By The Power Of Greyskull

The live action version of Masters Of The Universe has so much going for it, it's such a shame that there's an almost equal opposing force pulling the damn thing down.
That division is never more obvious than in it's above the title casting with Dolph Ludgren as shit as Frank Langella is amazing. Dolph, as He-Man, delivers one of the most stilted, most uncomfortable leading man performance ever, practically rivaling Keanu Reeves shocking turn in Bram Stokers Dracula. Even simple lines like, "Let her go!" and "Protect yourself" are butchered by the hulking slab of Swedish oak. On the other hand a brilliant Frank Langella gleefully chews the scenery as He-Man's arch nemesis Skeletor. Every line, glance, gesture and theatrical sweeping of his cloak are perfectly judged to match the larger than life storyline (it's one of my favorite villains.)

And so it goes on. For every brilliant set like the cavernous Throne Room of Castle Greyskull there's a bunch of mediocre ones like the music shop, the scrap yard and the school hall. For every stunning bluescreen shot from Richard Edlund's newly independent effects house, there a handful of lazy, unconvincing matt paintings. For every great attempt at a costume fusing futuristic and magical, fantasy elements there a cheap leather thong or tacky leotard underneath. For every cool bit of supporting casting from Chelsea Field, Meg Foster, Robert Duncan McNeil and uber-cute Courtney Cox (teen crush material to be sure) there's the unbearable OTT over acting of Skeletor's minions and James Tolken (possibly channeling his authoritarian Top Gun and Back To The Future performances via half a kilo of cocaine). Half the film is aimed at the pre-teens with terrible culture clash humour, while the other half is aimed at a more mature crowd as Cox's characters deals with the loss of her parents.

It's pretty well directed by Gary Goddard with a similar type of look and feel the Amblin Entertainment, family movies used at the same time like Back To The Future but he's constantly battling the restricted budget provided by production company, of the infamous Cannon Films. Still, the film does have one ace in the hole which is it's rousing Bill Conti score. It might not be able to cover all of Master's faults, but it gives the movie a grand, epic and sweeping feel that makes the mediocre feel massive.

If you're willing to overlook the negatives, there's much to enjoy in the positives.