Masters of the Universe Review: Travis Knight Delivers the He-Man Movie Fans Have Been Waiting Decades For
- Klep Napier
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
By Klep Napier | WeAreCritiX.com
For decades, Masters of the Universe has occupied a strange place in pop culture.
It's one of the most recognizable toy and cartoon brands of the 1980s, yet every attempt to bring He-Man back to the mainstream has faced the same question: can modern audiences actually take this world seriously?
After all, this is a franchise filled with magical swords, skull-faced villains, giant green battle cats, and characters with names like Trap Jaw, Man-At-Arms, and Beast Man. On paper, it sounds ridiculous.
And that's exactly why Travis Knight's Masters of the Universe works.
Because it never spends a second apologizing for any of it.
A Love Letter to the Original Cartoon
The biggest compliment I can give Masters of the Universe is that it feels like someone took the original Filmation cartoon, pointed a camera at it, and somehow brought it into live action.
The production design is phenomenal. The costumes are faithful without feeling cheap. The creature designs embrace the weirdness of Eternia instead of running from it. From Castle Grayskull to Skeletor's forces, nearly everything feels ripped directly from the source material.
This isn't a grounded reimagining.
This isn't a gritty reboot.
This is Masters of the Universe.
And fans are going to recognize that immediately.
What impressed me most was how much effort the film puts into embracing the mythology. Rather than assuming audiences will simply accept these bizarre characters at face value, the screenplay actually spends time giving context to many of them. Character names, origins, motivations, and pieces of lore are woven into the story in ways that help make Eternia feel like a fully realized fantasy world.
For longtime fans, it's incredibly rewarding.
Continure Reading or watch our full video review via YouTube:
The He-Man Moments Are Pure Magic
There are certain moments in this film that simply cannot be replicated by watching a trailer on your phone.
The transformation scenes are one of them.
When Nicholas Galitzine raises the Sword of Power and utters the iconic words, "By the Power of Grayskull," the entire theater experience changes. You can feel the anticipation. You can feel the audience waiting for it.
And when it happens, it delivers.
Those moments remind you why He-Man became such an enduring hero in the first place. They aren't just action scenes. They're wish-fulfillment. They're childhood imagination brought to life.
Galitzine fully understands that assignment.
As He-Man, he's confident, charismatic, and physically imposing. He carries himself like the legendary champion of Eternia should.
Ironically, my issues come more from Prince Adam than He-Man.
The film leans heavily into making Adam awkward, quirky, and occasionally nerdy. While some audiences may find that charming, I often found it distracting. The Prince Adam I grew up with wasn't necessarily cool, but he wasn't portrayed as a social misfit either. That interpretation occasionally clashes with the larger heroic mythology surrounding him.
Fortunately, once he becomes He-Man, those concerns largely disappear.
Jared Leto Disappears Into Skeletor
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the entire film is Jared Leto.
Skeletor is one of animation's most iconic villains, and bringing him into live action was always going to be a difficult task. Yet somehow Leto manages to disappear completely into the role.
There were multiple points during the film where I genuinely forgot I was watching Jared Leto.
The voice, the physicality, the mannerisms, the arrogance, the menace—it's all there.
More importantly, the film gives Skeletor plenty to do. He's not a villain standing around waiting for the third act. He's a constant presence throughout the story, and his scenes frequently become some of the strongest moments in the film.
Fans worried about whether Skeletor would feel authentic can probably breathe easy.
He's one of the best parts of the movie.
Trap Jaw Might Be the Real MVP
As much as I enjoyed Skeletor, there was one character I couldn't stop thinking about after the credits rolled.
Trap Jaw.
Played by Sam C. Wilson, never in a million years did I expect Trap Jaw to become one of the most intimidating figures in the film.
In the original cartoon, he was certainly memorable. Here, he's terrifying.
The character serves as much of the physical threat throughout the story and creates several of the film's most intense moments. Every time he appears on screen, the stakes immediately rise.
If Amazon MGM is already thinking about sequels, I need more Trap Jaw.
Immediately.
The One Thing That Holds the Film Back
For all the things Masters of the Universe gets right, there is one issue that repeatedly pulled me out of the experience.
The dialogue.
The film frequently leans into humor that feels designed for very young audiences. Sometimes it works. Other times it completely undercuts the emotional weight of a scene.
There were multiple moments where the story was building genuine tension, only for a joke to arrive that felt out of place or overstayed its welcome.
The challenge is that the movie is often operating at two different frequencies. On one hand, it wants to be a grand fantasy epic filled with destiny, sacrifice, and world-ending stakes. On the other, it occasionally feels like it's speaking directly to an eight-year-old audience.
Neither approach is inherently wrong.
The problem is when they collide.
It's the one area where the film occasionally loses its footing.
Fans and General Audiences May Have Very Different Reactions
This is where things get interesting.
Watching the film, I found myself experiencing two reactions simultaneously.
The fan in me was having a blast.
The critic in me was watching the room.
And I couldn't help noticing that the people most likely to embrace this movie are the ones who already understand what Masters of the Universe is.
Fans are going to love seeing Eternia realized on this scale. They're going to appreciate the references, the mythology, the costumes, and the commitment to the source material.
General audiences may have a different reaction.
Some will undoubtedly walk away thinking the movie is wildly entertaining.
Others may find themselves wondering what in the world they just watched.
That's not necessarily a flaw.
It's simply the reality of adapting something this unapologetically strange.
Final Verdict
Travis Knight's Masters of the Universe succeeds because it understands exactly who it is.
It's loud. It's weird. It's magical. It's campy. It's sincere.
Most importantly, it's unafraid to be Masters of the Universe.
The dialogue occasionally stumbles, and some of the humor won't work for everyone. But the production design, mythology, action sequences, performances, and sheer commitment to the source material make this one of the most faithful live-action adaptations fans could have hoped for.
If you grew up with He-Man, you're probably going to leave the theater smiling.
If you're brand new to Eternia, buckle up.
It's going to be one weird ride.
Masters of the Universe arrives exclusively in theaters on June 5, 2026.
Stay through both post-credit scenes. Trust me.
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