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| "I will NOT pay a higher electric bill when I can make my own electricity!" Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) raises the Sword of Power to become He-Man in a scene from director Travis Knight's take on the popular toy line and cartoon turned rebooted action franchise MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE © 2026 Amazon MGM Studios Content Services LLC. |
THE STORY: Based on the popular 1980s cartoon and toy line of the same name, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MOTU) stars Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam. Cast away from his native Eternia once the evil Skeletor (Jared Leto) takes over his home, Adam spends 15 years on Earth ... Where he has become an employee sitting in a cubicle in human resources at a faceless company. But once a fabled artifact - the Sword of Power - attracts both friend and foe to Earth, Prince Adam finds himself called back to Eternia to stop Skeletor's evil ways and take his rightful place back home.
THE REVIEW: If you grew up in the 1980s when action figures with Saturday morning cartoons were the all the rage, you likely have a bit of nostalgia for MOTU. The 2026 live action film will likely rekindle some of those old feelings, even when the story feels a little corny moreso than it does compelling. Galitzine does a fantastic job of portraying Adam as someone coming into his own to be the hero his world needs while Camila Mendes is excellent as Teela, portraying the character with inspired strength and intelligence throughout. Even Leto – who ironically does his best superhero movie work hiding behind a skeleton's face – is commendable as Skeletor, capturing all the elements of the character that made him a favorite foe for longstanding franchise fans. While Idris Elba's turn as the fabled Man-At-Arms teeters too close into John Turturro-in-Transformers territory, it's not enough to slow down the audience's fun ... Or at least not to stop the momentum of the inevitable sequels the films three post-credit scenes make clear is coming and from creating a new generation of MOTU fans.RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
THE STORY: Rebooting after being out of the Wayans' family's hands for two - or should that be too many - movies, SCARY MOVIE brings back series' stars Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Dave Sheridan, Cheri Oteri, Shawn and Marlon Wayans while bringing some new blood into the mix. What ensues is non-stop parody of both modern horror hits like the ongoing Scream series, The Substance, Smile, Sinners, online/social media culture, political correctness and more.
THE REVIEW: Whereas older brothers Keenan and Damon had a more diverse set of films and the socio-political excellence of In Living Color to bank on, Marlon and Shawn have largely played in the more slapstick space with films such as Don't Be a Menace ..., White Chicks and the Scary Movie franchise. Their latest effort, however, is loaded with stereotypes and easy targets that feel more like lazy writing than true comedic fodder even when attempting to exploit said tropes. That, in turn, is why whereas Keenan and Damon's work always felt like hilarious dissertations, Scary Movie feels like Marlon and Shawn are students capable of A+ work that were just fine settling for Cs.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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