MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ISN'T MASTERFUL, BUT IT IS FUN!

FULL DISCLOSURE: The film being discussed today was directed by Gary Goddard, who was accused of sexual misconduct by 8 men. I in no way condone or endorse this kind of behavior. 

The creative mind behind Jurassic Park: The Ride, Terminator 2 3-D: Battle Across Time, and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride brings us an incredibly silly, cheesy, and dated action-comedy spectacle.

In Masters of The Universe, He-Man (Dolph Lungren) and his ragtag group of freedom fighters are battling the evil Skeletor (Frank Langella) and his army in their homeland of Eternia. When He-Man and his team are outmatched, they are forced to escape through a portal to Earth (California, to be specific). Stranded in a foreign world, they are tasked with protecting the Cosmic Key, which has the ability to open a portal to anywhere in the Universe. With Skeletor hot on their trail, the final battle for mastery of the entire universe begins.

Gary Goddard directs, and his proclivity for all things theme parks shows. A good deal of the film feels like you are watching a live-action stunt show in a theme park, with all the good, the bad, and the silly a show like that entails. The effects aren't necessarily bad, but a good deal are definitely quite dated. The fight scenes are fun, but do feel fake (in fact, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was reminded of Poseidon's Fury during some portions of the film). 

California and Eternia feel surprisingly empty, as there are barely any extras to be found in the film (With the budget of $22 mill, you'd think the filmmakers could afford more than a few extras). It's certainly odd. By far the worst thing about Masters of The Universe is the decision to set almost all of the film in California. The setting just doesn't really add any excitement to the film. In fact, it's a fairly bland and dull location, despite the film featuring more than it's fair share of action/fight scenes. I could see how having He-Man and crew interacting with aspects of Earth society may have sounded like a clever idea at the time, but it just doesn't work in execution. The film likely would have been better if the whole thing had just stuck to the setting of Eternia.

Dolph Lundgren is passable as He-Man. He can't really act, but he certainly looks the role. Frank Langella is fine as Skeletor, and does a suitably over-the-top performance. Billy Barty plays the role of Gwildor, a good-natured dwarf who invented the Cosmic Key and reluctantly joins He-Man's team. His character is pretty much what you would expect him to be: Annoying yet entertaining. 

A young Courtney Cox plays Earth girl Julia, who is preparing to move to New Jersey while still grieving over the death of her parents years prior. Her boyfriend Kevin (Robert Duncan McNeil, who is likable and decent) and her come into possession of The Cosmic Key and team up with He-Man and crew. She does a good job with what the script gives her to do. James Tolkan (best known for his role as Principal Strickland in the Back To The Future trilogy. SLACKER!) plays Hugh Lubic, a dumb and angry detective who is roped into the proceedings. 

In the end, Masters of The Universe is not a terrible film, but it's also not really all that good either. The direction from Gary Goddard is decent, and the script by David Odell is pure 80s silliness. Masters of The Universe is entertainingly bad, and either you love that kind of thing or you don't. Myself? I had a lot of fun with the film and would gladly recommend it to lovers of good-bad films.

3 STARS