This is a superhero adaptation with a surrounding of nostalgia and a presence of gold written all over it, as a sword becomes the symbol of the hero. I loved the superhero He-Man growing up, so I felt I was in for a ride that would be bumpy and adventurous. I had a feeling that I would not be able to take some of the characters seriously, primarily because the cheesiness of Masters of the Universe keeps the cheese shredding with moments of brilliance that can simply fade into blurs. This is one where the silliness gets topped off and it can be a little too much.

Masters of the Universe is not horrid, but its plot is seemingly lackluster. The film’s premise surrounds a kingdom called Eternia with the villain Skeletor dwelling in this land. He is played by Jared Leto. The man who must save the army of darkness is Adam, played by Nicholas Galitzine. However, in the beginning he feels no one will believe his path is to be a hero. That is until he grabs the sword and becomes He-Man. He must fight to save Eternia, before Skeletor takes over. Not only Skeletor rules, as he has an assistant named Evil-Lyn, played by Alison Brie. The life of Adam becoming a hero is not something he expected. He rises fast though when his childhood friend Teela, played by Camila Mendes, comes in to assist.

The kingdom in shambles and a man questioning his fate make the execution of Masters of the Universe to have more moments to laugh at than to take seriously. I could not take Jared Leto or Alison Brie very seriously at all, because the persona of evil within their characters flies below the radar. Leto is already sketchy with characteristics of strange acting methods, and Brie is just too sweet and innocent to present as evil.  The fighting, however, is what stands out the most, as it rises above all the plots.

The question that comes around in the film is, “Have you seen this sword?” The moment this question is asked is where the wheels fall off and things begin to feel disastrous. It creates so much CGI and too much predictability between good guys and bad guys. Disappointingly, the technology speak louder than the storyline of the film. The sword does not spin with cinematic wonders as much as I had expected.

Quirky and almost predictable, this is an average superhero adaptation with more to come. I do give this credit for forming somewhat of a franchise foundation, but I feel that I will just go back to cartoon series of He-Man for any sort of true fulfillment.The animation classic had more meaning than this presentation, as the cheesiness of the actors in this adaptation did not make the film feel like it was flowing well. Fun with all the action and extremely witty, but so predictable. Two out of four stars for Masters of the Universe.