Masters of the Universe review: Galitzine has the power in a gloriously daft blockbuster

A 35-year wait that was actually worth it

Thirty-five years after Dolph Lundgren last hoisted the Power Sword, He-Man is back. And — remarkably, against all Hollywood odds — he’s quite good.

Travis Knight, the director behind Bumblebee and Kubo and the Two Strings, understands something that has eluded plenty of franchise directors before him: a movie based on a toy line about a man called He-Man should not be solemn. It should be joyful, a little embarrassing, and fully committed to its own absurdity. Masters of the Universe is all three things, and it is better for it.

The story, per Amazon MGM’s official synopsis, follows Prince Adam after “being separated for 15 years, the Sword of Power leads Prince Adam back to Eternia where he discovers his home shattered under the fiendish rule of Skeletor.” A prologue efficiently establishes the mythology: young Adam is blasted through a portal to Earth when Skeletor conquers Eternia, landing here without his sword and spending his teenage years as an ordinary HR worker in a drab office. It is exactly as funny as it sounds.

Galitzine is every inch the hero — and knows it

Galitzine — a Londoner who reportedly consumed 4,000 calories a day to fill out that loincloth — plays Adam as a loveable, broad-shouldered goof who just wants to go home. According to Fortress of Solitude‘s review, “He’s a lovable goof who you want to cheer for. All he’s ever wanted is to get back home and make his parents proud.” The duality of gentle-everyman Adam and capital-H He-Man is handled with more wit than expected; when he transforms, the power goes slightly to his head, and watching him clumsily course-correct is genuinely charming.

Empire praised it as “a delightfully silly film for a perfectly stupid franchise,” noting Knight leans into the ridiculousness in a way that largely works. Screen Rant went further, calling it “the hopecore movie of the summer” for its commitment to earnest heroics over ironic detachment.

Leto’s Skeletor is the film’s dark, screaming heart

Jared Leto, operating entirely beneath CGI bone, gives what may be the surprise performance of the summer. According to The Hollywood Reporter‘s roundup of critics, IGN’s Clint Gage wrote that Skeletor delivers “a delightfully weird and cartoonish energy to every scene he’s in,” while YouTube critic Jeremy Jahns called it the film’s standout performance outright.

Knight and screenwriters Chris Butler, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, and David Callaham wisely refuse to give Skeletor complex motivations. Per Flickering Myth, “sometimes a villain is just a villain, and a guy with a skull for a face doesn’t have any complex motivations for taking over and ruling a fantastical world.” The screenplay’s smartest trick is flipping Skeletor’s menace into petulant whininess at key moments — it is both true to the cartoon and genuinely funny.

Not every review agrees. Clutch Points argued the full-CGI skull gives Leto no room for nuance, leaving the character perpetually menacing but never layered. There is some truth to this; the practical armour looks magnificent, but the digital face occasionally disconnects the performance from the body wearing it.

A proudly British production under the fantasy armour

Principal photography ran from January to June 2025 at studios across London, making this a significant UK production. The British talent on screen is extensive: Elba, Galitzine, Charlotte Riley (Queen Marlena), James Purefoy (King Randor), and Kojo Attah (Tri-Klops) all hail from these shores. The film held its UK premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on 27 May 2026, attended by composer Daniel Pemberton alongside members of The Darkness and Queen’s Brian May — a suitably theatrical send-off for a suitably theatrical film.

The BBFC notes frequent intense fantasy violence — including stabbings, sword fights, and one scene in which a fantastical character’s jaw is ripped apart — though the violence is “mostly depicted without any sight of bloody detail.” The board also flags mildly scary moments involving skulls impaled on spikes. Parents of younger children should factor this in, but the tone throughout is adventure-film rather than horror.

Support cast and the limits of the running time

Idris Elba’s Man-At-Arms is warm and dependable, his mentor arc mirroring Adam’s growth in ways the screenplay earns rather than assumes. Camila Mendes brings energy to Teela, though several critics — including Fortress of Solitude — noted her character receives less development than she deserves. Alison Brie’s Evil-Lyn is a hoot: bumbling, devoted, and fully committed to the camp register the film needs. Kristen Wiig’s voice performance as Roboto provides comic relief, though it occasionally lands when the film already has enough going on.

The film’s most consistent weakness is its 141-minute runtime. Variety observed that the winking, self-deprecating humour largely “dissipates as it sprawls toward and then way past the two-hour mark,” with the film assuming an event-movie scale that its breezy opening tone doesn’t entirely justify. The third act leans heavily into spectacle at the expense of momentum.

The Wrap took a sharper view, arguing the film looks embarrassed by its own source material when characters bristle at the franchise’s silly names despite Skeletor and Evil-Lyn existing in the same universe. It’s a fair point. The film cannot fully decide whether to embrace the absurdity or hedge against it, and the hedging occasionally tips into condescension toward the very thing it is celebrating.

Daniel Pemberton’s score is the unexpected MVP

Composer Daniel Pemberton — a Londoner who has scored everything from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to Guy Ritchie‘s King Arthur — delivers what Rotten Tomatoes critics describe as “a rocking, majestic score” that benefits from embracing the film’s goofiness. It is big, orchestral, and unapologetically fun in ways that ground the spectacle when the visual effects occasionally wobble.

The verdict: He-Man’s big screen return is better than expected

Masters of the Universe is not a perfect film. It is too long, occasionally unsure of its own tone, and the CGI Skeletor mask robs Leto of an expressive face when he most needs one. But it is also genuinely entertaining in ways that feel increasingly rare for franchise blockbusters: practical sets, real costumes, a cast playing it with conviction, and a director who understood the assignment.

According to Screen Rant, the 2026 film is already the highest-rated entry in the franchise’s 41-year film history, surpassing the previous record-holder by a significant margin. That it also makes a strong case for a sequel — Knight has reportedly already mapped out where the story goes — suggests Eternia may finally have found its footing on the big screen.

In UK cinemas now. Take the kids. Take your nostalgia. Take approximately two and a half hours worth of patience for the back end. You will probably enjoy yourself.

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