Like most people, cartoons were a big part of my childhood, especially those on Saturday mornings from the big networks, and Hollywood has made quite a few attempts to bring those shows to the big screen. Even in cases where they did not quite live up to their source material, there have been “do overs” to mixed results. The latest in this category is Masters of the Universe.
Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings and Bumblebee) directs this version with stars like Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Alison Brie and Jared Leto. Prince Adam (Artie Wilkinson-Hunt) is evacuated from his home planet of Eternia after the evil Skeletor (Leto) and his forces attack the castle, and with him goes the Sword of Power (which Skeletor wants for himself). Fast forward fifteen years, and Adam (now played by Galitzine) has to find the sword he was separated from in order to return to Eternia, and once he gets there finds that it is his destiny to save his planet from the evil that has occupied it while he was gone.
As is expected, there are a lot of visual effects used here in a film whose budget was estimated to be almost $200 million, and it is done well. If there is an opportunity to see it in 3-D format (which we did not have offered to us but is supposed to be an option upon its release), I would imagine that it would be that much more amazing to see. The cast is fine overall, but I really enjoyed Leto’s Skeletor, who really encompassed the character down to a couple of humorous moments that works as well.
Unfortunately, there was a bit too much comedy used here for my liking. Adam is basically portrayed as an imbecilic buffoon in the vein of Michael Scott in The Office without the authority, and that got old fast. This is an action film and should have focused more on that aspect versus the comedic stuff, and when you are running almost two and a quarter hours, it just drags the pacing down. If that was the case, maybe thirty minutes less would have done the trick.
My biggest issues here is that for a film that is intended for a very wide audience of all ages, there is quite a bit of adult references being made that are not appropriate for younger ears. And it might be different if it was just once or twice, but those types of references (especially when it comes to a certain character) are sprinkled all over the film itself, which I believe were uncalled for and excessive. That really took me out of it and affected my enjoyment to the point where Masters of the Universe I sone that I cannot recommend on any level and has earned my Un-Coveted “Maze Runner Promise” that it will make my year end list of worst films.