Masters of the Universe
It was a world of endless beauty, a home of legends told to Adam as bedtime stories, son of King Randor and Queen Marlena, the Prince of Eternia who struggles in his sword training but is diligently watched over by Teela, the daughter of his trainer Duncan, the Master of Arms, raised knowing that one day he will hold the Sword of Power through which flows the mighty Power of Grayskull, for now watched over by the Sorceress.
A place of magic and harmony, it is not to last, the city of Eternos falling before its time, attacked by Skeletor and his armies, Prince Adam escaping through a portal opened to Earth, landing safely in Oklahoma City but separated from the Sword of Power, growing up under the name of Adam Glenn and keeping alive the memory of Eternia and his lost family in drawings, seeking a way back to his kingdom to liberate his people.
A hugely successful children’s toy line launched in 1982 alongside an associated comic book which moved into a cartoon series and beyond, Masters of the Universe previously became a live action feature film, released in 1987 and starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella in the lead roles, here featuring Nicholas Galitzine as Adam Glenn and Jared Leto as Skeletor, battling for supremacy over the fairytale kingdom of Eternia.
Directed by Travis Knight, Masters of the Universe is a manic hybrid of exactly what might be expected, boys’ plastic toys and eighties heavy metal album covers, fortunately never taking itself too seriously and with a modern awareness through which the acknowledged absurdities are filtered, Adam’s heroes remembered through the eyes of childhood and between astonished and appalled at the overly literal names he gave their likenesses.
With Camila Mendes as Teela, Idris Elba as Duncan, Alison Brie as Skeletor’s right hand witch Evil-Lyn, Morena Baccarin as the Sorceress and James Purefoy and Charlotte Riley as Randor as Marlena, despite the roster of names any characters are secondary to the action and antics, be it on the streets of Oklahoma or the fantasy realm of Eternia, Masters of the Universe never more than the sum of a plethora of influences.
An overly sugary “chosen one fulfills destiny” smoothie blended from ingredients of The Beastmaster, Star Wars, in particular Return of the Jedi and, in Roboto, Rogue One, the Thor sequence, with many shots lifted directly from Ragnarok, and Flash Gordon, with rocket cycles and a final attack on the enemy stronghold in hijacked ships to stop a ceremony accompanied by a Queen track borrowed from Highlander, even Brian May has provided his guitar services in addition to his blessing for Daniel Pemberton’s soundtrack.
Perhaps because the script was created by a smorgasbord of six writers and the whole was financed by Amazon, the film feels less than less an event and more a mood board of broadly expressed emotions and big explosions, perhaps an indicator of how cinema might become if scripts become artificially generated by default, with nothing new or surprising, entertaining and colourful escapism but shallow and forgettable, a corporate compromise with no soul or vision.
Adam “He-Man” Glenn a figurehead sprung from his drab office life but one who would achieve little without more capable companions supporting him, a contrast to the camp Shakespearean Skeletor who rules with a bony fist, treating allies only marginally better than his sworn enemies, the film admirable in its refusal to fall into the easy temptation of muscles and posturing but reliant on predictability from heavy-handed cameos to end-credit sequel signposting over real imagination or characters any more sophisticated than the action figures they are based on.
Masters of the Universe is on general release and also screening in IMAX now
