I never owned the toys as a kid. I knew of them and had friends that did. I’d watched some of the He-Man cartoons (and the rebooted shows, and the excellent recent Kevin Smith reboot on Netflix). The Dolph Lungren 80s movie. In other words I’ve enjoyed He-Man/Masters of the Universe, but it wasn’t “my” franchise. This is relevant.

But boy, did I love the 1980s Flash Gordon movie. It was vivid, exciting, campy in the best way, solid special effects for the era, and had an absolute bangin’ soundtrack by Queen that elevated the movie. This is also relevant.

So when I saw Amazon was rebooting a live action Masters of the Universe, I was interested. I hoped it would bring the fun and nostalgia. More than casually interested, but less interested than a Star Wars or DC Universe movie. Those were “my” franchises.

That is a long walk to say that Masters of the Universe exceeded my expectations in the best way. Director Travis Knight made a Masters of the Universe movie in the mold of Flash Gordon, succeeding brilliantly. It brings all the color, the fun, the camp, the action, the stakes, you name it. Score composer Daniel Pemberton clearly knew the assignment, because he even got Brian May of Queen to play all over the soundtrack, making the Flash Gordon connection even more explicit.

I should also point out that the actors also understood the assignment completely. Lead actors Nicholas Galitzine, Camilla Mendez, Idris Elba, and Alison Brie are perfectly cast. They all bring their A-game, breathing life into what are essentially a line of children’s toys by walking the line between playing their characters straight and leaning into camp. It’s easy to write off actors in movies like this, but I had no idea Galitzine was British until I saw interviews after seeing the film, his American accent is spot on. And Idris Elba, who couldn’t put in a bad performance if he tried, gives a full emotional depth to a character based on a toy. After seeing the movie, I hope there’s more, and I’m excited for what else they can do with this cast and this style of film.

As always, the “snowflake contingent” has been making noises that the movie has spoiled their childhood by adding “woke” elements, that Adam is too “feminine” a He-Man because he has empathy and compassion in addition to muscles, blah blah blah. Their memory is selective. Adam was always meek until he changes into He-Man. The original cartoons always ended with a moral lesson (so that the studio/Mattel could pass it off as “children’s educational programming” and get the censors to ignore the violence). That the movie updates these aspects as well just goes to show how complete the filmmakers’ understanding of the franchise is.

And let’s get real, here: this is a franchise in which one of the best friends of the hero is a talking green tiger. This movie was built to be fun, funny, and exciting. It succeeds on all levels. If you like the Masters of the Universe franchise, even casually, you will enjoy this movie. If you loved Flash Gordon, you will love this movie. If you just want a big budget, fun sci-fi fantasy action movie, you’ll be satisfied. If this isn’t your genre, feel free to pass, but if it is, you’ll be rewarded with smiles from beginning to end.