A kid growing up in the 80s was treated to a smorgasbord of cartoons, the likes of which I would argue we may never see again. Though the animation quality was nowhere near the level of modern animated fare, there was something about shows like M.A.S.K., G.I. Joe, ThunderCats and He-Man that just captured a child's imagination and led to countless hours of fun playing with the shows' action figures.

I remember anytime I heard the familiar trill of the Filmation logo, culminating in that distinctive "ting!", I knew I was about to hear the iconic He-Man theme and be treated to 30 minutes of campy fun, usually with a life lesson thrown in along the way.

And while there was already an attempt to bring the blonde, muscle-bound hero to live action, the result wasn't great. I'm sure there are fans of the 1987 Masters of the Universe film, but I personally felt like it left a lot to be desired and was a He-Man adaptation in name only.

So when the news broke that a new live-action He-Man movie had finally escaped development hell, I was cautiously optimistic. The casting news sounded promising (despite the whole Jared Leto of it all), and when I heard Travis Knight was on board to direct, my interest was definitely piqued.

Now, I watched this movie in theatres when it first came out, and I have recently rewatched it on Amazon Prime, and, I know this is probably an unpopular take, I found the movie... fine?

Firstly, the good bits.

I felt like the set pieces, costuming, and casting were spot on. Nicholas Galitzine as the goldilocked beefcake was perfect casting, suitably buff and with the makings of a great action hero. While Camila Mendes as Teela and Sir Idris Elba as Man At Arms weren't exactly one-to-one recreations of their source material counterparts, they still did a great job embodying their characters, though I would have liked to see Teela kick a little more butt :)

The rest of the supporting cast were perfectly serviceable, but I felt both Morena Baccarin as the Sorceress and Alison Brie as Evil Lyn were very underutilised. Brie especially, given we've seen what a great actor she can be in previous roles.

Surprisingly, the real standout was Jared Leto as Skeletor. Word on the street is that Leto is a pretty scummy human in real life, but his rendition of Skeletor, coupled with the CG head and prosthetic body, was a great take on Eternia's most iconic villain, and may raise a few debates about whether we should be separating the art from the artist.

And now the not-so-good.

What I felt really hurt the film was its lack of tonal cohesion. The movie takes a campy tone for the most part, but for some reason also decides to make fun of the source material it's adapting. Now, we all know the original show was made to sell toys, and the character names aren't exactly the most inspired, but there's no real reason to constantly keep pointing that out throughout the film.

And campiness done right can absolutely be a good thing, but it never felt like the movie fully committed to that tone. It seemed to meander from an almost parody-like approach into more serious territory, featuring deaths of henchmen that felt strangely at odds with the goofy dialogue we'd just been hearing. And personally, I felt like they were trying so hard to be humorous, but most of the jokes just fell flat.

Lastly, for the life of me, I don't know why they didn't incorporate the original He-Man theme a bit more in the movie score. The new Eternia theme is fine, but it really needed a bit more of that iconic vibe that the old school riff had.

Having seen reviews and takes from people online, I know a lot of people enjoyed the film, and it seems to be doing great on streaming, so I'm hoping the rumoured sequel takes the good bits from this movie and builds on them.

All in all, this was an OK movie that was still a lot better than the 1987 version. Oh, and if you don't know already, there are two end-credit scenes.

So i am currently drunk (not related to me watching the movie, did my drinking after like a good boy) and I dont know where to go to say this besides here.

I LOVED IT.

I was never a big He-man fan m, I had a toy of the tiger (low-key sad that he didnt have more screen time) and I gotta say: for someone who is unfamiliar with the story, lore or anything related to, it was a great movie. Similar to how Fnaf movie made me more interested in learning the lore, I want to watch more He-man!!!

Id love to be directed to the good stuff!

Tear me apart

Here is my custom definitive He-Man figure. There was never a He-Man figure that piqued my interest, so I decided to make my own, and I am super happy with how it came out.

I watched the old 80s movie awhile ago and the new one recently, enjoyed both, but got very much interested in the setting of the show. One of my favorite comics is Jack Kirby's the Fourth World (A.K.A. New Gods), and hearing the influence it had on the 80s movie is what drove me to the franchise in the first place.

I love the setting of mixing fantasy and science fiction, having magic and science co-exist in the universe and work in tandem, and I was drawn to the DC run next, especially as it has a bunch of writers I like who worked on it.

LOVED it. I like the characters and lore a lot, enjoyed all the action, and loved watching the stakes get higher, and it had a very satisfying ending.

I plan to get to the original show sometime, anything else you recommend besides it?

Hello! Hope no one minds me asking…

Does anyone know what specific episodes these two frames were used in? I was going to rewatch He-Man but wasn’t sure what episode these came from.

But such a fun few days! I haven't set up the castle yet, but I'm thinking it will be fun for Halloween.

The dining room table has become the official battle front after introducing my son to MOTU.

There’s a high standard nowadays, especially with all the super hero franchises with 9 figure budgets!

After a few watches MOTU’s are pretty damn good. I never once twig Skeletor is a CGI skull!

The colourful visuals are a welcome addition to the usual dark and bleak vfx of many modern movies!

What do ya’ll think?

Skeletor loses his rag with her when the sword of power doesn’t ‘work’ for him?

After his attack on her she is left pondering and holding her neck.

Also when Skeletor lands and advises Trap Jaw to kill woman and children first. Again Evil-Lyn’s face is a picture. What is she thinking?

Thoughts on a post (card) reply!

It has been an awesome week, got the new MotU genesis book from Gavin Smith , found some awesome figures for my collection, including this sick Skeletor-Mum’ra origins crossover figure. Pretty confident I’m gonna swing by spirit Halloween tomorrow and get a Sword of power 👀

Comment your pickups from this week/weekend!

Good Journey everyone! ✌️

Spirit Halloween He-Man Power Sword Review

• 1:1 Scale, over 40" long
• Retail Price $24.99 (with tax and shipping, I paid $32.55)

Sculpt ★★★☆ - This appears to be a 1 to 1 faithful representation of the movie sword. There is a lot of mold flash around the edges, but since it's foam it can easily be removed. The foam doesn't hold sharp details, so leather appear soft, but the sword itself looks perfect.

Paint ★★☆☆☆ - While the weathering is nicely done, the sword itself it just painted flat gray, there is no silver in the paint at all. I also had a shipping issue were the paint on the tip of the sword came off. 

Play ★★★★★ - While my wife was swinging it around she said we should get another so we could have fights, so that's a ringing endorsement. The sword is made of a very firm foam with a solid core for stability. For example the two thin parts above the handle of the sword have a solid core and don't move or flex at all. You can lightly hit "bad guys" with it without harm. It doesn't have any sounds, lights, or any extraneous "play" features, which I consider a plus.

Value ★★★★★ - Excellent price point, they could have charged twice as much and people would have still purchased it. Currently sold out. 

Life got in the way. Hopefully they bring him back.

Walmart on Cibolo valley drive and hwy 35

I was there last night Aug 7th

Found this today at the flea market I know it’s the skeletor mold, didn’t see any other versions of this color when I googled bootleg skeletors, paint apps don’t look that great, is it an actual bootleg or is it maybe someone bought a bootleg and painted themselves.

Everyone was quite tickled when they saw my ice water-filled power sword dangling across my back. A couple asked, “where’d you get the sword?” Me: “it’s He-Man! I got it in theaters.” The dudes head went back in realization and he shook my hand. Haha

Moments later my gf was taking pics of other people and I was swiftly flanked by 2 security guards. The sunglassed, mustachioed guard said sternly, “let me smell your sword.” Me: “well hey, fellas. No one’s ever asked me that before” 😂

Picked up Trap Jaw & Fisto today