Masters of the Universe Movie Review (2026)
A fantasy adventure about the battle for Eternia spilling into modern-day Earth, Masters of the Universe is a campy and surprisingly enjoyable film that embraces the spirit of the original cartoon while having fun with its fish-out-of-water premise.
If you were an 80s kid like me, you grew up playing with Barbies and He-Man figures. In fact, I used to (nicely) make my brother have dances between my Barbies and his He-Man guys. The big men with muscles were quite a bit shorter than my tippy-toed women, but it all worked out in the end. They’d go to the Barbie Hot Dog Stand for dinner afterward.
Masters Of The Universe is about the land of Eternos, a city on the planet of Eternia, ruled by King Randor and threatened by Skeletor. Young Adam, the king’s son, is a softer soul and not prepared for combat, while Teela, Chief of the Royal Guard, Duncan’s daughter, is a great pupil. One day, when Skeletor and his henchmen take over the city and Castle Grayskull, the Sorceress opens a portal to Earth and sends Adam and the Sword of Power into hiding. Unable to keep hold of the sword in the portal, Adam spends the next 15 years hunting for it and trying to convince people that the stories he tells about his land are true. When he finally finds the sword, it leads him back to Eternos with the help of some old friends to fight for the land he calls home.
I am pleasantly surprised by how entertaining this film is. I had zero expectations going into it because – well, it’s a film about a muscly cartoon character in brown underwear, a castle with a skull on it, and a bunch of animal/human hybrid creatures. What could this possibly be, and how were they going to make it work?
There are quite a few strengths to this film, the largest of which is the full understanding of what they’re doing with the cartoon vs. human bits and how they play into the humor. It looks really cool when a bunch of people walk determinedly through a smoky mist, but it’s hard to breathe because they’re real people, so coughing fits abound. There are lots of tongue-in-cheek moments like this, and I laughed out loud quite a bit.
Knowing that there are millions of adults who grew up with the cartoon, the film does an excellent job of making various sequences feel familiar. The action scenes are wild and fun, but feel like a play off of what you would see in the show. When Adam first changes into his He-Man costume, the way they did it, with love and knowingness, I actually got chills. Watching him come to life… I can’t say that I remember the cartoon well, but that moment reached something deep in the recesses of my brain, and it was extraordinary.
It’s also fantastic to see emotionally aware Adam in a world of humans, where people discuss their feelings and try to connect on a human level. When you hold this up to the “good or bad” “win or lose” narratives of a cartoon, it levels up the rest of the storytelling.
There are so many small things I could say about Masters Of The Universe, but they all come down to it being an incredibly entertaining film with an array of memorable characters (many of which you may know) and a fun, over-the-top way of delivering the story. I think you’ll get a kick out of it.
Runtime: 132 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Available: Currently in theaters
