STORYLINE: In furthest regions of space the kingdom of Eternia is threatened by the villainous Skeletor and his mischievous armies of darkness. To save his fathers kingdom and protect the lives of those he holds dear young Prince Adam has to retrieve a mythical sword and become the fabled warrior only known as “He-Man”. (IMDb)

   In 2011 a remake of the 1982 cult classic Conan the Barbarian arrived in theaters.  Kevin Bacon’s 1984 classic Footloose saw its remake dance across the silver screen on 2011.  Even the 1988 John Waters/Devine collaboration Hairspray had a 2007 remake, starring John Travolta.   Now, this 2026 June weekend, the 1987 film Masters of the Universe, has its remake releasing into cinemas. 

    Fantasy films, at least it seems like the majority, tend to feature adventure and a visual style over the substance of story. In the eighties, there seemed to a trend to an overly muscular hero, in the lead. Masters of the Universe fit this mold, perfectly.  In the decades since, He Man and Skellator first did battle, tastes may have changed in the fantasy genre, but the baseline formula has remained the same.

    The 2026 Masters of the Universe is a falls in line with fantasy features. It is a hero’s journey, a bit of mythology throughout, magical creamers, basic known physics, being  broken by the supernatural, and of course, a sense of fun.  This is spread out over a 140 minute runtime, eclipsing the original film’s runtime by thirty five minutes. This extra time does nothing for e film, except add unnecessary filler to an overly simple story. 

     Masters of the Universe takes itself to seriously.  Masters of the Universe talks a lot about gender identity, and personal pronoun preferences.  Both are important topics, but still have the ability to be discussed, in inappropriate fashion, in the context of a fun fantasy feature.  After all, this is a movie with a talking green tiger.

   Masters of the Universe had a strong opening though. It was a fun through back to the spirit of the 1987 original. Unfortunately, that wasn’t sustained throughout motion.

    This 2026 Masters of the Universe needed less runtime, and more of a fun spirit of a fantasy movie. 

    Until next time, I will see you at the movies!