For It Is Man's Number: chris butler

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Thursday, 11 June 2026

Masters Of The Universe (2026)

I know that I moan about fan service when a film or TV show has nothing more to offer. It's something that crops up a lot, whether related to older properties being refreshed for a modern audience or the many horror movies pandering to people who are resistant to any change. Masters Of The Universe is full of fan service, BUT it's all done incredibly well, and it never brings everything to an abrupt halt. There's also plenty going on to surround all of the fan service.

Directed by Travis Knight, who is now three for three with the features he has helmed, this is a bright and fun fantasy film that makes use of a great cast and paces things well enough to help the 140-minute runtime whizz by. Writers Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Chris Butler, and Dave Callaham get so much right that it's easy to forgive the minor failings, which all crop up in the first act before the film really seems to grow in confidence, ironically at about the same time as our hero.

Nicholas Galitzine is Adam, a young man who is trying to convince people that he's actually a Prince from another world, Eternia, and searching for a magical sword that will help him to gain immense power, readying him to rescue his home from the bony grasp of Skeletor (Jared Leto). Everyone thinks he's mad, of course, until he eventually finds the lost item . . . and then can't seem to use it. Maybe Teela (Camila Mendes), an old childhood friend now a capable warrior, can help him to stay alive long enough to figure things out.

I was worried during the earliest scenes in Masters Of The Universe. It seemed to be a bit unsure of itself, having to get the exposition delivered while tending to do the Marvel schtick of undercutting any heroics or ending any brief action beat with a joke. At least the jokes worked, but I was still worried about it sticking to that template throughout. Amazingly, it doesn't do that. Instead, you start to get something that blends unabashed earnestness with a different kind of humour, the sort of silliness that fans of the property will recognise from their own thoughts and conversations about the various characters populating Eternia.

Despite having to spend a lot of the time wearing clothing to cover his physique, Galitzine works as both the insecure and "weak" Adam AND the mighty, sword-wielding, He-Man. He looks the part throughout, and also grows into the role in a way that feels organic and absolutely believable, despite the fantastical context. Mendes doesn't need any similar journey. Her character is absolutely confident throughout, and she's also perfect in her role. As for Leto . . . dammit, it may be his best work in years, helped by the fact that you probably wouldn't even recognise it was him playing Skeletor if he wasn't the one in the credits. The line delivery, the laugh, the physicality, Leto delivers a fantastic turn that helps to keep Skeletor as fun and menacing as he should be. Idris Elba is very good as Duncan AKA Man-At-Arms, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson eventually accepts the name of Fisto, and both Alison Brie and Morena Baccarin are good to watch as two very different types of sorceress, the former being Evil-Lyn and the latter simply billed as The Sorceress. There are also some brilliant cameos, most I won't spoil, including Kristen Wiig voicing Roboto, a battle robot that has been turned into a domestic cleaning robot, but could help our heroes a lot if given her access to weaponry back.

The fact that I watched this and started to wonder whether or not it could be time for us to have another take on Flash Gordon perhaps tells you everything you need to know. Then I was impressed by the film-makers having the confidence to use the Queen track from ANOTHER classic fantasy flick. Whether recreating the imagery from the cartoon or not, the visuals are generally a delight, the score from Daniel Pemberton is absolutely fantastic throughout, and the only other disappointment I had after the end credits rolled was the knowledge that it wouldn't necessarily out-perform some (to me) lesser films at the box office, meaning any sequels and/or spin-offs are sadly not guaranteed. But if they do happen, consider my tickets pre-ordered ASAP.

9/10

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Friday, 4 August 2023

Play Dead (2022)

While director Patrick Lussier may not be a make many people pick when asked about their all-time favourites, he generally makes films that keep me entertained (especially with the extra fun of 3D formatting). So when I started hearing good things about Play Dead, I knew that Patrick Lussier directing it meant that I would most likely agree with those who had already enjoyed it.

Bailee Madison plays Chloe, a medical student currently going through a very tough time. She and her brother have recently lost their father, the insurance company is reluctant to pay out, and they could end up losing their home. Her brother, T. J. (Anthony Turpel), ends up attempting a robbery with a friend, which leads to his friend being shot and ending up in the morgue. Unfortunately, his friend being in the morgue means that there’s also a vital piece of evidence there, the only thing tying T. J. to the crime. Making use of her medical knowledge, Chloe fakes her own death to end up in the morgue. Once she comes to, she starts to figure out how to retrieve and remove the evidence, but it doesn’t take her long to realise that she is now stuck in a building with a coroner (Jerry O’Connell) who is up to no good

Written by Simon Boyes and Adam Mason, who have been working together now for a number of years (on films I have somehow completely overlooked), this is a slice of ridiculousness that focuses on contrived tension and thrills ahead of plausibility and logic. But, and this is always a major factor to consider, the tension and thrills work so well that it makes it easier to overlook the silliness of the plotting.

The two leads help enormously. Madison is someone I have enjoyed onscreen since she first made an impact as a talented child star, and I hope, at the very least, to see her continue delivering solid performances like this one. O’Connell has had fun in a variety of roles over the past few years, but he ends up being surprisingly well-suited to the cold psychopath he gets to portray here, and is rewarded with a number of very satisfying, and darkly comedic, moments. Turpel is fine, as is Chris Lee (playing the fated friend), but the other fun moments come from Chris Butler, playing a local Sheriff, and Jorge-Luis Pallo, playing a kind of “bag man” for our killer coroner.

Although the runtime is about 106 minutes, this feels like a slick and well-paced film, with Lussier making good use of a script that scatters around just enough details before taking us quickly into the dark heart of the premise. Everything is interesting and tense enough from the start, and then O’Connell steps in at just the right time, revealing just how much of a predicament our heroine is in.

The use of one main location helps to keep us rooting for characters trying to escape a trap, the cast are all used perfectly, for their characters and the pacing of the screenplay, and this turns into an impressive example of how to make the most of fairly limited resources. I don’t want to give this too much hype, but I am struggling to think of a better non-theatrical chiller from the last few years. Some implausibility drags it down a notch or two, but I was able to push that to one side while I was watching the whole thing play out.

7/10