REVIEW: MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
THE GIST
They had the power, but were too scared to use it!
THE REVIEW
!!!SPOILERS!!!
EXPECTATIONS
I’m a bit peeved about how easily I am swayed into watching nostalgia bait, and I had that feeling leading up to Masters Of The Universe. Hell yeah it looked cool. Even though I wasn’t into it as a kid, apart from having the toys mainly. I feel like I saw the Dolph Lungren film later on and really liked that. It’s a bit shit watching it again as an adult though lol.
When someone asked me earlier that day “What’s Masters of the Universe”. I realised how hard it was to describe to someone and the more I did describe it, the more ridiculous it sounded. This really bought to my attention how silly Masters of the Universe actually is.
Either way I was looking forward to just sitting back and being entertained without having to think too hard.
RATINGS SO FAR
After 8 days since release it is sitting at a 7.2/10. I am guessing that will go down over time.
CONTEXT
The film was announced in 2009 by Sony Pictures Entertainment with Escape Artists producing. Following multiple writer, director and casting changes, the rights were transferred to Netflix in 2022 and then bought by Amazon MGM Studios in 2024. Principal photography occurred in London, England, from January to June 2025.
THE PLOT
A young man on Earth discovers a fabulous secret legacy as the prince of an alien planet, and must recover a magic sword and return home to protect his kingdom.
THE EXPERIENCE
If the whole movie was like the first 30mins and ended after 90mins, it would have been a better experience.
When it worked, it was great. When it didn’t, it was uninteresting.
THE MEAT
The Story: I liked it enough but it really drew out and withered in the second half. The story never kept me hooked. I often didn’t fully understand what was going on for not paying attention, it was all a bit too fantastical for me. It started at 1pm. At 2:45pm I was checking the time and wishing it was over. In the quieter parts of the story where I think they were trying to be profound moments bringing heart to the film, just fell flat. I switched off. It was just disinteresting. I would usually wonder “what’s going on?” but not care and just wait for more humorous and action filled scenes.
The Humour: In terms of tone and humour, it had hints of Guardians Of the Galaxy, but more so, Thor Ragnarok, although nowhere near as good. I genuinely laughed out loud and had a good time with how they approached the humour. The problem was, it wasn’t always there.
Was It Faithful?: I don’t know the lore of this franchise so I can’t comment on how faithful it is to the original stories and characters. But from the toys I had as a kid and the very little I remember seeing the cartoons on TV, visually it seemed to hold up.
Skeletor/Jared Leto: The best thing I have seen and heard Jared Leto do in a long time, pity it wasn’t in a better movie.
The Score: Queen? The Darkness? I haven’t seen Flash Gordon but the soundtrack to MOTU made me think of that for obvious reasons. There were also funny Highlander references in the film and later on the Queen song from that started playing.
Costume & Make-up: While the CGI creating the worlds etc. being amazing, the Costume design was a bit campy in comparison. I think this was intentional though.
SUMMARY
About a third of this film is great fun, the rest…..isn’t.
If they insist on making a sequel, I hope they do what Mortal Kombat II did. Listen to what the fans did and didn’t like in the first one and make a much superior film.
