Tag: skeletor

Well, I just got out of the theater from watching the Masters of the Universe movie no more than a couple of hours ago, and I still can’t wipe the grin off my face. I have seen so many beloved childhood IP’s turned into absolute shadows of their former selves when hitting the big screen, including Masters of the Universe. Though the original movie I hold in a separate category, as it was absolute schlock in the best way it could have been for the time. Both G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra and Retaliation left much to be desired. The Michael Bay Ninja Turtles movies turned the main characters into ninja Shreks. And let’s not forget about other titles like Inspector Gadget, Garfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Smurfs, and Aeon Flux. I enjoyed the first and the third Transformers movies, but the rest were, well, not great. 

When watching movies that were based on cartoons, I usually can’t help but think, why not make it just like the cartoon? Why does everyone have to be wearing all black? Why do characters need to look different? Why do the stories need to change so much? And I think that’s usually the biggest downfall of those movies. They just don’t cater to their fanbase like they should. Say what you will about Marvel these days, but they really changed the landscape in terms of  keeping things accurate to source material and really pandering to the fans. Without Marvel movies showing that silly costumes and stories can work on the big screen, and fans demanding that things like ugly Sonic won’t be tolerated, we probably wouldn’t have this movie. 

Masters of the Universe doesn’t even try to be anything less than an episode of the cartoon, and I love it so much for that. The look, the tone, the goofiness of it all. It was all just so amazing. Of course I’m looking at this through nostalgia goggles, but like, how else would you even want to look at this movie? It isn’t trying to be anything else except for pure nostalgia in all the right ways. There are no, “Somehow, Palpatine returned,” moments shoehorned in, or a scene depicting Devastator with clanking testicles. It was just a straight forward, two hour and thirteen minute episode of the cartoon. The characters looked like they were ripped right out of the animation cells. The vehicles, the locations, even the music. They really put a lot of effort into the details that fans like myself would notice. 

I won’t give away any major plot points, or spoilers, so don’t worry about that. Some of the biggest worries I have heard around the internet was the fact that Adam was on Earth, which was advertised heavily in the trailers. In reality, that takes up a small portion of the movie, and it really doesn’t feel too out of character when compared to the show. I mean, Queen Marlena was from Earth, so it was a bit of a Uno reverse moment. Other complaints revolved around the played out “fish out of water” scenario, but I really didn’t get those vibes. Yes, technically Adam would be a fish out of water while on Earth, but it isn’t played like that. His character and motivation are set up pretty well in the opening scenes, and it stays true to that throughout. 

Skeletor was probably the best part of this whole movie. He was just as goofy and maniacal as he was in the cartoon, and it was so nice to see that. There were so many great villain moments, one liners, quips, and gags that worked so well for the character. Skeletor really stole the show. Man-At-Arms, Teela, Ram-Man, Trap-Jaw, Fisto, they were all so faithful to the source material as well. All the characters were, for that matter. Honestly, I thought Alan/He-Man was great, but I couldn’t help but drift my attention to the background characters, side characters, set pieces and all the easter eggs that were in every scene. As a fan of the cartoon, a collector of so many things, and just a huge nerd in general, I felt like the living embodiment of the Leonardo Dicaprio pointing at the tv screen meme.

Unfortunately, I think the fact that it’s so faithful to the source material might be its biggest downfall. The movie had a $170 million budget, and probably that same amount was spent on marketing. The opening weekend only pulled in $54 million. It probably has another week left in theaters before it gets pushed off to the side for something else, and I just don’t see it being able to even recoup production costs. I can’t tell you how happy I am that this movie was made, and that I was the target audience for it, but at the same time that really limits its appeal to a wider audience. Its a real shame, because the movie does set up a lot for possible sequels. Will we ever get those though? I guess time will tell. 

I have so many memories tied to He-Man, and have so much nostalgia for the franchise. This movie really brought me back to a time when I would be sitting in my pajamas, eating cereal, watching cartoons and playing with my toys. I guess I still do that, but you get the point. This movie was made for the fans, plain and simple. It’s totally niche in that aspect, and really doesn’t even try to appeal to anyone else. I highly recommend it to anyone that loved the original cartoon, and needs a hardy helping of nostalgia. Outside of that, I feel like it would leave people scratching their heads. All of the amazing attention to detail would be missed, and that’s half the movie, honestly. Also, don’t forget to stay all the way to the end of the credits!