

This creates the strange feeling of watching an extremely expensive film one moment and a fairly cheap one a few seconds later. 

The CGI is not bad overall, but it is very uneven. Some scenes look spectacular, but the contrast between one and another is far too obvious.

On the positive side, I would highlight the final fight between He-Man and Skeletor: more striking and different from the usual, with real energy.

It could lose quite a few minutes

Let's be clear: almost two and a half hours is a lot for this story.

And yet I think the beginning works. It gets to the point, sets up the situation without too much fuss and pulls you into the story quickly. It helps, of course, that we have seen this plot hundreds of times before.

It is in the middle section that things start getting stretched too far. It never breaks because something is always happening, but there are scenes, conversations and action sequences that could have been shortened, and I think the film would have been more engaging for it.

Yes, with twenty or thirty minutes cut, it would probably have been a much tighter spectacle.

The best and the worst

The best thing is that it is entertaining even if you have no special affection for He-Man. The humour works quite often, Jared Leto is excellent as Skeletor and some scenes are visually striking.

The worst thing is the runtime and, above all, the uneven CGI. When the digital movement starts looking unnatural, it is hard not to notice and it pulls you out of the story.

Verdict: is He-Man worth watching?

Yes, although do not expect the greatest fantasy film ever made. It is a light, fun and sufficiently entertaining adventure that you can enjoy without being a fan of Masters of the Universe.

It has the three clear problems already mentioned: it is too long, the CGI looks very fake in certain scenes, and the constant mix of humour and epic spectacle means it rarely excels at either.

Even so, I had a good time watching it. And if they make a sequel I will probably watch that too, more out of curiosity about what they do with the characters than because I am desperate to return to Eternia.

Technical details

Item	Information
Title	Masters of the Universe
Year	2026
Runtime	2 h 23 min
Director	Travis Knight
Main cast	Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Jared Leto, Idris Elba and Alison Brie
Genre	Action and fantasy
Country	United States
Available on	Prime Video
Rating	3/5