I Went In Skeptical… and I Was Wrong…

As a ’90s baby, I grew up watching A LOT of cartoons—and not just cartoons from the ’90s. I was also introduced to plenty from the ’70s and ’80s, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was one of them.

So whenever I hear that another production company is making a live-action adaptation of a cartoon I grew up with, I immediately become a little skeptical.

Does this really need a live-action movie?

We’ve seen so many adaptations over the years that sometimes I’d rather just leave the cartoons we love alone.

After Masters of the Universe had been out for a few months, I finally had the opportunity to sit down and watch it. And mind you, this movie was definitely not at the top of my priority list.

But eventually I decided, you know what? Let me give it a chance.

And it’s a good thing I did.

I Expected Nothing… and Got a Fun Movie

I went into Masters of the Universe expecting basically nothing good from it.

Turns out, I was wrong.

One of my biggest complaints is the runtime. At around two hours, I definitely think the story could have been tighter and the movie shorter. There were moments where I felt like we could have moved things along a little faster.

But outside of that, I was pleasantly surprised.

The visuals were actually really good. The costumes? Loved them. The music worked well enough, and overall, I liked the way the filmmakers embraced the comic-book/cartoon side of He-Man instead of trying to turn everything into something overly serious.

And THAT was important.

Skeletor Understands the Assignment

The comedy was one of the biggest surprises for me, especially Jared Leto as Skeletor.

He understood what kind of character Skeletor is supposed to be.

Instead of stripping away the personality that made the cartoon villain so memorable, Leto embraces that exaggerated, comedic side of Skeletor—and for me, he delivers.

The movie understands that Masters of the Universe can have action, fantasy, villains, battles and high stakes while still having fun with itself.

Not everything needs to be dark and serious.

Sometimes we just want to have FUN.

It Gave Me Original Power Rangers Vibes

And this is probably the best way I can describe how this movie made me feel:

It reminded me of the original ’90s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV show.

If you know, YOU KNOW.

There was something about that combination of action, costumes, larger-than-life characters and comedy that brought me back to that era.

The original Power Rangers could give you a ridiculous villain, a fight scene, some comedy and a giant monster all in the same episode—and somehow it worked.

Masters of the Universe gave me a little bit of that same energy.

And maybe that nostalgia is part of the reason I enjoyed it as much as I did.

s Masters of the Universe perfect?

No.

The story could have been tighter, and that two-hour runtime definitely could have been trimmed down.

But did I have fun watching it?

Absolutely.

And sometimes that’s enough.

If you’re looking for something different that you can watch with the family, or you just want to sit back, relax and enjoy some action, fantasy and comedy without taking everything too seriously, give this one a chance.

I almost didn’t.

I’m glad I did.

Maybe that’s the biggest lesson here: sometimes that movie sitting at the bottom of your watchlist might surprise you.

By the power of Grayskull… this one was actually pretty fun.