Year of Release: 2026
Director: Travis Knight
Starring: Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Jared Leto, Alison Brie, Jon Xue Zhang, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Charlotte Riley, James Purefoy, Sam C. Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Morena Baccarin, Christiaan Bettridge Artie Wilkinson-Hunt, Eire Farrell, James Wilkinson, Dolph Lundgren
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review
Cracking the code of a good adaptation for the 1980s animated series "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe", seems to be an impossible task. The prior version from Gary Goddard, in his sole directorial endeavor, was met with negative reviews, even if it had an eclectic cast which included Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Courteney Cox, and Meg Foster. This new version from director Travis Knight, who previously directed the fantastic "Kubo and the Two Strings" and the well received "Bumblebee", doesn't fare much better, mostly because the film has a challenging script and tone that can't quite find its footing. The narrative follows the story of Adam, who is the son of the King and Queen of Eternia. He is trained by Duncan, the king's Man-At-Arms, who is also the father of his friend Teela, however Adam is smaller than everyone else, and has some challenges. His life, and that of everyone in Eternia, is forever changed when the planet is invaded by Skeletor. He captures the King and Queen while Adam is sequestered by the Sorceress, guardian of Castle Grayskull. He is sent through a multi-dimensional portal to Earth, however during his escape, Adam loses the sword. 15 years later, Adam is working in human resources and shares an apartment with his friend Hussein. He obsesses about finding his sword, and doesn't have much of a private life. He finally gets a text that his sword has been found, and causes all sorts of ruckus at a local comic book store where it's located. As it turns out, the sword is indeed the legitimate one, and it has acted like a beacon to indicate its location. Adam is attacked by one of Skeletor's minions, only to be saved by Teela. They manage to escape, and head back to Eternia, a place that is now very different than what Adam has remembered. They have Skeletor to defeat, and bring back Eternia to its lost wonder.
While "He-Man" does come across as a super hero (of sorts), this film has a bit of a challenge in creating an origin story that does it justice. On one hand the script forcibly tries to be funny (Adam works in HR, where conflict and friction are addressed by joint conversations and collaboration), and secondly it doesn't provide much depth about who Adam actually is, aside from the anecdotal aspect he has a roommate (who apparently doesn't work and spends all his time looking at the TV). There isn't much context as to what has happened to Adam during the 15 years he was on Earth and how he even adapted to such a different reality. The fish out of water narrative does indeed present itself, but in how Adam readjusts himself to Eternia and to the fact that no one remembers him, or think of him as a lame and feeble individual. As it happens, no one in Eternia knows the meaning of pacifism, or truces, or finding a compromise when a war needs to come to an end. The script for this film is quite puzzling, since on one hand the creative team introduces Duncan, the Man-At-Arms as an alcoholic with something to prove to himself and his daughter, while on the other, it makes Skeletor as a bit of clownish villain, with no backdrop, or perspective other than wanting to rule the planet of Eternia. The film has all these influences from various films, including the iconic "Star Wars" saga, but while trying to entertain children, it fails to realize that these characters can't just be human versions of the cartoon, they have to behave and feel like real people. The creative team for this film should have looked at what Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley did with "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves", and created a script that is able to appeal to a child, but still retain enough character dimension and quirkiness, that goes beyond colorful costumes and questionable line reads regarding some of the characters' names. The cast sadly can't do much with the material, though Idris Elba is always great, the same going for Alison Brie. The production team is competent and solid, including Fabian Wagner's cinematography, Daniel Pemberton's score, and Guy Hendrix Dyas' production design. It's a missed opportunity for a director who has demonstrated a strong affinity for material that crosses multiple generations of viewers.
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