When I saw the trailer for Masters of the Universe, I felt conflicted. As a big fan of actor Nicholas Galitzine, who has impressed me again and again in films and TV projects over the last few years, I was concerned. This movie looked baaaaad. It looked cheesy, derivative and altogether quite boring, despite being the thing that could solidify Galitzine as the full-blown movie star I’ve always known he was. But I thought it could also be the kind of embarrassment that could derail his career of the promise it had. But it was only after I saw the initial (mostly glowing) reactions to the film started to trickle in that I realized, oh yeah, Travis Knight directed this. Having directed Bumblebee, Knight has already taken ridiculous source material that shouldn’t work at all and turned it into a big, colorful, energetic summer movie blast. And he’s done it again. 

Prince Adam (Galitzine) was banished from his home planet Eternia when he was a young child, after his parents were abducted by the evil Skeletor (Jared Leto). He was supposed to guard the Sword of Power, which he lost along the way. Once he stumbles upon the sword he’s been searching for over the last 15 years, he’s found by his childhood friend Teela (Camila Mendes) who whisks him back to Eternia. Once there, he finds the home he’s missed all these years under tyrannical rule from Skeletor, and Adam must find the power within himself to defeat the villain and bring peace and order back to Eternia. 

I thought this was going to be an indisputable hot mess. Like I said, the advertising wasn’t promising. The movie basically looked like a Marvel movie ripoff, a cynical attempt to jumpstart a franchise nobody really cared if it saw the light of day. And as the Nicholas Galitzine stan I am, I found this kind of heartbreaking. What I found instead when I sat in the theater yesterday for Masters of the Universe, was pretty much everything you could want from a summer movie. It’s surprisingly a very good time – full of laughter, action, heart, and an infectiously joyful sense of wonder. And I think if audiences give the film a chance, rather than dismissing it due to the crappy ad campaign, they might be as surprised by it as I was.

I’ve been saying for a few years now that Nicholas Galitzine could do just about anything. And what can I say? I love it when I’m right. The seemingly endless hours of work and training Galitzine put in to achieve his superhero movie physique were decidedly not in vain. Everything I’ve loved about him as a performer in movies like Bottoms, 100 Nights of Hero, and Red, White & Royal Blue (which has a sequel coming later this year[!]), not to mention TV projects like Mary & George, has built up to what he’s doing here. He’s an actor who has so much to give audiences and his performance in this film is indisputable proof of that.

Galitzine is massively charming as the goofy nerd who’s desperate to get back to his home planet. But when he goes through what I can only describe as the superhero transformation, he sells every bit of that too. He’s got an intense physicality and an incredibly commanding screen presence, and it’s impossible to look away when he’s onscreen. He’s mesmerizing and compulsively watchable as an action hero, but also nails the quieter, more emotional moments with ease. Even if this doesn’t end up being the hit the studio wants it to be, it won’t dim Galitzine’s sparkle one bit. I will absolutely be eagerly anticipating whatever he does next. He has the power, indeed. 

And I regret to inform you Jared Leto was actually a very good choice for Skeletor. Leto is the kind of actor who, I’ll be honest, I didn’t care if I ever saw in a movie again. But to be fair this is more of a vocal performance than anything else. We never see his face (thank goodness) and his voice doesn’t even resemble any crazy voice he’s done before. He’s basically unrecognizable, but here that’s a plus. Also, really enjoyed Riverdale’s Camila Mendes as Adam’s childhood friend/crush Teela. She’s charming as hell too, even if she’s overshadowed a bit by showier performances. Idris Elba plays her father, and he’s clearly having a ball with this. Also we have a delightfully campy, scenery-chewing Alison Brie as Skeletor’s right-hand woman, and she is playing this so extremely over the top, I was delighted every time she was onscreen. 

This probably wouldn’t work if the craft elements weren’t doing all they needed to. Cinematographer Fabian Wagner gives the scenes in Eternia the lush, vibrant and vividly colorful sense of joy they need to. And it’s even more clear to me how vast composer Daniel Pemberton’s range is. Earlier this year, he composed scores for Project Hail Mary and The Drama, which released a few weeks apart from each other. Those scores sound nothing like each other, and Pemberton delivers another banger of a score here, once again totally different from what we’ve seen from him recently. This score has a very 1980s vibe, with lots of synths and electric guitar, and it totally fits the vibe.

Like I mentioned before, Travis Knight made Bumblebee, another movie based on a toy, that surprised and delighted me in a lot of similar ways this did. Knight was also one of the founding directors of animation studio Laika, and a lot of the manic energy I associate with it is very much present here as well. The script, from Chris Butler, David Callaham and Aaron and Adam Nee, has some problems. The second half is definitely stronger than the first, which is overly heavy on exposition and has some pacing issues. For instance, there’s absolutely no reason why this needed to be 140 minutes long. We could’ve easily lost a half hour, although after one viewing I’m not entirely sure what I would have cut. However, I was having such fun with my time spent in this world, it didn’t really matter to me while I was watching the movie. 

Overall, it’s kind of baffling to me that Masters of the Universe is this good. I knew Nicholas Galitzine would deliver, and he didn’t let me down. Even when the script hits some rough spots, he navigates them with ease, and his charm always brings you back in when the script threatens to lose you. Along with a surprisingly fun supporting cast, a killer soundtrack, striking visuals and an infectious sense of wonder, Masters of the Universe does everything you’d want a summer blockbuster to do. I unexpectedly found myself with a big dumb grin across my face multiple times during this film, and considering what I went in expecting, I think that’s high praise. Get some friends together, get the big popcorn and soda, and have fun. That’s what summer movies are for.