Masters of the Unvierse

Currently only in theaters

Runtime: 2 Hour and 12 Minutes

Rated PG-13

“Because he’s bad.”

“There has to be more to it than that.”

“Because he has a skull for a face.”

As a young boy, Prince Adam watches his home world of Eternia fall to the ruthless Skeletor. In a desperate attempt to save her son, Adam’s mother sends him to Earth with the legendary Sword of Power, the one weapon capable of helping a person become powerful enough to beat the tyrant. But after arriving on Earth, Adam loses the sword and spends the next fifteen years searching for it.

When he finally recovers the Sword of Power, Adam sends a distress signal back to Eternia and is reunited with his childhood friend Teela. Together, they embark on a perilous journey across the stars to return home. With Eternia hanging by a thread and Skeletor’s grip tightening, Adam must embrace his destiny and become the hero his world desperately needs before all hope is lost.

Sound familiar? Yeah, it was a toy line from the 80s that spawned a tv show and a cheesy movie.

Themes:‍ ‍

Royalty, other worlds, kingdoms, magic, heroes, villains, evil, loyalty, loss, invasion, power, the sword of power, conflict resolution, Castle Grayskull, fathers, longing to be something else, confidence, empathy, feelings, potential, loss, returning home, fear, power, standing up for others, good vs. evil, masculinity, and teamwork.

Language:

A*s - 7 D*mn - 3 Hell - 5 Piss - 2 P*ssy - 2 Sh*t - 2 Religious Exclamation - 7

Insults such as idiot, halfwit, and moron are used.

One character says, “Oh, balls.”

Stuff to be aware of:

‍ ‍Alcohol and Drugs -

• A man says, “I swear I’m not high.”

• One character is drunk multiple times and, in one scene, pulls out a flask. He is referred to as a “drunk” guy.

‍ ‍Gross - In a drunken stupor, a man throws up. In one scene, there are skulls on pikes. Several characters get bruises, bloody cuts, and scars.

‍ ‍LGBTQ - A man has a sign on his desk with his name that also reads He/Him.

‍ ‍Scary - There are multiple monsters in the movie. Many are directly inspired by the original action figures, but some look like demons and are dressed in skeleton armor.

‍ ‍Sexual - There are several comments full of innuendo.

• One character’s name is Fisto (he has a mechanical giant fist), and it is said multiple times in different scenes in the movie that he “fists” people.

• A woman tells a man, “You can kiss this place goodbye, consensually.”

• A woman asks a man who is acting crazy if he is single.

• A man and a woman almost kiss, but the word “friend” is said and they back away.

• A male character tells another male character that he has a “big long sword dangling between your glorious thighs.”

• One man fights with his head and someone yells, “give’ em head.”

‍ ‍Violence/Gore - There is a lot of fighting, shooting, and battle. Here are a few key things to note.

Overall:‍ ‍

Seeing It With Your Family

Although Masters of the Universe is based on the popular Mattel toy line from the 1980s, it is not what most people would consider a family-friendly film. The action, violence, and gore are roughly on par with what you would expect from a typical PG-13 Marvel movie, but the bigger concern for many parents will be the repeated sexual humor scattered throughout the film.

Most of these jokes will likely fly over the heads of younger children, but because they are played for laughs and repeated several times, they are memorable enough that kids may repeat them without understanding what they mean. Parents will want to pay particular attention to the content notes above before deciding whether this is the right fit for their family. While the movie offers plenty of action and adventure, it is clearly aimed more at teens and adults who grew up with the franchise than at young children discovering He-Man for the first time.

What I Thought

I grew up watching He-Man and collecting many of the toys, so I went into this movie with a healthy dose of nostalgia. At face value, the world of Masters of the Universe is pretty absurd. Its characters are larger than life, many of them were originally designed around action-figure gimmicks, and the story follows several familiar fantasy and hero ’s-journey beats that audiences have seen before. Thankfully, the filmmakers seem to understand exactly what kind of franchise they are working with.

Rather than trying to over-explain everything or force the material into a gritty, ultra-serious mold, the movie embraces its weirdness. It leans into the colorful fantasy setting, the over-the-top characters, and the inherent silliness of a universe where a muscle-bound hero battles a skull-faced villain for the fate of a magical world. For the most part, that approach works. The plot is fairly predictable, but the movie's willingness to have fun with its source material makes it an entertaining summer popcorn adventure.

There are both mid-credit and post-credit scenes that clearly set up future installments. While I enjoyed those teases, I do have a small concern that the franchise could run into the same problems that plagued some of the later Transformers films, expanding the universe faster than the story can support it and creating continuity headaches along the way. Time will tell.

Still, those concerns are for another day. Masters of the Universe is a fun, nostalgic ride that knows exactly what it is. If you grew up with He-Man, Battle Cat, and Skeletor, there is a very good chance you'll leave the theater with a smile on your face.