Another year, another attempt to revive a beloved 1980s toy property. We’ve seen it with Transformers, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and now He-Man gets his shot at the big screen again with Masters of the Universe.
The funny thing about He-Man is that everyone knows who He-Man is, but I don’t know how many people are actually passionate He-Man fans in 2026. The box office numbers seem to tell that story. But box office success has never been the same thing as quality, and that’s where Masters of the Universe surprised me.
I had a blast with this movie.
For context, I was never a huge He-Man guy. I was born in 1988, I knew the character, had a few action figures growing up, but I wasn’t deeply invested in the lore. I don’t think I’ve even seen the old Dolph Lundgren movie, although his cameo here got a laugh out of me. So I went into this movie with basically no expectations.
What immediately stands out is director Travis Knight. At this point, the guy just doesn’t seem to miss. Between Bumblebee, Kubo and the Two Strings, and now Masters of the Universe, he’s quietly built one of the most reliable filmographies in Hollywood. He understands exactly what kind of movie he’s making and never apologizes for it.
This movie fully embraces its identity.
It’s campy. It’s cheesy. It’s goofy. It’s awkward. It’s sincere. It tackles ideas about masculinity and what it means to be a hero while still feeling like a giant Saturday morning cartoon brought to life. There are moments that feel like Guardians of the Galaxy, moments that reminded me of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and there was even a flying sequence that genuinely gave me Top Gun: Maverick vibes.
That’s a pretty great recipe for a blockbuster.
The cast completely commits to the bit. Nicholas Galitzine does a fantastic job as both Prince Adam and He-Man. He convincingly plays the awkward, bumbling version of Adam before transforming into a larger-than-life hero. It’s a performance that could have easily felt ridiculous, but he makes it work.
Camila Mendes is strong as Teela. Idris Elba is one of the standouts as Duncan. Kristen Wiig brings a lot of personality to her voice work. Even supporting characters like Ram Man, Fisto, and Mech-Tek are a lot of fun.
But let’s be honest.
This movie belongs to Alison Brie and Jared Leto.
Alison Brie absolutely thrives as Evil-Lyn. The performance feels perfectly suited to her strengths, almost like watching one of her best Community-era comedy performances transplanted into a fantasy blockbuster.
And then there’s Jared Leto as Skeletor.
Skeletor steals this movie.
His design is incredible. His voice is fantastic. Every scene he’s in becomes more entertaining. He leans completely into the theatricality, the evil laughter, the ridiculous villain energy, and somehow makes all of it work. There are moments where he’ll spend an absurd amount of time laughing while everyone around him is wondering what the hell is going on, and I was eating it up every single time.
The campiness is either going to work for you or it won’t.
For me, it absolutely worked.
In fact, Skeletor might be one of my favorite blockbuster villains of the year. Every time he appeared on screen, the movie came alive.
Visually, the film looks great for the most part. The colors pop, Eternia looks fantastic, and the environments are full of personality. The action sequences are consistently entertaining and surprisingly well staged. The score, which I believe was composed by Daniel Pemberton, is also excellent and perfectly captures the over-the-top 80s fantasy energy the movie is aiming for.
My biggest criticism is the runtime.
At roughly 2 hours and 20 minutes, this movie is simply too long. There’s probably 20 to 25 minutes that could have been trimmed without losing anything important. The action remains entertaining, but the pacing definitely suffers at points.
I also would have liked more from Morena Baccarin’s Sorceress. She’s a great actress, and the character feels underdeveloped compared to everyone else. A little more screen time and character work would have gone a long way.
The CGI is mostly solid, although there are a few moments involving He-Man’s tiger companion where the visual effects look a little rough. Thankfully, those moments are the exception rather than the rule.
The movie also clearly wants to launch a franchise. There are multiple post-credit scenes, a tease for She-Ra, and plenty of setup for future installments. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen, but I genuinely hope it does.
Because here’s the thing: Masters of the Universe feels destined to become one of those movies people discover later on streaming and wonder why they skipped it in theaters.
We’ve seen this happen before with movies like Furiosa, Transformers One, and even Power Rangers. Good movies sometimes get lost because of bad timing, crowded release schedules, or lack of audience interest in the property itself.
I honestly think this movie suffered from its release date. It feels like something that could have dominated a quieter January or February window instead of fighting for attention in the middle of blockbuster season.
At the end of the day, Masters of the Universe isn’t perfect. It’s too long, some jokes don’t land, and a few characters could have used more development. But Travis Knight delivers another winner, the cast is having an absolute blast, the action works, the world-building is strong, and Jared Leto’s Skeletor is worth the price of admission alone.
This movie knows exactly what it wants to be, and it commits to that vision 100%.
Masters of The Universe = 79/100
