Masters of the Universe (2026)
I was there for the original cartoon. I wore out the VHS of the 1987 film so many times the tracking lines practically became part of the aesthetic. So going into Travis Knight's 2026 live-action Masters of the Universe, I was hesitantly hopeful, clinging to the faint possibility that the early critical mauling was just the usual internet pile-on and that, once I sat down in the dark, something magical might click into place. I kept telling myself it could be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles situation, where the hardcore fans eat it up while general audiences shrug. Reader, it is not that situation. It's just bad.
And that stings more than I can properly articulate. I desperately wanted this to be great. There's a version of a Masters of the Universe film that's a cracking, full-throated sword-and-sorcery epic, unapologetically weird and bold and fun. This is not that film. What Knight has delivered instead is a bloated, baffling mess that squanders every advantage it had going in.
Let's be fair where fair is due. Knight comes from a legendary animation background, and his eye for spectacle is undeniable. The heavily CGI-drenched realms of Eternia are genuinely fantastic to look at. There are moments where the screen just dazzles, and you can feel the craft and ambition behind the visuals. I expected nothing less from him. But a pretty coat of digital paint cannot hide a script that completely loses the plot, and here the script loses it very, very badly.
The most baffling creative decision is forcing the main character to spend a massive chunk of the runtime wandering about on Earth. It drags the pacing to an absolute crawl and strips away the fantastical escapism we actually paid to see. It becomes, essentially, a retelling of Superman, which is the last thing anyone turning up for He-Man wants. The whole point of Eternia is that it isn't Earth. Keep us there. Let it breathe. Instead, we get a fish-out-of-water slog that feels oddly timid for a property built entirely around a man in furry pants wielding a magical sword.
Then there's the cast, which only deepens the frustration. I'll be honest: I'm not Idris Elba's biggest champion at the best of times, and here he essentially reprises his Heimdall energy from the Thor films, right down to the cadence and the general air of noble weariness. It felt less like a performance and more like a Temu knock-off of a Marvel blockbuster, which is a genuinely dispiriting thing to type about a Masters of the Universe movie. The film is also plagued by a desperate, "we're trying so hard to be funny" mentality that results in jokes landing with a dull thud rather than a laugh. It's the kind of forced quirkiness that mistakes relentless wisecracking for charm. I thought about how James Gunn managed genuine wit alongside real stakes in The Suicide Squad, and how effortless that balance felt by comparison. There's none of that effortlessness here.
Fair play, though, to Jared Leto, whose voiceover work as Skeletor provides a rare glimmer of genuine menace and quality in an otherwise hollow production. He sounds like he's actually in a different, better film, one I'd quite like to watch. The character carries real threat in those moments, and it only underscores how flat everything around him feels.
Two stars, and I'm being generous because the visuals genuinely are something to look at.
This is a profoundly disappointing revival that completely misses the magic of the source material. Knight had the keys to one of the most beloved toy lines in history and the goodwill of an entire generation of fans who grew up wielding plastic He-Man swords in the garden. What he's given us is a glossy, narratively confused slog that tries too hard to be a quirky superhero romp and ends up being neither a satisfying fan film nor an accessible crowd-pleaser. It's an absolute chore to sit through, and I say that as someone who genuinely, sincerely wanted it to be brilliant. By the power of Grayskull, this was not it.
Rating: ★★ | Year: 2026 | Watched: 2026-07-23
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Physical: Amazon US
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